5 Indian Multiplex Industry[1] Neha

Indian Multiplex Industry

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Table of Contents

# Contents Page #

1 Entertainment Industry 04

2 Multiplex 05

3 Services offered by a Typical Multiplex 07

4 Players of Indian Multiplex Industry 08

5 Marketing Mix of Multiplexes 10

6 Scope of Multiplex 22

7 Risks and Concerns 24

8 SWOT Analysis 25

9 Why is there a Multiplex Boom? 26

10 Why are Multiplexes preferred over single screens for movie

viewers?

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11 Segmentation and Target Group 30

12 Marketing Media Channels for Communication 31

13 Marketing Strategies 32

14 Are the single screen theatres in India going to die soon? 34

15 Strike Issue of Multiplexes 35

16 References and Sources 38


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Acknowledgement We, the students of TYBMS of the GN Khalsa College express our

heartfelt gratitude for this fantastic opportunity given to us by

Profesorr Shobha Mathews. This project has enriched our

knowledge and experience. It will be our Endeavour to do such

better projects in the near future. The mistakes which we might

have done will be definitely corrected and we are most obliged to

you for giving us this opportunity to prove our skills.

Thank you Ma’am.


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Our Team

Name Roll #

Gurminder Singh 05

Raja Singh 08

Yashovardhan Bichu 18

Kanika Datta 22

Gurleen Kaur 38

Sahil Mhadkar 39


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Entertainment Industry

One of the fastest growing sectors of the economy is entertainment industry.

Entertainment today dictates our lives, education, careers, earning money, all

lead to the quest for higher and sophisticated entertainment.

One seeks knowledge to improve the quality of life. The quality of life improves

when the basic requirement of life are supplemented with entertainment in some

form or other.

Considering the current scenario, the entertainment industry is totally different

from the past, as the modes of media used for providing services were different

before the 20th century when compared with the present media. This can be

explained properly with the bifurcation below

A Look at the Traditional live entertainment industry:

Theater - Play writers, Actors and Theater directors

Music – Composers, Songwriters, Singers, Musicians and Orchestras.

Publication – Authors, Journalists, Publishers and Printers

A Look at the 20th century mass media industry:

Film studios, Cinemas, Broadcasting, Record industry, Theme parks,

Discothèques et al.

Indian Film Industry is a part and parcel of entertainment industry. It is most

popular and affordable mass entertainment media in India. Almost 1000 movies

are produced every year, so it is very critical to manage this industry, to manage

its distribution, exhibition, etc.


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Multiplex

Multiplex is a medium that offers a person composite entertainment comprising

of a one stop destination to shop, entertain, and dine and watch a Varity of

movies under a common roof. Multiplex are one of the means of lifestyle that

offer to viewers the choice of watching a movie in a five star or three star

environment.

The Multiplex model is based on concept of umbrella entertainment built around

a primary anchor- movie. The revenue streams, however, do not necessarily

centre on a single anchor. Typically, the possible income generating channels in

a Multiplex can include.

The box office collections

Rent from display system

Food & beverage

Product lunch rentals

Promotions by companies to promote consumer goods.

Presently there are approximately 13000 screens in India with equal

number of space available for the same amount of theatres to be opened.

The word multiplex has two meanings. Firstly it is a medium that often its

consumers full entertainment including the pleasure of shopping, dining,

enjoying and watching a wide range of movies under a common platform.

Secondly it is a type of technology which is referred as Multiplexing with the

help of this technology the same movie can be shown simultaneously in all the

screens of the Multiplex with minor difference of 3 seconds between their

screenings.


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Multiplexes in India are given benefits for their development as they form a

major part of the entertainment industry. Benefits such as overall tax

concession, reduction in entertainment tax and so on are provided by the govt.

The Problems faced by the Multiplex Industry

Indiscipline among filmmakers. This made the industry fragmented and

disorganized.

Piracy leading to massive losses for the industry.

Lack of resources in terms of finance, human etc.

Lack of corporatized management. Limited studio space and lack of security

lending to an expensive foreign locales resulting in drain of resources.

Reluctance of financial institutions to fund non asset based ventures

Lack of expertise to handle latest equipments.


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Services offered by a Typical Multiplex 4 Screens: A normal multiplex has 4 screens with 8-10 movies running as per

schedules and thus giving the audience variety of choices to choose the desired

movie.

Ticketing options: The ticketing options in multiplexes are very systematic as

compared to a normal single screen theatre. There are lots of options available

for booking the tickets such as advance booking, home delivery, internet

booking, tele-booking and current booking. Thus, one doesn’t has to spend a lot

of time in booking a ticket as there are various options available.

Cafeteria: The multiplexes also have cafeteria in their vicinity which gives the

consumers limited options to satisfy their hunger and thirst as quickly as

possible during the screening of the movies.

Entertainment: Entertainment facilities are available for the children within the

multiplex arena in the form of games arcade, fun house etc. Also, special events

such as Valentines Day, Friendship Day and many more are organized which

entertain the teenagers.

Malls: The invent of malls within the multiplex and vice versa has made

shopping easier as everything can be done under a common roof, from enjoying

to shopping, dinning etc.

Restaurants: They also form a part and parcel of the multiplex and satisfy the

consumers with wide range of food and beverages. Imax Adlabs has Sarson Da

Saag, Spice of Italy and various other restaurants under its roof.


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Players of Indian Multiplex Industry 1. PVR CINEMAS

Strong operational performance

Aggressive expansion plans

Foray into co-production

Leading Multiplex operator

Entertainment tax burden to decline

2. INOX LEISURE

Consistent performer

Impressive capacity ramp-up over the last 4 yrs:

Top 25 cites - compelling growth stories

E-Tax exemptions

3. BIG CINEMAS

Integrated Play on the Media & Entertainment Sector

Exhibition Segment - The largest player

Expansion through acquisitions

Future Plans

Film Processing - Leader controlling 70% of market

Film Production & Distribution


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4. CINEMAX

Cinemax India (Cinemax) is one of the smallest multiplex exhibitors

56 screens across 19 properties

Majority of the screens concentrated in the Mumbai territory.

Predominant presence in the Western region

The largest exhibitor in the Mumbai territory with a 35% share of the

multiplex screens in Mumbai.

Cinemax is now focused on expanding its presence across the rest of India and

is seeking to aggressively add capacity across other regions

5. FUN CINEMAS

Fun Cinemas is a cinema chain in India based in Mumbai owned by the Essel

Group and promoted by E-City Ventures.

The company operates with the brand name Fun Cinemas (the premium

brand) and Talkie Town (the value brand) for all theatrical presence and

cinema activity and Fun Gaming, for all game-based leisure options.

Currently, the company has around 140 cinema screens: 45 ‘premium’ screens

under the Fun Cinemas brand and 90 digital screens. The company plans to

have 300 Fun Cinemas screens, 250 Talkie Town screens and 1,000 digital

screens by the year 2011.Fun Cinemas caters to the premium segment and

promises facilities such as service-on-seats, online booking, and a loyalty

program.


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Marketing Mix of Multiplexes Marketing Mix is the set of marketing tools that the organization uses to pursue

its marketing objectives in target market. Marketing mix decisions must be made

for influencing the trading channels as well as the final customers.

Multiplexes forming a part of service industry have their own marketing mix,

which are:

The 7ps actually differ a bit from company to company. The analysis done is on

the basis of general considerations


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Product Services offered are the elements that make up the total service package and

include both tangible and intangible components. A typical product package

offered by a multiplex includes the following:

Ticketing options: The ticketing options in multiplexes are very systematic.

There are lots of options available for booking the tickets such as advance

booking, home delivery, internet booking, tele booking and current booking.

Entertainment: Entertainment facilities are available for the children within the

multiplex arena in the form of games arcade, fun house etc. Also, special events

such as Valentine’s Day, Friendship Day and many more are organized which

entertain the teenagers.

Air conditioner: Multiplexes are fully air conditioned which add to the luxury.

Cross word: Now day’s multiplexes have book libraries and cross words for

book lovers.

Food Courts and Restaurants: Now day’s multiplexes provide you with a

variety of food in their food courts and multiplexes also have restaurants so that

one can have a dinning cum movie experience. IMAX BIG CINEMAS has

Sarson Da Saag, Spice of Italy and various other restaurants under its roof.

Parking Facility: Multiplexes now days have huge parking area with proper

parking facilities for the cinema lovers.

Luxury Recliner seats: Multiplexes are now equipped with elegant and

comfortable recliner seats for a luxury comfort taking the movie experience to a

new level


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Below the table are different product levels existing in multiplex and the

expectations made by the consumers.

Product level Expectations made by the consumer

Generic (the basic benefit) Viewing space in the multiplex, view

the movie with the latest technology.

Expected (the expected benefit)

Cleanliness in the multiplex, punctuality

in start timings of the show, comfortable

seating arrangements.

Augmented (in addition to the expected

benefit)

Apart from the good quality of viewing,

one expects great ambience, helpful

employees, sophisticated interiors.

Potential (beyond the usual, pleasant

surprise)

Incentives provided by the multiplex,

reward system.


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Price The art of effective pricing is to establish a price level that is low to represent

good level to the buyers but yet it should be high enough to allow the service

provider to make his profit. Thus, the price level of marketing mix is considered

to be most critical component both from the economic as well the social point of

view.

Indian multiplex follow 2 methods of pricing:

Cost based pricing – It is also referred as cost plus pricing. It determines cost

of service delivery as well as predetermined rate of profit in order to arrive at

a price. It is necessary to analyze all cost accurately and differentiate between

fixed and variable costs in order to use the costs as a basis for pricing

decisions.

Competition based pricing – In this method the price is determined on the

basis of competitor’s price. Now the major competitors are single screen

movie theatres and other multiplexes.

For eg. The rates for single screen theatres are Rs. 100 whereas the rates in

multiplexes are Rs. 250. Thus, there is a very high variation in prices in the

multiplexes when compared to the single screen theatres. To cope up with the

prices of the single screen movie theatres, nowadays multiplexes have priced

Rs. 60 for its early morning shows that are screened regularly.

The prices of tickets in multiplexes are quite high because of the ambience,

comfort and the services provided by the multiplexes. The price of multiplex

tickets varies according to the show timings and movies. The ticket prices are

quite less for the morning shows. Nowadays multiplexes have priced

Rs 50 - Rs60 for its early morning shows that are screened regularly.


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The PVR rates begin at Rs.90 and go up to Rs.225 on weekends. Its new luxury

multiplex has tickets priced at Rs.750, with fully reclining seats and

personalized menu to boot.

The Big Cinemas tickets usually vary from cities to cities and they are higher for

good cities like Delhi and Mumbai. The Big Cinemas ticket pricing also depends

upon the services offered and the amount of people who come here to watch the

movie. Therefore the Big Cinemas ticket pricing is usually less during the

weekdays but certainly mo suing the Sunday and the holidays. But though the

Big Cinemas ticket price is high still people prefer it.

The Big Cinemas ticket pricing also varies from place to place as the more

developed places have greater facilities thus the prices are also high. Therefore

you will come across some minor differences between the Big Cinemas ticket

price. The Big Cinemas tickets purchasing can be done through the online mode

also. The online mod helps in saving a lot of time. The Big Cinemas ticket

pricing is a combination of the price of the ticket and the tax added to it.

Therefore one can see that the Big Cinemas tickets are more than the others just

because of the comfort and the facilities that they offer. For the people price is

not important but comfort is more important.


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Promotion One of the key and the most important elements to marketing mix is promotion

which is used for the purpose of encouraging sales and also helps to convey the

customer the position of the services offered by the multiplexes. Also promotion

helps to create awareness among the customer. The tools used by multiplex

industry for the marketing of services are advertising, sales promotion, direct

marketing, news papers, postage and web. These tools are used to create

favorable response from the target audience.

The biggest advantage to the multiplex is that it has a very wider area of scope to

carry out its promotional as well as day-to-day activities. Also, one of the

important reasons is that it is located in the centre of the city which makes it

easily accessible from all the sides.

Due to large space, many companies and organizations market their own product

and services within the multiplex as they are able to target their own set of target

customers. Also, many of these organizations give advertisements to be screened

on the 4-screens. Out of the amount spent by the organizations for advertising

2% of it comes in the use for cinemas as a part of promotions, films, slides and

signage.

Every multiplex has its own set of objectives when it follows the promotional

strategies. The most important strategies are:

1. Awareness: The multiplex takes full care that its objective of, ‘making the

multiplex familiar to one and all’ is accomplished. But now their main

objective has been shifted to boost up sales with the help of many

promotional activities.


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2. Brand Visibility: Branding should be done in such a way that the people

have good recall value for it which helps to increase sales. The brand

visibility is done by making the people aware about the logo of multiplex, its

location, accessibility and various such factors.

3. Induce Sales: Selling the services is one of the key issues of a multiplex.

Their services include viewing of movies, cafeterias, entertainment arena

and so on. The increase in sale is possible only due to the promotional

activities.

4. Induce first time trial: This can be done for those individuals or those

groups of people who are unaware about such concept of the multiplex and

the benefits derived from it.

Other Promotional Services

1. Loop Mobile Offer: Buy 1 movie ticket and get 1 Free for any movie, any

show on Friday

Loop Mobile has tied up with Cinemax multiplex chain and Sterling Cinema

in a bid to captivate its subscribers with the magic of Movies every Friday.

Loop Mobile subscribers can now watch a new movie every Friday with

Loop Mobile ‘First Day, First Show’.

The association allows Loop Mobile subscribers to avail one free movie

ticket on the purchase of one movie ticket. This is for any movie; any show

timing and every Friday.

One can also purchase a combo pack of ‘regular Popcorn & Coke’ at just Rs.

50. Through this tie-up with all 13 Cinemax theatres and Sterling Cinema in

Mumbai, Loop Mobile subscribers located anywhere in the city will be at

convenience.


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2. Vodafone launches Vodafone Tuesdays (Buy one movie ticket and get one

free on Tuesdays)

Vodafone, one of India’s leading cellular service providers has introduced

Vodafone Tuesdays wherein Vodafone customers can enjoy the exclusive

scheme of getting two movie tickets for the price of one.

The Vodafone Tuesdays offer is available at select movie theatres across

Fame, Cinemax and single-screen theatres like Roxy, Premier, Premier Gold,

Sterling and Orama 4D.

The coupons for a forthcoming Tuesday can be downloaded by any

Vodafone subscriber on any day of the week.


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Physical Evidence In order to judge the quality of services, the customers rely on tangible cues.

Physical evidence thus aims at enhancing the customer’s perception of the

services offered. It also influences the employee’s performance at the time of

service delivery process.

Essential evidence and peripheral evidence are the two elements of physical

facilities. Both these elements should be well coordinated in order to understand

the potential impact and create the desired image of excellence in services.

Essential evidence are dominant features like the building area of the multiplex,

its parking area, signboards, etc. whereas the peripherals evidence are less

dominant features such as the admission cards for its members (staff).

Thus physical evidence of multiplex can be summarized into:

Ambience factors

Air Conditioning

Excellent ventilation

Clean floors, wash rooms and surrounding

Design factors

Uniform Appearance

Extensive parking lot

Spacious interiors

Social Factors

Well dressed employees

Courteous

Family atmosphere


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Place Place includes the surrounding, the actual location of the multiplex, accessibility

from various places, facilities available and other place related factors. The place

decision of the multiplex depends on the location and the distribution channel.

The main problem for creation of channels for services is that they cannot be

manufactured in one place and distributed all over. They can be offered from

either single outlets or multiple outlets.

FAME, CINEMAX and BIG CINEMAS are the best examples of an

organization that has multiplex outlets situated at various places of the city and

provides movie viewing services with latest technology.

The Place factor plays a crucial role in case of multiplexes, this is because

people are basically concerned with accessibility of the place, in case the place is

out of the city then people won’t prefer going there because of the time and cost

involved in reaching the movie theatre.

On the contrary if the Multiplex is located somewhere in the prime location or

near railway stations then people can easily reach there and hence they prefer

these multiplexes. Eg: Sion Cinemax

Secondly, the place selected should be safe and clean viz. the locality and the

crowd surrounding the place has to be decent and safe, this is a must because all

the people come with their families and friends.

Thirdly, there has to be abundant place for parking of vehicles, many people

have their personal cars/bikes hence parking space needs to be there in any

cinema hall.

Generally there is a pay and park system in the cinema halls but as a marketing

strategy they can stop charging for parking so that more people prefer the place.


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People In case of multiplexes, for that matter any other service as well, the employees

very often represent the company and are responsible for the image created in

the mind of their customers.

People i.e. the human resource is the most important factor of any company, be

it service sector/ manufacturing sector.

The service provider must train and equip the frontline staff with the capabilities

to perform the service, in order to deliver quality service to the customer. This

causes the service firm to integrate appropriate human resource practices into its

strategies.

The working staff in a multiplex must be decent, soft spoken, cooperative and

helpful; in case there is an emergency like health problems/fire problems then

they should help the customers in whatever way possible.

In case any female needs any kind of help then there must be women attendants

present in the premises.

The security also needs to be strict and tight so that there is a sense of safety and

security in the minds of the people.

People have a direct link with the profits of the organization and thus the

management strives hard in developing “Customer Conscious Employees”.

It is the people, who play an important role in overall progress and development

of the organization.

The people’s way of dealing with its customers helps them to create a better

image for the organization (multiplex) and this in turn help in creating good

image in the minds of the people for the multiplex which in turn increases the

profitability of the multiplex.


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Process The process of a service refers to how a service is provided and delivered to the

customer.

To design the process of a service various factors are involved such as

Location facility

Design and layout for effective workflow

Procedures and job definitions for service providers

Extent of customer involvement

Measures to ensure service quality

Equipment selection

Adequate service capability.

Every multiplex has a well defined and systematic process designed by their IT

team.

The process should be designed according to the ease of use and understanding

of the staff that will be operating the system.

For instance, in case of booking tickets, there are a lot of options which one has

like advance booking, home delivery, internet booking, tele booking and current

booking. So there must be proper record maintained of all these bookings so that

there is no confusion. If not done precisely then there can be incidents where two

different persons can get the same seats for the same movie show which will

create further issues.

There has to be a systematic and elaborate process in all the departments like the

Security Department, Administration Department and the cleaning staff for

proper coordination.


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Scope of Multiplex The cinema exhibition industry in India is growing at 10% per annum driven by

multiplexes, which are expanding rapidly in major metropolitan cities as well as

second and third tier cities. Favorable demographics in a cinema-crazy nation,

tax exemptions, and quality locations such as malls, are driving growth of

multiplexes in India. Most of the multiplexes in India are anchor tenants in the

large format malls making a favorite destination for the youngsters as well as the

families. Multiplexes captured the market as complete family entertainment

centers. The digital revolution has helped the Media and Entertainment industry

to go digital. There are more than 100 digital cinemas in India today.

They, along with the multiplexes have completely transformed the experience of

the viewers. With an increase in the incomes of the people and increasing

expenditure on the leisure activities, multiplexes are poised for high growth in

India. Other than the sale of the movies tickets, Food & beverages is the major

source of revenue for the multiplexes. Space economies and the optimal

utilization of the capacities are the major advantages or benefits that the

multiplexes enjoy over single screen theatres.

India currently has 11500 existing screens, 95% are standalone, single screens.

These single screen cinemas are poorly maintained as the owners find it difficult

to upgrade and renovate their facilities, due to unavailability of organized

finance. The deteriorating quality of these cinemas dissuaded viewers and they

started using alternative viewing options.


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Over the last few years, multiplexes have emerged as a trend in urban India.

"Multiplexes" are essentially cinemas with 3 or more screens. They provide a

quality viewing experience and are generally located around shopping malls to

increase footfalls in these malls. Each screen in a multiplex has small seating

capacities in the range of 150-300 seats as compared to single screen cinemas

which have capacities in the range of 800-1,200 seats.

With around 11500 active screens, India is under screened. China, which

produces far lesser films than India has 65,000 screens while the US has 36,000.

India’s screen density stands low at 12 screens per million populations. There is

a need of at least 20,000 screens as against the current 11500. This gives

multiplex operators enough room to grow as the traditional single-screen

theatres do not have the financial wherewithal nor do they enjoy tax incentives.

India's craze for films has not been fully exploited by the "Film Exhibition"

industry due to the lack of screen density in the country coupled with the poor

quality of screens. "Multiplex Cinemas" offer an alternative to tap this potential

by providing a quality experience to the viewer as well as economies to the

multiplex operator.

"Films" has been one of the integral components of the Indian entertainment

industry contributing nearly 27% of the total revenues of the entertainment

industry. Besides, films also contribute to other components of the entertainment

industry like music, television and live entertainment. The Indian film industry

is one of the most complex and fragmented national film industries in the world

comprising of a number of regional film industries like Hindi, Tamil, Telugu,

Kannada and others.


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Risks and Concerns Slowdown in content supply - As multiplexes are the consumers of content, they

have no control over the supply quality and quantity. Multiplexes thrive on

rising footfalls which in turn depend on the better supply of films from

producers. Hence, any disruption on the supply side will definitely have a

negative impact on the multiplex players' growth.

Alternative entertainment avenues - Movies compete for customer attention with

other forms of entertainment viz. DVDs, TV, cricket, festivals etc. An increased

acceptability of these avenues will divert footfalls away from multiplexes.

Mall development delays - Supply of quality real estate has been a problem in

the past for multiplex players. Mall delays due to various reasons will hurt

expansion plans of the companies. We are building in a 50% delay in mall

handovers to the multiplexes in our analysis. Any delay more than this will hurt

future growth of multiplexes.

Uncertainty over entertainment tax - Entertainment tax in India is among the

highest in the world leading to a much higher occupancy levels required for

break even of multiplexes. Even though state governments have announced tax

free windows for these players, uncertainty looms over the viability of

multiplexes after the window expires. We believe that the levels entertainment

tax will come down in the future, otherwise any increase will be passed on to the

consumer to a large extent like it is done at present.

Worsening economic environment - The whole footfall growth story depends on

rising prosperity in the country leading to higher discretionary consumer spends.

If the economic environment starts worsening for a prolonged period, it will

affect patronage levels negatively pulling down top line growths.


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SWOT Analysis Strengths:

Entertainment is one of the most booming sectors in India due to its vast

customer reach & a large customer base.

Change in the lifestyle and spending patterns of the Indian masses on

entertainment. Indian film industry is second largest in the world and the largest

in terms of the films produced and tickets sold.

Weaknesses:

The Entertainment sector in India is highly fragmented.

The lack of efforts for media penetration in lower socio-economic classes,

where the media penetration is low.

Opportunities:

The Indian film industry is the largest film industry in the world in terms of

number of films produced and tickets sold each year expecting growth will be

continue in upcoming years in to producing movies.

The increasing interest of the global investors in the sector.

Opportunities for expansion in the rural areas (which is still untouched).

THREATS:

Piracy, violation of intellectual property rights and High Real Estate price is a

huge barrier to profitability of this sector.

Lack of quality content and increasing competition from other entertainment

sources like IPL has emerged as a major concern.


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Why is there a Multiplex Boom?

In India there are about 20,000 theatres and there is a plenty of space and resources

for an equivalent number of theatres to be started all over. Thus, there is a high

growth rate for the multiplexes in the entertainment industry. Due to the high

growth rate of the multiplex industry; various benefits are provided by the

government such as overall tax concessions, reduction in entertainment tax and so

on in order to motivate the industry person. Some of the other factors involved are

given below:

Aspirations: There is a huge group of people who are very ambitious and have a

status symbol (premium or the top class) or desire to possess it. Thus, these

groups of people prefer to have an edge over others (middle and lower class) by

viewing movies in a multiplex rather than a single screen theatre as it is a matter

of pride and honor for them.

Attitudinal Change: Gone are the days when one used to think about saving the

money by not going to the theatre along with the family to watch a movie and

instead go out for a picnic to enjoy the whole day. Gradually, this concept has

changed now because if a person plans to spend his whole day for enjoyment

along with his family, then multiplexes are the best option as they have

everything from shopping stores to restaurants, cafeteria, games corner and so

on.

Combination of various facilities: The concept of satisfying the consumer

under one common roof is growing rapidly allover the world. Thus there are two

types of combinations found;


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One is a “Mall with a Multiplex”. E.g. ‘R Mall has a multiplex ‘R Adlabs’

within itself. Recently, Fame Adlabs too opened its new multiplex in Malad

within the mall named “Inorbit”.

Second is a “Multiplex with shopping Facilities and various Amenities” within

its roof. E.g. Imax Adlabs is a multiplex having within its games arena, cafeteria

and other such amenities. Also, a person can shop during the promotional

activities carried out by various companies within the multiplex and take

advantage of various benefits and offers provided by them.

The relationship between the multiplexes and the malls is referred as the “Synergy

Effect”. It thus helps in satisfying the consumer with the required amount of

amenities and facilities needed by bringing all the required resources under one

common roof. This helps the consumer to enjoy his whole day at one common

place instead of planning to go to various places in order to shop, dine and have

fun with his family members.

Provides employment facilities even for those who are not involved directly:

This is one of the interesting cases found in the multiplexes. There are many

departments involved in the smooth functioning of the multiplex such as Human

Resource, Marketing, Food & Beverages, Administration and so on. All these

departments are employed directly as per the requirements. Now, there is also a

lot of employment scope for those people who are not involved directly in the

multiplex industry. Many of the multiplexes that have huge space such as Imax

Adlabs organize many events such as children’s day, teacher’s day, child festival

and so on. Thus, to organize such events many people from outside are involved

such as decorators, musicians, caterers who indirectly gets employed.


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More number of screens: This is one of the most important reasons for the

multiplex boom. These are more screens, roughly 3-5, when compared to the

normal movie theater (Single Screen). As there are many screens in the

multiplex, people get a huge variety and range of movies to view. Also, the

movie timings are flexible and thus a customer can view any movie of their

choice as per their availability and convenience. Due to this the turnover of

audiences as compared to the single screen theatres are relatively very high.

Risk minimization: Also, the benefit that the multiplex has over the single

screen movie theatre is the ‘risk minimization’ factor. The multiplex has various

partners, various company collaborations, and thus they work together to

achieve the goals set up by the organization. Also, the risk is minimized when

the space is let out to various corporate organizations such as Reliance,

Vodafone, HDFC, Citibank and so on for product launches and various

promotional launches.


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Why are Multiplexes preferred over single screens for movie viewers?

On the basis of our analysis, 72% of the people think that Multiplexes are better

options than Single Screen (Cineplex) whereas, only 28% negate the fact. The

reason behind this can simply be answered by pointing out the difference

between single screen and multiplexes.

The mushrooming of multiplexes has thrown up huge competition amongst

multiplexes and is giving the stand-alone theatres a run for their money.

However, multiplex owners are still upbeat about their business. “In India, we

had 3,100 million admissions last year and only 12 screens per million. So there

is a huge potential for growth. The road ahead for theatre owners is both exciting

and challenging. “The service industry is ever changing and you have to change

proactively.

Multiplexes Single Screens The multiplexes enjoy rebates and exemptions from the government. (eg - Entertainment Tax)

Single Screen doesn’t enjoy such exemptions on part of government

They just don’t offer movie but also offer so called add-on facilities

Cineplex on the other hand offer only movies and no extra facilities.

They offer customer with choice in different movies

Single screens don’t offer such facilities with no options to the customers

Talking of the ambience, multiplex offer better sitting , Dolby digital sounds and good graphics for viewers

Single screens on the other hand don’t offer such facilities to viewers.

Multiplexes, by offering food courts, ATM Facility, shopping facilities can offer Add value to money to customers.

Single Screen on the other hand doesn’t offer add value to money to the customer’s income.


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Segmentation and Target Group Segmentation helps marketer to identify Target market clearly and on the basis

of that marketer plans strategies and attract the audience. It’s done on the basis

of Demographic, Psychographic and behavioural differences of the consumers.

According to the research Multiplex owner has conducted, the come up with

three categories signifies different groups of people and their behaviour which

plays a very important role in making decisions. They are

1. Groucho (Age grp. 25 – 44 yr.) This group consist of 32% of Mumbai audience (Premium Group) They visit the cinema halls occasionally (Once in 3 month) Prefer to watch Hindi Thriller movies and also Regional movies. Come late to movies at least by 15 minutes and Prefer to watch with family.

2. Westerner (Age group is 35 – 55 yr) This group consist of 5% of Mumbaikars residing in western part of the city.

Visit cinema hall regularly (Once per week)

Prefer to watch English movies as action, animation.

Come 10 minute late to movie hall and prefer to watch movie with family and children.

3. Geeks (Age group is of 15 – 24 yrs)

This group consist of 27 % of the population from other part of the city. Visit cinema hall frequently (Once in a month) Prefer to watch hindi action, war Dubbed English movies either alone or with

friends Enters 5 minutes late in the movie hall.


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Marketing Media Channels for Communication

Print - Print medias such as Newspaper, magazines, journals, pamphlets, poster

etc.at he time of release of movie, these medias are used to advertise intensively.

Eg. Bombay Times, Mid-day.

Radio - Second most used medium. Multiplexes attract customers by various

contests on Radio. Leading Radio stations Radio Mirchi, Radio City etc

Web - Personal website for multiplex is used by firm to market the movie.

Promotional activities and the new happenings along with new releases

information been provide on website. Bookings also been done on website.

SMS - The database of numbers is collected from the customers who watch

movies. And then promotional activities, new release movies, reminder to

bookers is been done via sms.

Hoardings - This is used to recall customers about the movies being screened at

multiplex. Hoardings are placed both at populated place and in multiplex.

Tie-ups - Multiplex has tie-ups only when it has promotional activities to be

conducted within its premises. It works with the company that is promoting and

markets both the company’s product as well as officials of multiplex.

Public relation - Writing and giving any promotion and it take care of any

misunderstanding between consumer and multiplex.

In-house Branding: This promotional activities been taken in the premises of

multiplex. Different sections like, entertainment area, cafe area and dome area

and so on. Every section tries their best to retain the viewer.


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Marketing Strategies Movie Marketing: this is one of the most important areas which is marketed &

helps in creating a brand image for the company. The main focus is to market

the movies that are big screened along with creating & making aware the people

about the multiplex. Also during such premier’s press & various media channels

are invited to cover the whole premier event which has a positive effect on the

multiplex. As stars are called for the premiers of special movies along with

outside people, this act as s “synergy effect” and thus more & more number of

people become aware about the multiplex and its day to day activities. All above

this with the help of various media channels, huge & extensive advertising is

done for the movies which add to the recall value on the minds of the people.

Café Marketing: This is an altogether new concept started and undertaken by

multiplexes for marketing its movies. It basically helps in promoting its movies

with the help of eatables sold in the cafeteria within the premises of the

multiplex. Here the eatables are named after the movies & various film stars

during the release of much hyped & successful movies.

E.g. Fame Adlabs during the release of the movie “Choker Bali” arranged

special Bengali dishes relating with the theme of the movie. The concept

became a huge success and now a separate section is being for the Bengali

dishes. The café situated within the given arena in multiplex.

Special Events Marketing: the positive point that multiples gains over others is

that along with the screening of various movies it also screens special event such

as F1, cricket matches, various documentaries and social messages that are to be

passed n community. Multiplex also organize celebration of religious festivals as


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well as special days such as valentine day, friendship day, Independence Day &

republic day & events such child fest. Also, it arranges for many events &

birthday parties as per the customers demands. Such activities give unique

experience to its customers who feel the same home & personalized atmosphere

present there.

Tie up With Various Corporate: Multiplex has tie-up with many corporate

associates as they help each other in their day to day activities. Both of these go

hand in hand. Their relationship is of “give & take” type; it is like the corporates

organize or the host the events that are conducted in the multiplex & in turn the

multiplex gives it sales indirectly.

E.g. “Women’s Day Celebration” on 8th March in ‘IMAX’ by ‘Citibank’. It was

a huge success for both made their customers satisfied & also lot more loyal

customers for them.

Movie Shootings & Advertisements: Multiplex also allows shootings for

movies & advertisements as it helps to publicize & create a brand name for

itself. Movie shootings, advertisements take place here because of the ambient

factors & also space the surrounding. Also it acts as a business activity as the

movie makers are not given the premises free of cost.

Special Screening of Hollywood Movies: A new concept started by many

multiplex is the screening of Hollywood movies at their theatres. These special

screenings are referred as “Midnight Matinees”. Midnight Matinees is another

innovative attempt on the part of multiplex to combine various elements of

leisure & partying with cinema viewing.


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Are the single screen theatres in India going to die soon?

With the boom in the multiplexes and the trend of multiplexes which can be seen

in India, a question has been raised that, are single screens going to die soon.

The perfect answer to this will be a big “NO”. Our analysis shows that more

than 70% of people prefer going to multiplexes as compared to Single Screen,

but “The bigger the mob the greater the thrill” is an old saying. In a country like

India where people still say that a movie should have to a PAISA VASOOL, it

shows that the expenditure on movie or price of movie tickets has always been a

question.

Multiplexes offering tickets at around Rs 150 cannot call for large chunk of

audience on account of high prices. On the other hand, if a common middle class

family-- comprising a man, his wife and two thinks of venturing out into a

multiplex on a Saturday evening, the idea doesn’t seem too pleasing, if you

count the costs!

The Indian film industry is the world’s largest, churning out more than 1,000

films each year. There are an estimated 11500 cinemas in India. Of those, nearly

600 are multiplexes and around 10900 single screens.

No doubt the road ahead for single screens is very challenging and exciting.

Single theatres would do well in smaller towns where multiplexes don’t go.

They can price themselves on par or maybe slightly above the numerous video

parlors that are thriving in the rural areas. They themselves have to look and

explore their potential to serve better in the rural or their expected market.


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Strike Issue of Multiplexes

What was This Multiplex Strike All About

With the emergence of phenomenon like liberalization and globalization, society

and culture of every country has taken a leap. We can see transmission of ideas,

trends, culture and behavior across the global. One of the trends that have caught

the momentum in the past decade is the ‘ERA OF MULTIPLEX’.

The reasons for the same can be attributed the fact that over the past couple of

years, the dynamics of movie making has changed dramatically. Not only has

the craft of story telling changed, the audiences have as well.

Case in point a film like Chak De or even Dev D. Till a couple of years back you

wouldn't have imagined these films gaining acceptance, forget becoming hits.

This has largely been possible due to a growing section of audiences collectively

and colloquially defined as the "multiplex audiences".

These are the upwardly mobile section of the audience which don't mind paying

for a story well told, no matter how unconventional it is. This in turn has given

rise to the multiplexes – swish, clean, popcorn-smelling environments which

woo you with combo meals and a great film. Producers were quick to spot this

trend and starting creating cinema which was largely aimed at the "multiplex

audience".

What they didn't realise was that in the bargain they were creating a goliath that

would in turn start dictating terms to them and that's where the seeds of this

conflict were sown. Multiplexes and distributors / producers starting conflicting


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on revenue share. With each movie would start a new bout of conflict over who

gets how much, with each party expecting more, Multiplexes wanted a larger

share in the pie as according to them, they get the audiences to see the movies.

However, distributors / producers would argue that content generation is more

critical hence they should get an equal share if not more.

A couple of other issues like the multiplexes inability to clear huge amount of

out standings towards the distributors, not sharing the benefit of certain

incentives given to them by the government with the distributor, led to the

eventual deadlock.

Bollywood producers incurred losses running into hundred of crores due to the

strike over revenue-sharing between producers, distributors and multiplex

owners. This ended when the multiplexes have agreed on sharing revenue of all

movie ticket sales for the :

For First Week 50-50 basis

For Second Week 47-53 basis

For Third Week 40-60 basis

For Following Week 38-62 basis

On account of negotiations between the actors and the producers they have come

up to this percentage distribution as per film. This is classic example of how any

business or industry gets affected by the important development in it.

The strike has also affected auxiliary industries like hoardings, public relations

and advertising, as their work has come to a complete halt.


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Apparently, this industry has suffered an estimated Rs 100 crore loss. This

shows how the multiple dynamics act as very important factor in determining the

industry growth and development.

MULTIPLEX BUZZ!! The nation's multiplex industry is all set for an unprecedented boom buoyed by

positive regulatory changes and booming consumerism. Multiplexes /megaplexes

have been instrumental in contributing 28 percent of the total theatrical sales for

the film industry according to a report by Systematix Institutional Research.

Industry experts estimate that top six multiplex chains have plans of 300-500

screens each by FY-10.

DLF, a leading real estate player in the country, plans to invest US$ 298.12

million for the expansion of its multiplex business. The company has planned to

add at least 500 screens in the next four to five years across the country.

Entertainment conglomerate Adlabs Cinemas has drawn up a plan to build 12

megaplexes in India where you can not only see movies but also cricket and

soccer matches on screen.

Multiplex chain PVR Cinemas, which currently has 92 screens, is also planning

to add over 150 screens across India, staggered over a period of three years from

2008-2010, with a total investment outlay of around US$ 71.55 million.

Cinemax India, the multiplex chain which currently has 55 screens over 17

properties across the country is planning to scale up its presence to 299 screens

across about 100 properties by fiscal 2010


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www.dreamznetsolutions.com/articles/media-option-website-designing.html

www.legalserviceindia.com/articles/fban.htm

www.ankurb.info/2007/03/16/300-movie-review/

www.exchange4media.com/e4m/izone1/izone_fullstory.asp?section_id=4&news

_id=17336&tag=12066

www.techtribe.com/viewBlogEntry.html?blogEntryId=8413080e-5d38-102b-

a627-000f1f68a9bf

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/features/brand-equity/Why-Indian-youth-

prefer-multiplexes/articleshow/6192272.cms

http://www.naachgaana.com/2010/06/26/multiplex-and-single-screen-business/

http://mybigmedia.wordpress.com/2008/09/12/emergence-of-multiplex-in-india/

http://www.newsofap.com/newsofap-4988-25-inox-becomes-second-largest-

multiplex-chain-in-india-newsofap.html

http://www.realty-firms.com/multiplex.html

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india-2010.html

http://www.dancewithshadows.com/business/cinepolis-multiplexes-in-india-

soon-40-new-screens-in-12-months/

http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2007/nov/25/multiplexes_fast_gobbling_in

dias_single_hall_theatres.html

Documents

5 Indian Multiplex Industry[1] Neha