5 Indian Multiplex Industry[1] Neha

Indian Multiplex Industry

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

29

viewers? 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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Indian Multiplex Industry

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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Indian Multiplex Industry

Our Team Name

Roll #

Gurminder Singh

05

Raja Singh

08

Yashovardhan Bichu

18

Kanika Datta

22

Gurleen Kaur

38

Sahil Mhadkar

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Indian Multiplex Industry

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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Indian Multiplex Industry

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. 5

Indian Multiplex Industry

 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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Indian Multiplex Industry

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. 7

Indian Multiplex Industry

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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Indian Multiplex Industry

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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Indian Multiplex Industry

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 10

Indian Multiplex Industry

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 11

Indian Multiplex Industry

 Below the table are different product levels existing in multiplex and the expectations made by the consumers. Product level

Expectations made by the consumer Viewing space in the multiplex, view

Generic (the basic benefit)

the movie with the latest technology. Cleanliness in the multiplex, punctuality

Expected (the expected benefit)

in start timings of the show, comfortable seating arrangements. Apart from the good quality of viewing,

Augmented (in addition to the expected

one expects great ambience, helpful

benefit)

employees, sophisticated interiors.

Potential (beyond the usual, pleasant

Incentives provided by the multiplex,

surprise)

reward system.

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Indian Multiplex Industry

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. 13

Indian Multiplex Industry

 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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Indian Multiplex Industry

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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Indian Multiplex Industry

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. 16

Indian Multiplex Industry

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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Indian Multiplex Industry

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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Indian Multiplex Industry

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. 19

Indian Multiplex Industry

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. 20

Indian Multiplex Industry

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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Indian Multiplex Industry

 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. 24

Indian Multiplex Industry

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. 25

Indian Multiplex Industry

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; 26

Indian Multiplex Industry

 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. 27

Indian Multiplex Industry

 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 The multiplexes enjoy rebates and exemptions from the government. (eg - Entertainment Tax) They just don’t offer movie but also offer so called add-on facilities They offer customer with choice in different movies Talking of the ambience, multiplex offer better sitting , Dolby digital sounds and good graphics for viewers Multiplexes, by offering food courts, ATM Facility, shopping facilities can offer Add value to money to customers.

Single Screens Single Screen doesn’t enjoy such exemptions on part of government Cineplex on the other hand offer only movies and no extra facilities. Single screens don’t offer such facilities with no options to the customers Single screens on the other hand don’t offer such facilities to viewers. Single Screen on the other hand doesn’t offer add value to money to the customer’s income.

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Indian Multiplex Industry

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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Indian Multiplex Industry

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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Indian Multiplex Industry

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 32

Indian Multiplex Industry

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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Indian Multiplex Industry

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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Indian Multiplex Industry

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 35

Indian Multiplex Industry

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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Indian Multiplex Industry

 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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Indian Multiplex Industry

References and Sources  www.magportal.com/c/ent/movie  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-5d38-102ba627-000f1f68a9bf  http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/features/brand-equity/Why-Indian-youthprefer-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-largestmultiplex-chain-in-india-newsofap.html  http://www.realty-firms.com/multiplex.html  http://www.vnrao.net/business/9331-multiplex-and-single-screen-cinemas-inindia-2010.html  http://www.dancewithshadows.com/business/cinepolis-multiplexes-in-indiasoon-40-new-screens-in-12-months/  http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2007/nov/25/multiplexes_fast_gobbling_in dias_single_hall_theatres.html

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