Marketing Insights Newsletter

Special Issue: Entertainment

Luxury Theatre Uses E-Zine To Boost Ticket Sales

Source: Chief Marketer, article by Eda Galeno

What more can you do for movie goers who already enjoy in-theater table service and a full bar?

You can send them an e-mail newsletter. That’s what Brian Schultz, founder of Studio Movie Grill, started doing five years ago.

Schultz’s two theaters— one in Addison, TX and the other in Plano—offer many amenities, including spacious leather seats. But he needed a way to get information out to film fans.

Working with Cinema Source, a company that provides show times to various outlets and also acts as an e-mail vendor for theater chains, Schultz now sends weekly e-mail blasts to over 40,000 customers who opted in for communications via events at the theatre and special offers.

The newsletter open rate is roughly 70%, and Schultz attributes an increase in attendance and a 20% boost in online ticket purchasing to the newsletter.

“The key is to start with an offer,” he explains. “We created a measurable system that people could respond to online offers for discounted food and beverages if they signed up.”

He adds that customers also want “up-to-date show times and special programming that is movie related or things happening in the theater.”

How do the e-mail blasts benefit the theater? In a number of ways.

“Online purchases allow us to predict the attendance for certain shows in advance so we can be ready for that,” Schultz says. And they help the theaters predict food volume. “That’s one way that we create great food service,” Schultz explains. “We serve 1,000 meals fresh made to order within a one hour period.”

Moreover, the e-mails cut down on the “staggering volume of calls” to the movie information line.

“I read an article on how customers wanted to get film information in a format they could print out,” Schultz says. “I realized that I personally would have to write down numerous movies and times to ask my wife which film she preferred. So the e-mail newsletter made sense.”

Each e-mail blast is linked to the Studio Movie Grill home page, which provides a listing of movies and their showing times. Customers also have an immediate opportunity to purchase tickets.

Newsletter recipients can watch trailers of films, answer trivia questions, view box office results, or link to official movie Web sites. Additionally, they are made aware of special events being held at the theater and they have the option of purchasing items from the Studio Grill gift store.

Schultz, who has two new Texas theater under construction, says his approach is “the future of the movie industry. Our focus is on a high-quality service and entertainment experience. You can’t get that elsewhere.”

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