Whilst walking to my Bristol office recently, I couldn’t miss this huge ad for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. It would appear that Showcase Cinema believes that advertising Ben & Jerry’s ice cream was the most important reason to visit their cinema rather than the films they are featuring.
The cinema (in Cabot Circus, Bristol) is surrounded by numerous restaurants. I may not be their target audience but I can’t imagine why they believe that someone would choose to visit the Showcase cinema just because they sell Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.
It may be that they have just negotiated a deal with Ben & Jerry’s and possibly that ice cream advertising was considered important to one or both parties. The priority should be to attract people in first, then once they are in to promote the range of foods & drinks they offer.
For me, it stresses the need to:
- ensure your marketing is aimed at your potential customers rather than your suppliers
- think about the priority of different messages
