Presentation of the research project Internet and the cinema Focus on Europe - Kidflix Special Giffoni, 19 July 2003

The background to the research Growing attention by exhibitors to the innovative forms of one-to-one marketing and to the opportunities offered by new technology for handling customer relations, to: provide information, promote and publicize your own offer, sell tickets, encourage customer loyalty, also through the growth of communities, collect data on customers (as yet little used for marketing).

The background to the research To achieve this, the tools most widely used by exhibitors at present prove to be: A Website: information on the cinema and its services and on the films, advance sales of tickets and booking of seats, sale of subscriptions, pre-paid cards, cards differing according to the type of customer, creation of communities (clubs) with access to privileged services, forums.

The background to the research registration of customers online, questionnaires, etc., dispatch of newsletters with information on films, services and events organised by the cinema SMS: dispatch of information on the cinema, its programmes and services, promotion of specific products and promotional offers, games and competitions.

The objectives of the research The research aims to discover the following facts about audiences, both adult and younger: the frequency of cinema-going; the use made of Internet and SMS; the frequency of visits to websites dealing with the cinema; the reasons behind visits to the websites of cinemas, willingness to receive information on programming and events in cinemas by Internet or SMS

The phases of the research Preparation of the questionnaire with exhibitors at the Focus on Europe event held at Castellinaria on 16 November Pilot survey on young audiences in Genoa, thanks to collaboration with the Club amici del Cinema, to test the questionnaire. Distribution of questionnaire on paper in cinemas supporting the research project throughout Europe, starting August 2003.

The phases of the research Presentation of the first results on adult audiences at the Giornate professionali del cinema in November Presentation of results on young audiences and audiences as a whole during the Focus on Europe – Kidflix Special event foreseen for Possible extension of the research to Internet users in general, placing the questionnaire on the MEDIA Salles website and sites of partners involved.

Distribution of the questionnaire Adult target group: distribution of the questionnaire on paper in the course of normal programming, on different days and at different times to be decided by the exhibitor. Return of the completed questionnaires to MEDIA Salles by 15 October 2003, for inclusion in the overall presentation of results in November. Target group of young people up to the age of 20: d istribution of the questionnaire on paper during screenings for children organised with lower and upper secondary schools, and in the course of normal programming. Return of the completed questionnaires to MEDIA Salles by 15 April 2004, for inclusion in the overall presentation of results at the next edition of Focus on Europe – Kidflix Special.

Distribution of the questionnaire With these aims in mind, MEDIA Salles provides: the questionnaire on paper, complete with data relating to the privacy laws, in Italian / English / French the questionnaire in the form of an Acrobat file, in case the exhibitor is interested in placing it on his/her own website. N.B.: two versions of the Italian and French versions are available: colloquial for young people and more formal for adults.

Elaboration of results Overall for all cinemas taking part in the research: an aggregate result by country to investigate any correlation between the use of Internet and cinema-going. For individual cinemas: elaboration of a maximum of 500 questionnaires for adult audiences and 500 for young audiences, with preparation of: a detailed analysis of the audience profile, a database with the addresses of spectators interested in receiving information from the cinema, and showing their main characteristics.

First points for reflection emerging from the pilot survey Over half the young people interviewed regularly visit three cinemas. Approximately a third of the young people never access Internet from a computer at home and only a very small percentage access Internet by mobile phone. The cinema websites most frequently visited are the official sites of films and those of actors/directors, whilst those least frequently visited are the cinema and cineclub sites and those of producing companies.

First points for reflection emerging from the pilot survey The young people who most frequently access Internet visit more or less all types of websites, independently of the frequency of their cinema-going, in particular sites of general interest (databases, archives, classifications), the cinema sections of portals and the festival sites. The young people who visit cinemas most often, independently of the frequency of their Internet usage, visit mostly sites on film culture and those of reviews, as well as the sites of specific cinemas.

First points for reflection emerging from the pilot survey The cinema sites are visited mostly for information on screening times, programmes and to read the film fact cards and/or reviews. The young people who most frequently access Internet, independently of the frequency of their cinema-going, visit cinema sites mostly to purchase tickets online, to take part in forums and to purchase/renew subscriptions.

First points for reflection emerging from the pilot survey The young people who visit cinemas most often also visit cinema websites more frequently, even if they are not frequent Internet users, to get information on programmes and events/initiatives. A small percentage of young people (around 10-15%) already receive information/promotional material from cinemas by or SMS. Over half the respondents declared they would be interested in seeing more European films, whilst they had doubts or were not interested in seeing more arthouse movies.

Head of research : Elisabetta Brunella Statistics consultant Paola Bensi – Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Work group : Dori Agrosì, Laura Bonfante, Maria Vittoria Gatti, Maria Grazia Moretti