The power of the big screen

Cinema audiences in the UK have been enjoying a decade and a half of steady growth, peaking at 173.5 million in 2009. The exact causes are open to debate, but the introduction of multiplexes in the mid 80s and, more recently, the explosion of 3D, diversification of the cinema offer, and price promotions such as "Orange Wednesday", all appear to have ensured the health of cinema even in a time of recession.

With its current popularity and credentials, and with the potential for 3D advertising to create even more impact in the near future, this would seem to be the right time for advertisers and planners to take cinema very seriously. The IPA TouchPoints3 Hub and Channel Planner, with its rich seam of data about genre preferences and cinema behaviour, linked with all other media currencies, provides valuable insights into the lives and attitudes of the cinema audience and gives advertisers a unique planning tool to establish how cinema can best be integrated into their communication plans.