Executive View: Harness cinema-goers emotions to entice them into new cars

Car marques feature big in cinematic blockbusters, from the turbo-charged vehicles of The Fast and the Furious franchise to Herbie the loveable VW Beetle and James Bond’s stylish wheels. They’re attention magnets. But are manufacturers missing opportunities to reach and excite potential customers among the audience, asks Clare Turner of Pearl & Dean.

Buying a car is a big investment and it’s a long journey for prospective customers to arrive at their final decision. They’ll research performance specs, reviews and other relevant details – but they’ll also need inspiration and excitement on this path to purchase, and cinema advertising can deliver this.

Car buying is a highly emotional event, reaching a crescendo with the anticipation of being handed the keys to your shiny new vehicle. Whether it’s a city runaround, family saloon or premium car the customer is considering, it’s vital to create a personal connection to put the brand in pole position.

Cinema is a medium that showcases engaging brand storytelling to best effect – the audience enjoys ads as part of their overall cinema viewing experience and gives their full attention to what’s unfolding on screen. The big screen is a great canvas on which to paint a compelling picture and independent neuroscience research has proven that cinema as an ad medium, is particularly strong at delivering personal relevance.

For one reason or another there has been a tendency for car ads recently to reach for the familiar. You know the tropes: a vehicle winding through mountain roads and stunning scenery or purring through a rain-soaked street lit by neon. Global ad research and effectiveness company System1’s car ad analysis report of 2021 (Shifting Gears) said, “Many of today’s car ads feel similar and formulaic.”

Brand Bravery

Some brave brands do realise it’s time to take a left turn while others motor through that scenic countryside, as we recently saw with Jaguar’s intriguing taster video on its rebrand.

I’m sure there’s plenty more mileage in the tank for creative ad approaches that really pop on the big screen. The ad for the launch of the new Citroën ë-C3 earlier this year playfully channelled a Marie Antoinette and French Revolution theme, to connect with audiences looking to join the electric car ‘revolution’.

But the association with cinema can be leveraged off screen too with brand partnerships that involve - and surprise - the audience, prompting them to action. TGI data from Kantar shows that UK cinemagoers are +26% more likely than the average adult to have the intention to buy a car in the next 3 months. And they are +20% more likely to spend £30,000 or more on it. That’s a segment of cinema-goers waiting to be nudged into a decision by innovative marketing.

In 2024, we have worked with several car brands and cinema partners to devise innovative and immersive experiences. Land Rover Discovery seized the opportunity to carry out experiential activity that cut through with its “summer of discovery” programme set up with Everyman Cinema at the luxury establishment The Grove Hotel.

The tie-up included pop up open-air screenings at the hotel for guests and the general public that featured Discovery content alongside a host of other luxury experiences that featured the brand. This autumn Curzon Cinema chose to mark its 90th anniversary with an exclusive Kia partnership.

The ‘Journeys That Inspire’ initiative featured a programme of iconic films badged with a bespoke co-branded visual identity. It worked both for Curzon’s 90-year ‘journey’ in film and the established Kia marketing line ‘Movement That Inspires’.

Different Audiences

And it’s not just boutique cinema chains, Stellantis has a partnership with Showcase cinemas for its Citroën and Peugeot marques where is has cleverly harnessed the cinema medium to target differing audience groups. Citroën created ‘Together with Citroën’ that targets friends and families when they are together – and  even created its own ticket option for people enjoying the cinema in larger groups.

Moreover, Peugeot is partnering with Showcase Insider, the cinema’s loyalty programme that targets heavy cinemagoers who have a real passion for film.

This type of comms also have the potential to be localised – for example directing audiences to reach out to local dealerships in the nearby area.

Looking at the year ahead there are plenty of films set for release that offer the perfect opportunity for car brands to reach their specific target audiences. These include the action thriller Novocaine, the adrenaline-pounding Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (and we know how much Tom Cruise puts fast cars through their paces) as well as the reboot of the gag-tastic The Naked Gun franchise and the return of Bridget Jones.

Cinema really does offer an opportunity to shift memorable marketing up a gear; brands looking to turbo-boost an integrated campaign should explore how cinema can help drive customers to your door.

Clare Turner, chief commercial officer, Pearl & Dean