re-imagining the movie theatre experience
TRANSCRIPT
REIMAGINING THE MOVIE THEATRE EXPERIENCE
Ranjith Melarkode & Bhavesh ShahChief Technology Officer Head of Experience
What is an Experience?
Awesome!
Alright.
Could’ve been better.
Nevergoingback.
Physical Spaces
VirtualSpaces
Service
Content
Other Customers
Series of interactions between an individual and a businessEach leaving an impression / memory / opinion
Retail : Why is Experience relevant? In a highly commoditised environment
Experience is the true differentiator
Brick andMortar Online
Create excitement anddesire to purchase
Best to showcasenew products
Multisensoryengagement
Neutral online preferred vs bad human
Best for Consistency, convenience, scale
Lesser sensoryengagement
Relevance of Cinema in a Netflix Age
SocialExperiential
Celebration
Outing
Friends & Family
Shared ExperienceExciting Food
Big Screen
Great Sound
Undisturbed
Experience Design: Elements
ELEMENTS OFEXPERIENCE
INNER OUTER
POSITIVENEGATIVE NEUTRAL
CORE
Watching the movie
The image, sound, seat comfort and immersiveness of the theater is of primary importance
Some people cannot perceive quality differences in sound and image
Core Experience
The experience in the cinema environment while not watching the movie
Includes the box office, concession, lobby, toilets, poster-cases, ambient music, etc.
Ample scope for differentiation
Inner Experience
Box office, Luxe
Restroom, Palazzo
Experiences outside the cinema prior to or after the cinema experience
Outer Experience
Difficult to control
A negative experience is one that if done well, does not give the customer a sense of elation but when done badly creates substantial negative perception about quality
Examples – Hygiene, long queues, broken seats, house lights not switched off during movie
Implication – High priority Should be fixed before working on anything else
Negative Experiences
Experiences that get you to notice and possibly go WOW
Examples – Great decor, exceptional food quality and variety
Implications – Greatest effect
Positive Experiences
Lobby, Luxe
These are interactions that don't evoke a reaction from customers in spite of sometimes providing considerable value to the customer
Example - Efficient customer service
Implication - Less bang for the buck. Can be combined with many such neutral experiences to create an overall positive experience
Neutral Experiences
Click - Browsing Centre, Escape
Flip - Library, Escape
Experience Design: Guidelines
View interactions only through the eyes of the user
Break them down in the sequence of use
Details, details, details
Map the Existing Experience
Awareness
Discovery
Attraction
Interaction
Purchase
Use
Cultivation
Advocacy
Purchase
Post-purch
ase
Pre-purchase
Indirect
Direct
Assume money, resources, technology and other limitations do not exist
Push the boundaries even exploring the impractical, absurd solutions
Think ahead, not for today, but 3-5 years down the line
This exercise would give a sense of direction to a more practical immediately usable experience
Brainstorm the Dream Experience
Customers know what they don't like
Rarely will they be able to give you groundbreaking insights
Understand what would be of value to them
Understand but don’t ask the customer
"If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
Henry Ford
Use the environment to interact with multiple senses
Each interaction should ideally trigger multiple senses
Multisensory, more likely to get noticed
Create Multisensory Interactions
2013, MCorp Consulting
Interactions that do not enhance the customer experience - checking tickets - security scan - queues
Are they necessary? Can we simplify them?
To prevent a few wrongs we sometimes inconvenience a substantial majority
Use technology where possible to work around such an interaction
Identify Unwanted Interactions
Your industry might only have a few benchmarks.
Some of the best experiential work is happening right now in retail, hospitality and the casino (gaming) sector
Look Outside the Industry
Cinema going is a social experience, much like going to a restaurant - You don't just go for the food- You want to share the experience with others
Identify opportunities to create social interactions - Planned and Chance
Eg. Smoking RoomPeople interact even if they dont know each other
Create Social Interactions
Puff - Smoking Lounge, Escape
Dine, Escape
People perceive an interaction based on their base expectation level
For example if the toilets were expected to be poorly designed or average at best they will be wowed by a great toilet
Manage Expectations
Restroom, Escape
Restroom, LuxeRestroom, Escape
Find opportunities where customers have low expectations. Those are the greatest opportunities to get a customer to go WOW
Redesigning experience is a continuous process
Do it one step at a time
Make sure the new experience is sustainable
Use a new build to make dramatic changes if needed
Use one location as a pilot
Incremental Improvements
Change is not an event, it’s a process.
1974
2007
Customer perceptions are quite often more important than actual value
Some interactions, even though, not used often by people, by being available can create a perception of overall quality
For example, a great wine list in a restaurant enhances the customers appeal even though the customer is unlikely to order some of the expensive wine
Perception vs Actual Usage
Bliss Spa, Escape
People perceive the same experience differently
Any experience needs to be acceptable to all as cinemas have a complete cross section of society as customers
Don't create interactions where they are perceived positively by some and negatively by others. Worst case they can be neutral
Everyone is not the same
Some experiences such as image and sound quality are valued by all but not perceived by some
Communicate these effectively to get the group that has not seen the difference
Invisible Experiences
Change in the customer experience can be a positive and/or negative
Customers appreciate constant innovation. Displaying intention of change is more important than the change itself.
Caution: Changes to habitual activity can disrupt familiarity
Change
Find ways to ensure that competitors can’t or won’t want to follow you
Complicate your business rather than simplify
Build an organisation culture of innovation that is not quickly replicated
Create Sustainable Differentiation
The SPI CinemasExperience
Our Experience
Lobby, Luxe
Our Experience
Luxe lobby
Our Experience
Lobby, Escape
Our Experience
Luxe Sathyam
Plush, Escape Kites, Escape
Our Experience
ID Ecstasy
Bliss Spa Dine, Escape
Role of Technology
Technology: Enhancing Experience in Cinemas
Drive PersonalisationSubtitles in a language of choice
Pre-reserved tickets for likelyto watch movies
Enhance engagementVote for Interval content : Advertising, trailers
Control temperature in auditorium as a community
Promote social interactionVisibility on friends booking tickets for moviesInvite people, vote for movies and create your own shows
Reduce negative experiencesRemove waits
Remove checks
THANK YOU