After OneCinema’s recent excursion to Dallas for CinéShow 2026, I left feeling somewhat inspired. Not only through the connections made or palpable positivity, but by how the seminars’ pertinent subject matters naturally align with the mandate of European vendors.
Tuesday’s session, ‘The Cost of Guessing in Theatre Operations’, deserves special credit for kicking off the data debate and highlighting how tools already used by exhibitors can generate or execute valuable data in the quest to boost revenue.
However, it was two points from the panelists which really got me thinking:
- Uncover your missed opportunities. Rather than only tracking what’s going well (admission/concession sales), it’s important to find out what sales you lost and why.
- Execution is everything. Harvesting business data is one thing, but applying your learnings is where real the value lies.
It’s these words of wisdom which underline how to refine and enhance your sales efforts. Within the ever-evolving sphere of cinema technology, there are many tools which allow you to deploy these insights, both visually and operationally.
The 'Cost of Guessing in Theatre Operations' panel.
In our next two One Take from the Top blogs, we’re going to look at how a diligent signage solution and Theater Management System (TMS) harnesses data to offer precision targeting, helping to rectify weaknesses and enhance strengths within your sales cycles.
Part 1: Signage, Your Dynamic Sales Team
One CinéShow conversation which stayed with me was with an operator who shared a challenge which may sound familiar.
While his overall admissions have been below pre-pandemic rates, spend per head is actually higher than before because those moviegoers who have continued to visit are the ones purchasing concessions. So, his goal is not simply to increase footfall, but to convert new moviegoers into higher value audience segments to maintain high per-capita spend.
The value of that data has delivered a clear strategy. While a well-rounded marketing plan lays the foundation, dedicated, sales-first signage solutions offer the precision required to target those audiences on-site and convert their interest into bottom-line box office and concession growth.
How? Well, these digital display tools can tailor dynamic campaigns directly to specific demographics using variables like titles, genre, dayparts, locations, and more. For example;
- Site-Specific Campaigning: Run Campaign A across displays at your inner-city site to reach young professionals, while running campaign B across suburban locations to reach families.
- Audience-Driven Offers on Menu Boards: Pair tailored concession bundles, like a themed horror movie combo, with specific showtimes before analysing performance data to refine future deals.
- Maximising Lifetime Value: Target high-value demographics with tailored loyalty program incentives and movie trailers during peak dwell times to drive repeat visits and higher spend per head.
The aforementioned panel rightly mapped out many ways that sales can slip through the cracks: the home page, the payment page, outside the lobby entrance, and even in the popcorn queue. However, when dynamic signage solutions use data to target audiences with laser precision, you actively work to eliminate those friction points at the entrance and in the lobby.
Audience-driven offers on menu boards at Kinopolis Hamburg.
Looking ahead, even physical identifiers may make lobby targeting even more precise. We’re already seeing incredible innovation in the broader DOOH space where AI display cameras evaluate metrics like height and approximate age to adjust content to the person standing there in real time. It’s an intriguing concept which may help us target lobby visitors more accurately sooner rather than later.
Ultimately, the application of data through digital signage ensures your messaging lands with the right audience at the right moment. But, it’s essential your back-of-house operations run in complete unison with the front-of-house strategy.
If you’re wondering how to take targeting precision deeper into your cinema, I’ll be exploring how a modern TMS leverages data to target audiences and open new revenue streams in October’s instalment of One Take from the Top.
Tim Potter,
International Business Manager at OneCinema