Nationally, cinema attendance levels have hit a 40-year high
while in the capital one of its iconic cinemas – the Odeon Leicester Square –
has recently re-opened after a multi-million pound refurbishment. Confidence in
the sector is high and there’s good reasons why.
Many decades ago cinema was credited as having ‘killed off
the music hall’, and its own slow demise was predicted in the face of first,
television, and then digital downloads. Ironically, it is TV which is now
arguably being more impacted by online entertainment although Netflix – which
is supposed to bring the cinema into your front room - continues to haemorrhage
money while the cinema chains count the takings.
The ability to ‘deliver an experience’ is the key to
cinema’s resilience as a leisure pursuit. What the new Selfridges screen and
the refitted Odeon have in common is that they want to offer an enhanced
customer experience.
The Selfridges project is a joint venture with the people
behind The Olympic cinema in Barnes. A
quick perusal of its description of how the former recording studios were
turned into a cinema (‘We went to Norway to find the comfiest reclining seats
and then wrapped them in snuggly wool felt’) tells you about their approach.
And there’s a
symmetry about a retailer branching out into cinema as both sectors know they
have to provide an experience-led offer if they are to thrive. In this respect
they are both complementary and aligned.
This
‘premium-isation’ of cinemas has started in the boutique end of the sector but
it will inevitably spread to the multiplexes. Operators are striving to make
sure that the cinema experience continues to beat watching a film in your
living room.
After all, no
matter how big your TV is, it’s no match for the silver screen.