Marketing the Film-and-Food Experience

Alamo Drafthouse is one of a growing number of movie theaters marketing an eat-in menu along with the film.

Alamo is known for offering meals and snacks (and beverages, it is a drafthouse) keyed to the theme of the movies it shows. The idea is to make the movie-going experience about more than the film.

Alamo famously bans phones and texting during the movie to prevent distractions. And, unlike most movie chains, Alamo doesn't make the audience sit through previews and ads before the feature. The film and the food are the focus.

Now Alamo is trying something new, bringing back the old idea of a video store. It will even rent VCR equipment to people who want to watch VHS tapes rather than DVDs or Blu-Ray DVDs.

Movie Tavern is another food-and-film chain, marketed with the tag line "Movies never tasted so good." The company's svp of culinary and guest experience notes that Movie Tavern's menu has to be "bold in flavor and approachable in design, due to the fact our guests are eating in the dark."

When Movie Tavern changes its menu, it gives thought to the eating experience as well as the latest flavors and new food trends. From craft beer to shakes to mixed drinks, beverages add a special touch to the in-cinema experience.

Another marketer of food-and-films is iPic Entertainment, which actually makes more money from food and beverage sales than it does from ticket sales. The motto is "Your Ultimate Night Out" as iPic serves seasonal foods and beverages.

The biggest theater chains have taken notice and are testing food offerings to attract movie lovers to pay for the big-screen experience again and again. It's all about the customer experience.

CMO Issues: Accountability and Metrics

Accountability still counts!

 

Chief marketing officers are under pressure as never before to be accountable for results. This is nothing new, really, but with more marketing tools at their disposal and the constraint of carefully-controlled budgets, accountability is a priority.

This means that metrics have to be chosen and applied to enable CMOs to track, measure, and evaluate marketing campaigns in great detail. No wonder CMOs are examining media and social media metrics to be sure that these reflect the reality of how campaigns are performing and avoid misleading, fraudulent, and imprecise measures.

Meanwhile, social media platforms are introducing better metrics and analysis tools to enable measurement and performance assessment. This is crucial, because CMOs must be able to trust the numbers. However, despite closer scrutiny of marketing tactics and results, a few CMOs are either choosing inappropriate/old-fashioned metrics or not selecting metrics at all.

Another way to look at accountability is through the lens of big-picture marketing goals. Some businesses use the Net Promoter Score to see how marketing affects the customer experience and willingness to recommend the brand or organization. No matter which metrics you apply, be sure you are measuring what matters--and include interim benchmarks in your marketing, so you can adjust campaigns if preliminary results aren't close to present targets.

Domino's Mobile-Led Marketing

Domino's, which built its rep on convenient, speedy delivery, wants to make it really easy to order pizza--applying what it knows about consumer behavior. Above, the "zero click" app that will order your favorite pizza (or whatever you like from the menu) with no clicks. Mobile-led marketing that works. Domino's revenues and profits are up.

Want to order one of its pizzas via emoji? You can do that by tweeting the emoji to Domino's. (The pizza giant is very social, with more than 1 million followers on Twitter, 17 million Facebook likes, and 1 million Instagram followers.) Soon, AI tech will enable online voice ordering a la virtual assistant (think "Alexa" for instance), no clicks needed.

For all the focus on mobile-led marketing, Domino's also has its eye on the in-person customer experience. It's been rolling out new store designs where customers can watch their pizzas being made (seeing it made fresh adds to the experience) and eat in rather than taking out.