#SustainabilityMonth: How Cinemark is walking the CSI talk

Matsau

The MOST awards recognise knowledge of own brands as well as the broader media landscape, knowledge of client brands and the market landscape, service delivery, innovation, authority and involvement. Asked what the MOST Award win means to Cinemark, Matsau calls it acknowledgement by the industry of their ongoing efforts to do better every day. Talking us through the specific challenges of media ownership in SA then, Matsau says with the pace of change in our industry, challenges come thick and fast, with the big one ‘remaining relevant’.

It’s more than just providing the right channel for advertisers through, say, innovation – he believes it’s about a complete understanding of the customer relationship ecosystem and the role each of us plays. This relevance and client-centric approach to everything is at the essence of what sustainability means to Cinemark. Matsau says taking on corporate social responsibility initiatives as part of a broader strategy of corporate social responsibility “has to come from an authentic desire to help and change the lives of our communities – it’s walking your talk”.

He adds that the Ster-Kinekor marketing team achieved that with the recent Vision Mission #OpenEyes campaign as it’s “a wonderfully emotive and engaging piece that not only perfectly utilises the environment, but also conveys a powerful message.”

Celia Collins from Carat, handing over the 2016 MOST award for best media owner – cinema category award to the Cinemark sales team – Claire Smith, Eric Blignaut, Kim Cox, Lynne Marshall and Leslie Adams.

They’ve also partnered with SANBS for a number of years, as well as the Sunflower Fund, Pink Drive and Save the Rhino, to mention a few. Interestingly, in each instance cinema has provided a channel that effortlessly connects with the ‘human side’ of people. Brands of today need to do so to ensure their long-term success. While there are basics to fulfil, Matsau believes bravery and integrity are the drivers of long-term success. “Going against the grain has produced hundreds of examples of changing the way our world works. Coupled with integrity, well, I don’t think there’s a more powerful combination,” he concludes.

Cinema: The captive media platform

Cinemark’s recent MOST Award win is proof of this. Explaining how the cinema category differs from other media when it comes to advertising in particular, which is part of the package with cinema, as opposed to a mere distraction in others, Matsau says many people forget that the cinema has been around for more than 120 years because humans love to escape; to be immersed in an experience, a story. So the advertiser gets all these beautiful emotive things that cannot be bought through any other channel.

Effectively, “the moment the moviegoer steps over the threshold of the cinema they are ours and we have their undivided attention. 74% of cinema-goers say that they like the ads and view it as part of the experience. They find them more enjoyable and almost half claim to have been influenced in one way or another by them.” That’s a clear difference over TV advertising, which many skip over or even use as a reason to get up and complete other tasks before the show continues.

Click here for the full list of 2016 MOST award winners and here for a reminder of the Vision Mission #OpenEyes integrated campaign Grand Prix win at the Loeries 2016. The FoxP2 case study is embedded below: