There seemed to be a recurring theme during the recent Academy Awards: get people back in movie theater seats.
The annual awards show highlighted the magic of the movie-going experience and attempted to reinvigorate excitement in the audience around movie-theater attendance. This was no coincidence for the Academy, as it seemed to be a direct response to movie theater ticket sales from 2011 and overall industry trends from the past two decades. In 2011, the industry experienced a 16-year low at the box office. Ticket sales were the lowest they had been since 1996 and theater attendance had fallen 10 percent since 1999 (more when this percentage is measured with the growth of the population). To top it off, streaming and DVD rental services, such as Netflix and Redbox, as well as online piracy have driven people out of theaters and away from high ticket prices.
To revamp the experience of movie-going and address the continuing problems the industry faces, Sunday’s broadcast employed a number of strategic techniques during its almost four-hour airing:
Overall, ratings for the 84th Academy Awards increased from the past few years – but it still garnered mixed reactions and reviews from around the web. What did you think about the Academy Awards message and approach? Do you think it was successful in reinvigorating the “magic of the movies?”
Tags: Academy Awards, strategic PR Filed under: COMMUNIQUÉ PR