Cinema Advertising

About Cinema Advertising in India

Cinema Advertising is one of the most interesting new age advertising option. Cinema advertising rates are one of the lowest among non mass media. While Cinema Advertising has been in place for almost 30 years in history of cinema advertising in India, it is the recent last few years when Cinema Advertising in India has become popular among the advertisers. Theatre advertising is popular not only among large advertisers but small budget advertisers as well. The popular cinema chains in multiplex cinema advertising are PVR Cinema, Inox, Cinepolis, Carnival Cinemas, Sathyam Cinemas, DT Cinemas and Wave Cinemas. Single screen theatre advertising is a great vehicle to advertise in rural markets in India. Through advertising in cinema brands can reach out to media dark places where other media vehicles do not reach. More than 8000 Cinema screens have shared their advertising rate card with us. Cinema Advertising rate depends on the location of the theatre, seating capacity of the cinema and the brand. Single Screen Theatre advertising rate is typically cheaper than Multiplex Cinema advertising rate. Cinema ads can be placed either on the screen or in cinema complexes. The later form of cinema advertising is also termed as Offline Cinema advertising. The popular Cinema Advertising media options are slide on the screens, videos on the screens and cinema branding in the cinema complex.

Cinema Advertising Rates

Rates for advertising Cinema theatres depends on the type of cinema screen, number of seats, cinema location and the cinema brand. Cinema advertising cost for a Multiplex cinema advertising is normally higher than that for single screens. Theatres have a cinema advertising rate card. Discounted cinema advertising rates are available with cinema advertising agencies like The Media Ant. Theatre advertising rates also vary depending on whether you are advertising using slides or advertising using video. Length of the video ads also determines the price for cinema advertising.

For on screen theatre advertising, the card rates are always quoted for a week. Your ad is played in every show. For offscreen cinema advertising, the advertising price is typically for a month.

You can find the complete list of advertising rate card for cinema and best discounted offer rate for cinema advertising at the cinema planning tool of The Media Ant.

Media Options to advertise in Cinema

Cinema Advertising options can be divided in Onscreen Cinema Advertising and off Screen Cinema Advertising. Ads in cinemas are played either before the start of the movie or during the interval. Advertising rates are same for ads played during the interval or before the movie is played.

There are 4 advertising options available to advertise on screen in theatres:

Timeline for advertising in Cinema

Any Cinema advertising campaign starts only on a Friday. In few exceptions cases, it might start on a non Friday. Ad needs to be provided to the cinema advertising agency at least a day in advance. Ads normally start getting played from the second show on Friday. In cases of blockbuster releases, there might be a rush of cinema advertisers. In such cases, your ad would get played 3 times per day instead of 4 times .

Ad format for Cinema Advertising

Cinema Advertising agencies accept the ads in .mov and jpeg formats. Once these are shared with the advertising agency, specialist J2K convertor agencies can convert them into cinema ad formats. There is a conversion cost associated with cinema format conversion to J2K. Cinema slide size for on screen advertising should be 2048 x 858 pixel. Kindly use the image quality of 300 dpi or higher.

Censor Certification for Cinema Advertising

A censor certificate is required to play any video ad in a cinema. You can either apply for censor certificate directly or ask your cinema advertising agency to do it on your behalf. Your agency might charge you a cost of censor certification for cinema advertising.

Proof of Execution

Inspection passes are provided by theatres to the advertisers. These can be used to inspect the ad being played in the cinemas. For off screen cinema advertising options, pictures are provided as proof of execution.

The Media Ant - A Cinema Advertising Agency

The Media Ant is India's one of the leading Cinema advertising agency. With presence across top cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, we are the best cinema advertising in India. Get the best rates to place your ad in any theatre across India. Our best rates for Cinema advertising are available online . You can check the best rates for more than 8000 cinema screens to advertise at cinema advertising planning tool on The Media Ant.

Advantages of Advertising in Cinema

1. Huge cinema screen gives larger than life impact to the message. With the capability of playing video and slides with audio, an advertiser can talk to more senses of a viewer than print or radio. In terms of creative freedom, Cinema advertising is comparable to television.

2. The audience is captive and cannot change channel or flip the page. Chances of a viewer watching an ad on cinema screen is higher than other medium.

3. Cinema with its huge localized reach pan India, makes it suitable to reach out to a small geography as well as complete country.

4. Cost per reach for theatre advertising is less than other non-traditional advertising options.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about advertising in Cinema

I. What do I get for these rates of Cinema Advertising?

1. Your ad is played minimum 3 times per day and maximum 5 times per day

2. Ad is played once during the show. You can choose interval or before the start of the movie

3. Mentioned rates are for playing your ad for 1 week Friday to Thursday

II. Are Theatre Advertising rates same for all the weeks in an year?

No. Multiplexes charge a premium for playing ads during blockbuster movies. The premium on rates can be 2X to 3X depending on the movie. Please check for the list of blockbuster movies with your cinema advertising agency.

III. Are there any costs involved in Cinema advertising outside of the Advertising rate card?

1. Cinema advertising requires your ad to be in a format that is compatible with cinema screen playing. Most of the Multiplex cinema screens require the ad to be in J2K format. However, this conversion is not freely available and specialist cinema format conversion agencies do that for a fee. Advertiser can provide their ad in .MOV or .JPEG format and then your cinema advertising agency can get it converted to J2K format. Another format used by certain cinemas is UFO. However, for this you do not need to pay anything as this conversion is for free. The conversion fee of video J2K is Rs 2,500 and for slides is Rs 1,750. The conversion to J2K takes a day

2. Another cost involved with playing video ads is Censor certification. All video ads running in theatres require censor certification. There are Censor agencies that can help you apply for Censor certificates on your behalf. The Media Ant can help you get censor certificate and charges you a fee of Rs 8,500. Please plan for 2 weeks in obtaining a censor certificate.

3. Service tax and any other cess are applicable to cinema advertising.

4. In case of off screen adverting any collateral cost is involved.

IV. What are the timelines for Cinema Advertising?

Cinema advertising campaigns can only start on a Friday. It is synced with changeover of movies at the theatres. Ad needs to be provided and payment needs to be completed by Wednesday 5pm.

V. What is the proof that my ad in cinemas is being played as per the plan?

For Multiplex cinema advertising campaigns, Inspection pass will be provided on Monday morning. You can use Cinema inspection pass to visit the theatres and watch your ad being played. On request your cinema advertising agency can arrange for an In - person inspection.

Singles screens cinema campaigns do not come with inspection passes. Single screens share the contact number or log report at the end of the campaign.

Please note that cinema advertising in India, still involves a lot of manual intervention. This might cause your cinema campaign not being executed as per the plan. If you find any discrepancy, please inform your cinema advertising agency and they will get it corrected. Compensation in form of additional days/weeks is provided for any failure in executing the cinema plan as per the schedule.

VI. In what formats do theatres or Cinema advertising agencies accept Cinema ads?

Kindly refer to the table below in which advertisers can share the ad. Once this is shared the cinema format conversion agency will convert it to J2K, UFO or required cinema ad format.