Re-imagining the movie theatre experience

1. REIMAGINING THE MOVIE
THEATRE EXPERIENCE
Kiran Reddy

2. What is an Experience?
Series of interactions between an individual and a business
Each leaving an impression / memory / opinion
Awesome!
Alright.
Could’ve
been
better.
Never
going
back.
Physical
Spaces
Virtual
Spaces
Service
Content
Other
Customers

3. Retail : Why is Experience relevant?
In a highly commoditised environment
Experience is the true differentiator
Brick and
Mortar Online
Create excitement and
desire to purchase
Best to showcase
new products
Multisensory
engagement
Neutral online preferred
vs bad human
Best for Consistency,
convenience, scale
Lesser sensory
engagement

4. Relevance of Cinema in a Netflix Age
Experiential Social
Celebration
Outing
Friends & Family
Undisturbed
Great Sound
Big Screen
Exciting Food Shared Experience

5. Experience Design:
Elements

6. ELEMENTS OF
EXPERIENCE
INNER OUTER
CORE
NEGATIVE POSITIVE NEUTRAL

7. Core Experience
Watching the movie
The image, sound, seat comfort and
immersiveness of the theater is of
primary importance
Some people cannot perceive quality
differences in sound and image

8. Inner Experience
The experience in the cinema
environment while not watching
the movie
Includes the box office,
concession, lobby, toilets,
poster-cases, ambient music, etc.
Ample scope for differentiation
Box office, Luxe
Restroom, Palazzo

9. Outer Experience
Experiences outside the
cinema prior to or after the
cinema experience
Difficult to control

10. Negative Experiences
A negative experience is one that if
done well, does not give the customer
a sense of elation but when done badly
creates substantial negative perception
about quality
Examples – Hygiene, long queues,
broken seats, house lights not switched
off during movie
Implication – High priority
Should be fixed before working on
anything else

11. Positive Experiences
Experiences that get you to notice
and possibly go WOW
Examples – Great decor,
exceptional food quality and variety
Implications – Greatest effect
Lobby, Luxe

12. Neutral Experiences
These are interactions that don't
evoke a reaction from customers in
spite of sometimes providing
considerable value to the customer
Example - Efficient customer service
Implication - Less bang for the
buck. Can be combined with many
such neutral experiences to create
an overall positive experience
Click - Browsing Centre, Escape
Flip - Library, Escape

13. Experience Design:
Guidelines

14. Map the Existing Experience
View interactions only through the eyes of the user
Break them down in the sequence of use
Details, details, details
Purchase Post-purchase Pre-purchase
Discovery
Awareness
Attraction
Purchase
Interaction
Use
Advocacy
Cultivation
Indirect Direct

15. Brainstorm the Dream Experience
Assume money, resources,
technology and other
limitations do not exist
Push the boundaries even
exploring the impractical,
absurd solutions
Think ahead, not for today,
but 3-5 years down the line
This exercise would give a
sense of direction to a more
practical immediately usable
experience

16. Understand but don’t ask the customer
Customers know what they don't like
Rarely will they be able to give you
groundbreaking insights
Understand what would be of value
to them

17. "If I had asked people what they wanted,
they would have said faster horses.”
Henry Ford

18. Create Multisensory Interactions
Use the
environment to
interact with
multiple senses
Each interaction
should ideally trigger
multiple senses
Multisensory, more
likely to get noticed
2013, MCorp Consulting

19. Identify Unwanted Interactions
Interactions that do not enhance the
customer experience
- checking tickets
- security scan
- queues
Are they necessary? Can we simplify
them?
To prevent a few wrongs we
sometimes inconvenience a
substantial majority
Use technology where possible to
work around such an interaction

20. Look Outside the Industry
Your industry might only have a few
benchmarks.
Some of the best experiential work is
happening right now in retail, hospitality
and the casino (gaming) sector

21. Create Social Interactions
Cinema going is a social experience,
much like going to a restaurant
- You don't just go for the food
- You want to share the experience with others
Identify opportunities to create social
interactions
- Planned and Chance
Eg. Smoking Room
People interact even if they dont know
each other
Dine, Escape
Puff - Smoking Lounge, Escape

22. Manage Expectations
People perceive an interaction based
on their base expectation level
For example if the toilets were expected
to be poorly designed or average at
best they will be wowed by a great toilet
Restroom, Escape
Restroom, Escape Restroom, Luxe
Find opportunities where customers
have low expectations. Those are the
greatest opportunities to get a
customer to go WOW

23. Incremental Improvements
Redesigning experience is a
continuous process
Do it one step at a time
Make sure the new experience
is sustainable
Use a new build to make
dramatic changes if needed
Use one location as a pilot
Change is not an event,
it’s a process.
1974
2007

24. Perception vs Actual Usage
Customer perceptions are
quite often more important
than actual value
Some interactions, even
though, not used often by
people, by being available can
create a perception of overall
quality
For example, a great wine list
in a restaurant enhances the
customers appeal even
though the customer is
unlikely to order some of the
expensive wine
Bliss Spa, Escape

25. Everyone is not the same
People perceive the same experience
differently
Any experience needs to be
acceptable to all as cinemas have a
complete cross section of society as
customers
Don't create interactions where they
are perceived positively by some and
negatively by others. Worst case they
can be neutral

26. Invisible Experiences
Some experiences such as image and
sound quality are valued by all but not
perceived by some
Communicate these effectively to get
the group that has not seen the
difference

27. Change
Change in the customer experience
can be a positive and/or negative
Customers appreciate constant
innovation. Displaying intention of
change is more important than the
change itself.
Caution: Changes to habitual activity
can disrupt familiarity

28. Create Sustainable Differentiation
Find ways to ensure that competitors
can’t or won’t want to follow you
Complicate your business rather than
simplify
Build an organisation culture of
innovation that is not quickly
replicated

29. The SPI Cinemas
Experience

30. Our Experience
Lobby, Luxe

31. Our Experience
Luxe lobby

32. Our Experience
Lobby, Escape

33. Our Experience
Luxe Sathyam
Plush, Escape Kites, Escape

34. Our Experience
ID Ecstasy
Bliss Spa Dine, Escape

35. Role of Technology

36. Technology: Enhancing Experience in Cinemas
Drive Personalisation
Subtitles in a language of choice
Pre-reserved tickets for likely
to watch movies
Enhance engagement
Vote for Interval content :
Advertising, trailers
Control temperature in
auditorium as a community
Promote social interaction
Visibility on friends booking
tickets for movies
Invite people, vote for movies
and create your own shows
Reduce negative experiences
Remove waits
Remove checks

38. THANK YOU