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