The most captive audience in media has been hiding in plain sight at the cinema.
Clare Turner Chief Commercial Officer, Pearl & Dean
Interviewed by John Horsley
Published
Clare Turner is Chief Commercial Officer at Pearl & Dean, the cinema advertising brand celebrating its 70th anniversary, representing primarily independent and premium cinemas across the UK including Everyman, Curzon, and the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square. Turner has spent three decades in cinema, joining the medium straight out of university after turning down offers in TV and radio. In this conversation she sets out the 24-seconds-of-30 attention number that distinguishes cinema from social's 1.3 seconds, the FAME (Film Audience Measurement Evaluation) data showing streaming subscribers are more frequent cinema-goers (not less), the Wild Spaces partnership with Decathlon and the National Parks brought-to-you-by content model, the Pete Moore Asteroid sonic-brand neuroscience finding, and why cinema kept being declared dead by VHS, Beta, and now streaming, and why it hasn't been.
Three decades in cinema, and the picked-over-TV-and-radio choice
The path.
I've been in cinema for three decades. I have a passion for film and for cinema and I see it as the best medium to work in. It's traditional, it's heritage; been around for over 100 years. Pearl & Dean within that had its 70th anniversary a couple of years ago. I took a fairly traditional route, business at university, and when I moved to London I had three job offers (TV, radio, cinema). It was hands down cinema. Total escapism, always something new and interesting in the film content.
The role.
As Chief Commercial Officer I look after the commercial side of the business: working with brands and with our cinema partners to develop brand storytelling and creative for our partners.
The 24-of-30 attention number, and the brand-plus-performance frame
The attention case.
There's nowhere else any more where you switch off for two to three hours, where you are not second-screening and it's socially unacceptable to chat or be on your phone. For a brand to have this environment (the huge sound, the huge screen, plunged into darkness, captive audience, a mindful audience who have paid and opted in to choose the film) is unmatched. 24 seconds out of the 30-second ad is viewed. Compare that to a 1.3-second average view for social. The cinema environment is second to none, and the ads tend to be much more entertaining. Our latest FAME research shows audiences look forward to the ads and enjoy them in cinema, and the environment is incredibly trusted.
On where cinema fits in the wider plan.
Cinema is rarely used in isolation. People always pitch brand versus performance; the reality is brand and performance together. Cinema is a fantastic branding platform, great for real storytelling pieces of creative, and digital provides the lower-funnel work. Numerous research studies show TV and cinema are complementary, and the ROI of adding cinema to a TV-cinema campaign is genuinely positive.
The streaming finding that surprised the conversation
On the streaming-versus-cinema argument.
If I go back to the 80s when it was VHS and Beta, that was the death of cinema. Now streaming is supposed to kill cinema off. The FAME data, presented yesterday, shows the opposite: there's a positive correlation between the number of platforms subscribed to and the frequency of cinema-going. We don't see streaming as a rival. We see it as complementary, the way listening to music at home is to going to a concert, or cooking at home is to going out to a restaurant. It's an experience. Apple, Amazon (which just bought the Bond franchise), Netflix all produce great film content they commit to showing in theatres, in cinemas. It's just more content.
On the audience and the post-pandemic recovery.
Cinema was heavily impacted by the pandemic, particularly with children and younger audiences. It's very satisfying to see in the research that those audiences are coming back. Where we have a competitive edge against Gen Z is attention. On TikTok and Instagram, attention to brand advertising is around 1.3 seconds. In cinema we have the dwell time. With children and the younger audience the foyer is busy for around 30 minutes before the film starts, which is a strong moment for brands to connect.
Cinemas have recognised this too. Everyman and Curzon offer baby-and-toddler clubs and clubs for older audiences (cup of tea, slice of cake). Pearl & Dean represents independent and premium cinemas, so it's about understanding what each community needs and matching brands to those communities so they align. The remit is broad. Everything from Downton through to Minecraft coming up on Friday.
Wild Spaces, JLR, Butcher's Dog Food, and the breadth of the partnership work
On the partnership with Decathlon and the National Parks.
We worked with Decathlon to launch in September last year. Pearl & Dean doesn't own its cinemas, so what they do on sustainability is beyond our direct control. What we can do on screen is, and Wild Spaces is nature restoration projects brought to you by the brand and by Pearl & Dean. Every quarter we create a mini-documentary on the project. The first was in Kinder Scout in the Peak District. We show the mini-documentary in cinema as a content piece within the ad reel, with the messaging by choosing to go to a Pearl & Dean cinema, some of your money goes to fund these projects. A purposeful alignment between brand and content.
The breadth of the work.
We've doubled down on partnerships and it's a real area of growth. Our heritage allows us to move into different areas with the connection to film. Ten years ago we started working in outdoor cinema, creating events and partnerships with the likes of Little Moons and Astraea. The discipline now is working with agencies and clients to brief; nothing is off the shelf.
JLR is a strong example. We work with them on Jaguar and Land Rover with Everyman, Everyman's car partner. Preview screenings, events at the cinemas, a three-way partnership.
A surprising favourite is Butcher's Dog Food. Doggy-friendly screenings across some of our cinemas. The dogs, I'm told, are well-behaved.
The Pete Moore Asteroid score, and event hire as brand experience
On the iconic sonic brand.
The Pearl & Dean ident first aired in 1968. The music is Asteroid, orchestrated by Pete Moore. We've iterated a couple of times over the years and stayed true to the original. We work with brands to create bespoke idents using our music, particularly with studios and brands wanting to move closer to film.
A piece of research we did with a neuroscience agency tracked people's brain responses when they were in the cinema. The anticipation when the music played peaked hugely. That's the moment people are in the cinema, ready, relaxed, waiting to be entertained. The Asteroid score has been used by Graham Norton, Alan Partridge, and Strictly as a segue into a film section. As a B2B and B2C brand, it's a real asset.
On the use of the venue itself.
You can hire a cinema and put an event on. We have a brand-experience agency called Dye who do one-off events for brands. We created a campaign for Rimmel around Mean Girls: the foyer takeover, sampling, executions, everything in a goodie bag, all timed for the opening weekend. The same with Goa Hoodings around the opening weekend of Magic Mike.
Made-for-cinema creative, retro audiences, and what's coming next
On where the medium is going.
Made-for-cinema creative is a trend that will probably continue: two-minute and 90-second pieces of content. Cinema is also where younger audiences have their first independent away-from-mum-and-dad experience: a safe space to drop kids off so they can hang out with friends.
There's real demand for retro and rep cinema. The Prince Charles in Leicester Square, which is one of our cinemas, had its best year ever last year. I was at a conference recently with a Gen Z panel and the audience asked for more rep films at local cinemas. The audience was exhibitors. Kids who haven't seen the original Top Gun or Ferris Bueller's Day Off; horror is a massive and growing genre. We'll see more.
On accessibility.
Around 40% of Gen Z watch TV with subtitles on; about half said they would welcome more subtitles in cinema. We'll see accessible screenings grow, which is positive and opens up cinema for people with hearing impairments and for those who simply prefer subtitles.
On the next five years.
Cinema will continue to be a strong medium. Made-for-cinema creative. Cinema as the first independent experience for younger audiences. Different technologies coming in (we're exploring how we sell cinema advertising on a few-on-screen basis and the AI use cases). Cinemas continuing to invest in F&B and premium environments where people spend £28 to £30 per head on a visit. Pearl & Dean has an app where you can buy tickets. AI is in our space; I'm on the AI working group, and the discipline is being heritage while taking advantage of tech opportunities as they come.
On career advice.
Passion. You have to love what you do; we're working a heck of a long time. Find something that inspires you. After all these years in this industry, I still want to get up and go to work and I love it. If you love it, it doesn't feel like work.
Culture matters too. At Pearl & Dean we're a collaborative, people-centric team. We're a small company; anyone can get involved in ideas, it's not the domain of one team. Find a place where you fit, where you enjoy the culture, and where there are great people.
The question for the board
If the most captive audience in media is at the cinema, what share of our brand budget reaches that audience versus the saturated feed?
