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:
- It created a compelling story: In their book Strategic Public Relations: 10 Principles to Harness the Power of PR, Communiqué PR’s Jennifer Gehrt and Colleen Moffitt outline the importance of crafting a compelling story. One of the most crucial aspects is arousing the audience’s emotions, not just the intellect. Arousing emotions draws the audience in and has the power to shift perceptions. In the case of last Sunday’s Academy Awards, the show was filled with monologues from famous actors and actresses recounting their movie-theater experiences as youth. The storytelling was extremely impactful because it came from prominent names in the movie industry and instantly made viewers look back on their own movie-going experiences. Furthermore, the actors and actresses discussed their favorite movies and what aspects of those movies inspired them to do their work today. This all allowed viewers to connect and relate with the actors and actresses on a more personal level and receive the message in a unique way.
- It gave a salute to tradition: The Academy Awards did a great job of heralding yesteryear as a means to capture the audience’s attention toward the beauty of film. Nothing drew more connection to the past than numerous nominations and wins for movies such as The Artist and Midnight in Paris. It is clear that the industry attempted to invoke the incredible history of cinema as a way to stimulate movie interest in viewers. Other approaches to tradition included a performance by Esperanza Spalding of Louis Armstrong’s jazz jewel, “What a Wonderful World,” which wowed audience members as a slideshow of movie-industry members who had passed in 2011 played on the big screen. Furthermore, Cirque du Soleil performed what looked like an ode to the theater with a 1920s twist. Overall, the Oscars this year went all out to bring back the traditional values connected to the movie-going experience and implant them in the minds of present-day audiences.
- It reignited the premium of something already in place: Movie-going is not a new activity and does not need to be established in society – it just needs to be reintroduced and reinvigorated. Although new and exciting tactics are indeed highly strategic when creating a message or revamping an image of any company or organization, it is often important to reflect on what you know best and what you know is effective. In the past, the Academy Awards show has received marginal television ratings and responses. This year, the Academy took an approach to recapture a formula that has worked best for them in the past. The show featured well-known and respected comedian Billy Crystal as host for the ninth time. The salute to tradition, as stated earlier, also reflected the recapturing of a successful formula. Combined, these things heralded the classic days of the Academy Awards and connected well with the main viewing audience.
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?”