Transcript CTMG Research

Lights…
Action…
RESEARCH
FOR THEATRICAL FEATURE FILMS
Presented On October 7th, 2002
Bruce B. Friend - SVP, Worldwide Research1
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
 CTMG Research Organization
 CTMG Research Process/Focus
 Secondary Research Resources
 Primary Research Resources: Ongoing
 Primary Research Resources: Ad Hoc
 Research Systems/Databases
 New Research Projects In Development
 Research “Wish List”
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CTMG RESEARCH ORGANIZATION
Columbia TriStar Marketing Group Research Department
Geoffrey Ammer
President, Domestic Marketing
Bruce B. Friend
SVP, World-wide Market Research
Oversees all theatrical film-related
research activities at the Studio
Debbie McCurry
Executive Assistant
Neelo Faruqi
VP, Research
Oversees day-to-day department activities
Patricia Kendig
Robert Sant'Anselmo
Erin Rollins
Director
Screenings & Tracking
Manager
Ad Testing & International
Department Assistant
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CTMG RESEARCH PROCESS
The CTMG Research Department works with and
supports practically all operating divisions of CTFD.
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Feature Film Development & Production
Film Distribution & Exhibitor Relations
Creative Advertising
Media Planning
On-line Marketing
Publicity & Promotions
Consumer Products
Licensing & Merchandising
Home Video/Home Entertainment (limited)
And International
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SECONDARY RESEARCH RESOURCES
 Nielsen/NRG Weekly Film Tracking
 3 times a week for all wide releases (Sun, Wed, Thur)
 Intermedia Advertising Group (IAG/ Reward TV)
 Ad Qualitative Ratings Service
 Ad/ Movie Tracking service with competitive data
 Youth Intelligence (Jane Buckingham)
 Cassandra Report (trend-setters and mainstream)
 Trend Central (on-line trends resource)
 Nielsen/NRG Pop Poll
 Q-Score service for Film Industry
 E-Poll “e-Score” Subscription Service
 Q-Scores w/visual ID, from On-line methodology
 MPAA Annual Moviegoer Study
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PRIMARY RESEARCH RESOURCES
Ongoing
 NRG Recruited Audience Screenings (in theater)
 For Production & Marketing
 NRG Competitive Concept Positioning Studies
 Twice a year - Summer and November/December
 NRG Trailer Testing (mall intercept)
 NRG Commercial Testing (mall intercept)
 TV Spots & Print “One Sheets”
 NRG Exit Polls (typically on opening weekend)
 In 4 to 6 nationally representative theaters across the U.S.
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PRIMARY RESEARCH RESOURCES
Ad Hoc
 Market Positioning Studies (Ad Hoc)
 Phone/or In-person Intercept (“quantitative”)
 Focus Groups (“qualitative”)
 Nielsen/NRG (Las Vegas) Dial Testing
 For competitive trailer testing
 Focus Groups
 For development of advertising creative
 In-theater Trailer Testing
 For “qualitative” testing (big films only)
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RESEARCH SYSTEMS/ DATABASES
 Nielsen/NRG Cinesys Systems:
 Contains all NRG data for the past 15 years.
 Nielsen/EDI Box Office Database System
 Intermedia Ad Group (IAG) Trend-Reporter:
 On-line database to access all IAG data
 E-Poll “e-Score” Subscription Database
 To access “e-Scores” on-line
 Youth Intelligence/ Trend Central Database
 To access youth trend-setters On-line
 Competitive Movie Release Database System
 In-house database of all movie release information
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NEW RESEARCH PROJECTS
In Development
 Building on-line “research panels” and “research
software/ engine” capabilities (for testing,
tracking, etc.) in key international markets.
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To see if we can do ad testing and film tracking in Germany,
the UK, Australia, Japan, Spain and beyond, using this more
cost efficient methodology
 IAG/Reward TV Ad Ratings Service
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Could one day conceivably add another
perspective to the current way we
evaluate and track ad and media
effectiveness
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RESEARCH “WISH LIST”
 Develop better, and more timely competitive
intelligence and information.
 Develop a better (more precise) ad testing
methodology, as monadic, “mall intercept” testing
doesn’t always yield accurate results.
 Gain a better understanding of the “heavy”
entertainment consumer, and what motivates
their movie-going behavior, relative to other
entertainment choices.
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Resource
Details
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YOUTH INTELLIGENCE
 The Cassandra Report:
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Gen X & Y Trend-setters
Gen X & Y Mainstream Consumers
 TrendCentral On-line Service:
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On-line Youth Trends Database
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The Cassandra Report
Conducted three times a year
Trendsetters:
› 4-5 cities
› 300 individually screened/interviewed
Mainstream:
› 750 telephone sample
› Nationally representative
Three age groups: 14-18, 19-24, 25-30
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The Cassandra Report
Macro trends
Micro Trends
Reports (Fashion Shows, Sundance)
International Reports (London 2X, Asia 1X per yr.)
Lifestyle Investigations
TV advertising reel
City Guides
Hot new products
Brand Tracker™
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TrendCentral
Daily E-mail
Comprehensive Internet Trend site
Covers:
› Fashion
› Beauty
› Lifestyle (attitudes, sports,
issues)
› Technology (gadgets, internet)
› Entertainment
› Stats and facts
City guides
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INTERMEDIA ADVERTISING GROUP
“IAG Entertainment” monitors the performance of TV marketing efforts on
an ongoing basis using proprietary technology and analysis. Data is collected
via RewardTV, a web based panel with over 150,000 members. Research is
conducted among movie-goers, early/frequent attenders, home
entertainment users, purchasers and renters. To date, IAG's database has
performance measures for well over 130+ movie titles in release since
January 2002.
Studios use the IAG Movie Monitor to:
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Evaluate the strength of creative while it is on the air
Track the marketplace on an continual basis
Plan for upcoming releases, using historical performance of "like" films
Monitor in-flight performance using results to adjust media schedules
 Hone strategy using IAG special analyses
i.e., day of week, premium programming, special events
Movie Measurement Metrics Include:
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Intent to Go, Rent, Purchase (Top, Top 2 Box)
Qualitative "Reasons" for Intent
Creative Recall
Title Recall
Appeal (“like-a-bility”)
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NRG FILM TRACKING
 Nielsen/NRG Film Tracking is conducted 3 times/
week (Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday) among a nationally
representative sample of 400 movie-goers per day.
 In the U.S., if a movie is targeted towards a family
audience, an African-American audience or Hispanic
audience, “supplemental tracking” is conducted among
the specific groups to determine awareness and interest
among the targeted groups (at an extra cost).
 A movie appears on tracking 3 1/2 weeks prior to the
scheduled release date, but only qualifies if it is being
given a wide release (600+ theaters in the U.S.).
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NRG FILM TRACKING
 Movie-goers are questioned on “unaided awareness,”
“aided awareness,” “interest” in seeing a movie, and
“first choice” among movies that are/or will (that
weekend) be out in the marketplace.
 U.S. “norms” for unaided awareness are 12%, total
awareness 77%, definite interest 40% and first choice
12%. For International markets, these “norms” vary
significantly.
 Awareness, interest and first choice numbers are
analyzed by audience segment (e.g., males/females
under 25, males/females 25 & over) to determine if the
marketing message is reaching the targeted audience
segment.
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NRG TRACKING “PULSE CHECKS”
 Tracking “Pulse checks” (pre-tracking tack-ons)
conducted among the tracking sample before a
scheduled movie appears on regular tracking. (This
info is also proprietary)
are
 Pulse checks are used to obtain early information
regarding “awareness,” “interest” and “discrete choice”
(against competitive films) and to:
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evaluate effectiveness of trailer play and in-theater print,
or to fine-tune media plans,
or make determinations for appropriate release dates.
 We typically do pulse checks now for all films in the U.S.,
and some almost as early as a year prior to release (e.g.
Spider-Man)
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NRG TRACKING “PULSE CHECKS”
Men In Black II (Example)
TOTAL AWARENESS
WED 12/5/01
THUR 12/6/01
SUN 1/6/02
WED 1/9/02
THUR 1/10/02
WED 1/30/02
THUR 1/31/02
MON 2/4/02
TUES 3/26/02
WED 3/27/02
Total
44
39
64
68
61
62
64
76
79
80
Male-25
50
41
69
69
60
61
64
86
87
87
Male 25+
49
37
67
70
62
60
64
75
83
83
Fem -25
39
43
59
68
63
64
63
74
81
78
Fem 25+
38
36
62
64
58
63
65
70
67
74
Teens
50
44
71
73
59
72
72
81
85
85
DEFINITE INTEREST
WED 12/5/01
THUR 12/6/01
SUN 1/6/02
WED 1/9/02
THUR 1/10/02
WED 1/30/02
THUR 1/31/02
MON 2/4/02
TUES 3/26/02
WED 3/27/02
Total
42
38
40
44
42
47
46
43
43
43
Male-25
44
61
46
60
57
54
55
44
49
52
Male 25+
47
32
44
38
42
53
51
45
40
42
Fem -25
37
30
35
44
38
39
40
43
31
34
Fem 25+
39
30
33
33
33
42
39
38
49
40
Teens
47
45
41
56
63
48
51
46
46
49
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NRG RECRUITED SCREENINGS
Research Screening Process: (with the National Research Group)
 A movie is shown to a recruited audience that meets the
specifications of the target demo(s) for the movie.
 The audience scores the movie overall on a variety of
measures including:
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“overall rating” (excellent, very good, good, fair, poor)
“expectation ratings” (better, or not as good), and
“recommendation” (definite) word-of-mouth scores
 The audience also evaluates elements of the film such as
the beginning, ending, story, cast/acting, music, pacing,
etc., and indicates most and least liked scenes.
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NRG RECRUITED SCREENINGS
Research Outcome/Results: Production
 Based on performance of the movie in comparison to
established norms, the various elements are evaluated,
 And, if the performance is below norms, or company
expectations, revisions are often made to the movie.
Research Outcome/Results: Marketing
 These results help “fine-tune” who the target audience is
for this movie, and what they responded to best:
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Conceptually (providing insights for positioning)
And in terms of specific scenes that were appealing (which
can then be used in Trailer, Print and TV)
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NRG TRAILER TESTING
 Trailer testing is conducted via “in-person intercept
methodology” (usually in shopping malls*) with a
nationally representative sample of 300 movie-goers, to
assess just how effective a trailer is at increasing the
audience’s “interest” in seeing the movie.
 For the U.S. market, the goal is to have a trailer that
generates about 50-65% “definite interest” and about
80% “positive interest” in seeing the movie.
 Trailer testing is also used to pinpoint the scenes of the
movie that have the strongest recall/affinity among the
target audience, for use in TV spot development.
*Note: We have begun testing in the Nielsen/Las Vegas Dial Test Facility.
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NRG TV SPOT TESTING
 TV spot testing typically starts after trailer testing.
 TV spots (either :30 or :60 in length) are also tested
among a nationally representative sample of about 300
movie-goers per spot.
 The goal for TV test scores for the US market is about 5060% “definite interest” and about 70-80% “positive
interest”.
 The overall goal of the testing is to obtain spots that
generate high awareness and high interest so that it
translates to high awareness and interest numbers as the
movie appears on tracking.
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NRG PRINT TESTING
 Print testing is usually conducted when we’re unable to
achieve creative consensus on one approach/look, or we
need quantifiable justification for filmmakers.
 Like trailers, print tests are also tested among a
nationally representative sample of about 300 moviegoers via in-person (usually in shopping malls), or via the
on-line Internet testing (more on this later).
 The overall goal for a print test is to determine which of
a number of executions best communicates/sells the
concept of the movie and also generates the most
“interest” in seeing the movie.
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NRG EXIT POLLS
 Exit polls are usually conducted the first weekend that a
movie opens at usually 4 to 6 representative U.S. cities
nationwide.
 Exit polls are conducted to determine the audience
composition on opening weekend, and to evaluate the
movie’s “playability” among key audience segments.
 Additionally, exit polls aid in further targeting the
marketing message for “post-open” media planning by
evaluating the various channels of communication that
worked best for each audience segment.
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NRG MARKET POSITIONING STUDIES
Types of Market Positioning Studies:
 “Quantitative” Market Positioning Studies are only
conducted for select, usually bigger budget, films such
as:
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Ali
MIB2
Spider-Man
 “Qualitative” or Focus Group Positioning Studies are
usually conducted for most “wide release” movies.
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NRG MARKET POSITIONING STUDIES
Quantitative* Study: (By telephone or in-person “intercept”)
 In a “quantitative*” market positioning study, moviegoers are questioned on various movie content/story
elements (including cast, director, concept, genres, F/X, title, etc.)
 Results are then analyzed to determine the positioning
combination, and specific elements/attributes that yield
the highest interest in the movie in the expected
competitive environment (other movies it’s against).
 This research is conducted very early in the marketing
cycle in order to guide marketing strategy and to provide
direction for the development of the marketing materials.
* Based on a nationally representative sample of 1,000+ movie-goers
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MARKET POSITIONING STUDIES
Qualitative Study: (Focus Groups: in-person group discussions)
 In a “qualitative” market positioning study, “focus group”
discussions are conducted to show/review marketing
materials in the early, developmental stages.
 This research helps to identify various movie elements
that appeal, or do not appeal to the target audience, and
is ultimately used to fine-tune audio/visual marketing
communications to the various target audiences.
 Additionally, this research is used to determine whether
the marketing message/strategy is being clearly
communicated to the audience, and to assess the
specific strengths and/or weaknesses in the materials.
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