ChaCha

Brand: ChaCha Mobile Platform / Service for a National Theater Chain

Executives Involved in The Campaign: Joshua Pyne, Regional Sales Manager for ChaCha and Steve Goldstein, CRO for ChaCha

Campaign Brief: ChaCha and a National Movie Theater Chain Use Mobile to Achieve a 23% Gain in Revenue for Major Movie Launch

Movie theaters are entrenched in a balancing act of trying to develop brand exposure and loyalty while achieving objectives of major movie studios that provide them with product. The typical moviegoer’s theater decision for a new movie is driven by convenience with a particular location winning out due to films on the marquee, proximity to where an attendee is located and movie times. Launch attendance at movie houses have fought to hold steady, with little-to-no market growth over the past few years. These conditions are challenging theaters to examine leveraging new ways of promotion for movie premieres.

ChaCha’s fun and extremely engaging free mobile answers service is embraced by millions, particularly when it comes to entertainment related topics which comprise approximately 60% of all inbound questions. This personalized method of mobile ‘search’ treats users as individuals, injecting an element of human intelligence and personality. Major brands insert themselves into the live conversation with relevant ads and other mobile services, including opt-in lists, coupons and promotions.

Based on the mastery of engagement and reach for which ChaCha is known, a major national theater chain enlisted ChaCha’s mobile services to engage with targeted females for the launch of the movie Twilight Saga Eclipse. The theater chain trialed ChaCha’s service and analyzed direct impact on attendance between two theaters.

One key question explored drawing moviegoers to a particular theater location regardless of convenience factors. The consumer incentive was an added location-specific experiential element in conjunction with the midnight premiere. Two movie houses in the Indianapolis, IN metro area with traditionally similar attendance numbers and demographic profiles were selected to test, with one location actively promoted, while the second was used as a control. The active test theater location was advertised using ChaCha’s mobile platform to highlight midnight premiere festivities and promotions to females ages 13-30 over the 7 days preceding Eclipse’s opening. The primary goal was to increase ticket sales specific to the midnight premiere at the test theater location.

This campaign tested multiple ad messages, and included an opt-in list for consumers to receive updates on favorite characters from the Saga. Besides demographic segments, ad impressions were geo-targeted towards Indianapolis ZIP codes and surrounding metro areas, and messaging had a call-to-action driving consumers to the midnight premiere at the test theater’s location.

Ad response rates and direct impact on ticket sales related to this test campaign were dramatic with the test theater out-performing the control by a margin of 23%. To put this performance in perspective, this equated to nearly 2 additional full-capacity screenings over the control theater’s turnout! The theater using ChaCha mobile advertising made $2 for every dollar spent on advertising, which is unheard of via most traditional marketing methods.

This ChaCha controlled test reveals a very real and successful example of how specific locations within a chain can differentiate themselves by providing a superior user experience and promotions communicated to target audiences in a friendly, non-invasive way to achieve launch results.

Modern consumers are inundated with countless marketing messages, few of which ever resonate. Savvy retailers such as the theater chain profiled here, can capitalize on engaging, interactive marketing through a consumer’s mobile device.

This campaign should win because of the carefully targeted trial executed together with use of ChaCha’s platform that yielded incredible results. This is an awesome example of using mobile advertising and promotions to deliver an exception location-based product launch.