As the cost of living spirals, house prices tumble and once mighty financial institutions disintegrate before our eyes, it appears many of us have only one thing on our minds… let’s go to the cinema.
One of the less publicised findings from last week’s ZenithOptimedia advertising report, wedged among the doom and gloom which led to spending forecasts being slashed for the third time this year, is the growing attraction of the big screen.
Analysts plotting the next two years are quick to apply their much-loved oxymoron, ‘negative growth’, to TV, newspapers, radio, magazines and (next year) even outdoor, while cinema ad spend is tipped to grow 4.7% this year, and a further 3.9% in 2009.
Such ad growth coincides with hikes in summer box office sales throughout the country. Only this week, Disney’s High School Musical 3 smashed all records for advanced ticket sales. Odeon, Britain's largest cinema chain, confirms it has sold a quarter of a million tickets ahead of its nationwide release on 24 October, making it even more in-demand than previous record holder Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire.
Growing in the middle of a downturn may appear a bit of an oddity for a 100 year old medium, but it’s far from unusual. A glance at recent trends show a very definite correlation between going to the flicks and everyone feeling a tad jaded: In terror torn 2001, cinema ad spend grew 28.1% and admissions rose 9.1%; in depressed 1991, advertising on the silver screen was up 7.7% and admissions 4.4%.
And let’s not forget, the so-called ‘golden age’ of Hollywood started slap bang in the middle of the Great Depression at the end of the 1920s.
Perhaps films offer an affordable escape during tough times. Of course, long wet summers help, as does a roster of strong launches; Pearl & Dean’s CEO, Kathryn Jacob, points to the wide choice of genres now being catered for at the local cinema by way of explanation.
But whether growth is attributed to the likes of Mamma Mia and Quantum of Solace, or more Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling, those in the business of cinema are set to make hay.
