Giant Screen Cinema Association Issues Marketing & Advertising RFP

The Giant Screen Cinema Association (GSCA) is looking for a marketing and advertising agency to help giant screen museum theaters increase audience capture rates (visitors buying tickets to the theater in addition to museum admission) and overall paid attendance; develop best practices; and develop a one-day symposium in Chicago on September 29, 2017.

GSCA Background

The Giant Screen Cinema Association (GSCA) is a professional trade organization representing 125 “Giant Screen” and other museum theaters, as well as 145 Giant Screen filmmakers, distributors and suppliers. These theaters are typically associated with nonprofit museums, science centers, and other cultural institutions, and, the films that these theaters exhibit are most often educational documentaries with science, marine, environmental, historical, cultural and nature themes.

The mission of the Giant Screen Cinema Association (GSCA) is to facilitate communication, information sharing, and the development of best practices to support the production and exhibition of original, high-quality, educational and entertaining giant screen cinema experiences. As the leader in the giant screen industry, we envision a network of premium educational immersive theaters that is woven into the fabric of peoples’ lives, providing enriching, fun experiences and developing world citizens. The GSCA’s values are:

·         Giant screen is our brand.

·         We are committed to immersive and entertaining experiences that heighten the public’s sense of wonder and inspire them to consider their roles as global citizens.

·         We are dedicated to resonant and life-changing cinema experiences presented at the highest level of quality and service.

·         Through our work, we will promote greater understanding and knowledge of science, civilization, history, and nature.

·         We will bring the giant screen industry together through premier conferences, education and publications.

·         We will conduct our business with integrity and professionalism.

·         We always value and respect each person.

Statement of Purpose

GSCA theater members have been faced with declining attendance, low theater capture rates, shrinking marketing resources and increasing external distractions from competing entertainment options. The primary goal of this event is to help GSCA member theaters increase their capture rates (visitors buying tickets to the theater in addition to museum admission), grow overall attendance, and reenergize the giant screen market with ideas from a fresh perspective. This has the potential to benefit all members, including producers, distributors, manufacturers, and other industry services. Additional goals for the symposium include identifying theater trends, providing case studies from theaters that have quantifiably increased their capture rates and suggesting strategies for improved performance. We expect the selected marketing agency to conduct the industry research on current capture rates, make recommendations, create a pilot program, and plan the symposium where the results, pilot program case studies, and strategies will be presented. GSCA member theaters will be invited to submit their institutions as a case study for the purposes of gathering data, with four to six institutions ultimately selected, based on input from the selected agency.

The study’s goals include but are not limited to:

·         Theater attendance trends. The selected firm will work with GSCA to determine how broad of a scope (number of theaters needed) and how data will be collected.

·         Capture rate trends

·         Ticket pricing strategies (pros/cons of combo tickets, film admission included in price of museum admission, etc.)

·         Factors that enhance or detract from ticket purchase decision, e.g., do certain film genres have better capture rates than others

·         Competing attractions within GSCA member’s own institution, e.g., are films losing out to other attractions such as traveling exhibits in terms of marketing support

·         Mine the Association’s 2014 Audience Research Survey to see if there is data already collected that could inform this project

·         Explore interest in new concepts such as interactive media, gaming, etc.

·         Determine effectiveness of various media and promotional channels for reaching target audiences. The target audiences may differe from venue to venue and even from film to film.

The study shall be conducted within North America and target diverse markets.

Scope of Work

The successful firm will present an action plan, timeline, and budget that encompasses the following:

·         develop and conduct the research on current institutional and theater attendance and capture rates for the purposes of contructing the agenda for symposium

·         analyze the findings for the purposes of organizing and presenting a full-day marketing symposium:

·         develop the day-long symposium to present the findings and recommendations to the broader industry audience on increasing audience capture rates, improving marketing effectiveness and, new ideas and approaches to marketing, advertising and promotion

The firm will assist the GSCA in determining the geographic scope of the survey that will provide a representational cross-section of the industry and the best methods that will yield the highest number of valid respondents within North America and other selected geographical regions..

The 2017 conference will be held in Chicago on September 26-28, with an additional day (TBD) for the symposium. The selected firm will be responsible for the content presented on this day and the execution of the event.

Proposal due Jan 31^st, 2017 to:

The Giant Screen Cinema Association

624 Holly Springs Road, Suite 243