How does a cinema of today improve its product offering based on trends and best practices from competing companies and other industries

Abstract

Cinemas, and more specifically Imagix, play in a market where time is the most important competitor. Leisure time is a scarce and precious good, of which the cinema demands a part. Nowadays, things are changing in the industry. Generation Z is entering the market, and the industry needs disruption to respond to the needs and wants of this new generation. On top of that, the business is rapidly moving due to new and innovative substitutes, for example Netflix, that take away part of the scarce leisure time of youngsters. This paper therefore focusses on Millennials and Generation Z. It provides a list of implementation suggestions, based on research, surveys, and in-depth interviews, that provides insights into what Gen Z and Millennials think, believe and want. In other words, this research examines what you must do as a cinema, to be able to claim the free time from youngsters. Overall, this paper contains 3 main solutions to attract youngsters to the cinemas. The first one tells more about how to attract youngsters’ attention. Marketing strategies on Facebook and Instagram are developed and clarified. The second solution expresses how to establish attractive movie theatres in order for youngsters to be appealed. This clarification is divided into 4 parts: The movie theatre itself, the break, the ending of the movie and the exit. Furthermore, in the third and last part, additional concepts are developed to attract more and new youngsters. When implementing these suggestions, this could lead to value for both the customer, and Imagix at the same time. The customer will be provided with a valuable completion of their free time. While Imagix will be provided with more customers, brand awareness, customer satisfaction and increased revenues. Problem Statement: Over the past 10 years, there was almost no disruption in the cinema industry. But things are about to change. Generation Z is entering the market, and the cinema industry needs to reconsider its current understanding of the market to survive. The strategy of the existing cinema will need to adapt to the needs and wants of the new generation. And –maybe even more important- it will need to defeat the threats of today and tomorrow. Streaming services like Netflix, social media, … form serious challenges for the cinema industry. The answers to the questions of yesterday, are not the answers to the questions of tomorrow. New grounds of inspiration, with solutions that respond to the needs of Gen Z and Millennials will be necessary to adapt the cinema of today, to the cinema of tomorrow. How can Imagix adapts its product and strategy, in such a way that it will survive and conquer the market with a new customer, new demands and new threats? Valuable insights are given about how Gen Z and Millennials think, spend money and value items. It is not a question about whether to adapt or not, but rather when.