Imax Theatre - Overview

Background

The IMAX TheatreÐŽK Organisational Description

The word IMAX is drawn from the two words, ЎҐMaximum ImageÐŽ¦ which is designed to deliver the most immerse theatre experience in the world. The Imax theatre, Melbourne is operated by ЎҐWorldÐŽ¦s Biggest ScreenÐŽ¦ Pty Limited and is a registered trademark of Imax corporation, Toronto, Canada, who is responsible for providing the projection equipment and colossal screens to facilitate the large format films.

The Imax theatre in Carlton, Melbourne aims to capture this unique cinema experience and deliver a service experience that will differ most dramatically to that of any ordinary cinema complex.

All accounts and Marketing for the IMAX theatre, Melbourne are completed at the Head office in Sydney.

Imax technology premiered in Osaka, Japan in 1970 and the first permanent IMAX projection system was installed at Ontario PlaceÐŽ¦s Cinesphere in Toronto in 1971. In March 1994 Brad Wechsler, Rich Gelfond and Wasserstein Parella Partners finalised the sale from the original partners IMAX was taken public on NASDAQ, which enabled IMAX to capitalise and take advantage of growth opportunities.

There are currently over 220 IMAX affiliated theatres in 30 different countries. Just like the IMAX theatre in Melbourne, approximately 50 percent of all IMAX theatres are located in institutional venues (i.e. Museums). More than 100 of these theatres are equipped with IMAX 3D technology.

The IMAX experience is designed to put you right where the action takes place. In such a way that no ordinary cinema experience can by drawing the viewer in with images and sounds with intensity that the viewer can almost feel. The Imax experience is designed to fill the viewers peripheral vision to give the impression of actually being there. There are currently more than 140 films in the diverse large format film library.

The IMAX theatre in Carlton uses a 70mm film with 15 perforations, which is ten times larger than an ordinary 35mm film frame that is found at a Village or Hoyts cinema centre and three times larger than standard films used in classic Hollywood epics. The larger the film frame, the more information is on the film and, therefore, the clearer the picture. The large frames also allows for exceptional image quality when the films are projected on the large screens. When projected, the IMAX 70mm film moves horizontally, unlike all other films that travel vertically.

IMAX flat screens reach up to 80ft hight and they are painted silver to maximise the amount of light reflected back to the audience. The IMAX theatre in Melbourne is host to the WorldÐŽ¦s biggest 3D screen.

The seating arrangements in the cinema have been strategically placed so that every viewer may have a clear vision of the IMAX screen. After all, this is the critical service delivery.

RecommendationsÐŽK

„« Further Advertising and Promotions

Advertising should be implemented through various mediums to achieve brand positioning, create awareness (new films), encourage long term demand and provide information about the unique experience. Various mediums may include:

Broadcast media: Television & Radio

Print: Newspapers and Magazines

Outdoor: Billboards

Electronic: Internet

The advertisements should inform the audience of the intangible benefits that they can gain from the IMAX experience and should clearly differentiate it from ordinary cinemas. This can further create brand awareness to target markets and further segment the market to address the appropriate audience in relation to film types and appropriateness. Television advertisements can be placed in time slots according to the type of film and target audience. Eg: A bugs Life during after school times

Implication

IMAX must fund all advertising and promtions for a movie screened at theatres. This can serve to be extremely costly for the IMAX Corporation and no financial assistance is sourced from the producers or distributors of the films. Therefore, with limited financial resources and due to the very high cost of advertising, the amount to which IMAX will be able to allocate to advertising may be scarce.

„« Cheaper Movie Tickets

At present, is costs $17.00 per person to view an IMAX feature presentation which lasts for approximately 45-minutes. This can be seen as rather expensive to the average person. In addition to the already expensive movies tickets, customers must also pay to park at the venue. This can easily lead to customer dissatisfaction and therefore inhibit a service failure on behalf of the IMAX theatre. It is recommended that the price of a ticket be reduced to entice people to visit the IMAX theatre and also to encourage repeat customers. If the customers at IMAX believe the overall pricing of the experience is reasonable then they will continue to return when new movies are released and spark positive word of mouth.

Implication

At present, IMAX pays $20,000 directly to the producers of the movie, in order for it to be screened at the theatre. Unlike Village and Hoyts, IMAX is unable to rent movies, which will make it difficult to generate profits, let alone cover costs if ticket prices are reduced. IMAX must also evaluate weather it is