First4Movies is a start-up company specialising in running cinema screening programs for film publishers.
The concept: Create the ultimate destination site for movie-lovers, giving users the opportunity to see the latest films before anyone else for free. At the same time as running screening programs for publishers, the company ensures high quality audience feedback whilst maximising publicity through word of mouth and digital channels.
First4Movies automates the management of screening programs, the advertising of free tickets through various media partners, the allocating of these tickets across different users and the feedback from those users to the film publisher.
Website http://www.first4movies.com/
Problem
Film publishers want to maximise the hype for a particular film before its cinema release. They also want to gather feedback for the film prior to release, in order to gauge the return it is likely to generate in the box office.
Traditionally this takes a lot of organisation involving media partners, cinemas, and physical ticketing systems. Not to mention the effort of tracking those who attended and trying to elicit opinions about the film.
There was obviously a better way of doing this.
Solution
First4Movies uses the power of online social media to build a community of film enthusiasts and offer them free tickets to see films that are about to be released a few days later.
The screenings are also offered through media partners via the use of individual screening codes. The codes are made available in a relevant magazine such as Heat, the customer simply enters that code into the homepage of the first4movies.com website . They select the screening in the cinema closest to them, and then either print out their tickets are have them sent to their mobile phone via SMS. Tickets are then handed into the cinema on arrival.
While the customer is watching the film, a survey is sent by email to every audience member which asks a customised set of questions for each individual film. Once the data is captured it is collated and presented back to the publisher as management reports.
This helps the publisher understand the general acceptance of the audience, and gives them an idea of the amount of hype the film is generating and therefore the amount of marketing effort they might need to raise it to certain levels.
The customer also gives valuable information about their level of interest in the films and allows their experience to be tailored based on their preferences.
The application was built on Cookie Jar CMS from Solid State Group enabling the content to be updated easily, and various social networking features to be easily added to the site.
Results
The site was launched on the 3rd December with the chance to win tickets to the Avatar film premier in Leicester square.
The site was built within three months and released on time and on budget.
The launch was well received and the buzz spread quickly over relevant social networks.
The first screening program is due to run in January, and we will be updating this results section as the company grows.
