As a senior member of ODEON’S marketing team, Pippa Ward heads up most of the cinema’s online activities. Here, she explains how reshaping the company’s Search strategy helped it boost growth whilst meeting evolving consumer needs.
When ODEON first opened its doors in 1930s Birmingham, it was the golden age of Hollywood. And while the cinema’s industrial surroundings may have lacked the glamour of Sunset Boulevard, its art deco architecture radiated luxury and entertainment. It was a place not only to watch films but to experience them.
That ambition still sits at the very heart of our brand, but the cinema landscape has changed almost beyond recognition. Where the majority of ticket sales used to be from spontaneous walk-ins, way over half of movie-goers now pre-book online.1
This means Search is now one of our main online marketing channels. At a time when streaming services are proliferating, it’s where we remind people that there’s nothing like the experience of going to the cinema.
But our goal to maximise Search coverage and reach culminated in a campaign structure so complex that it ended up harming our performance. So — encouraged by our agency partner MG OMD — we decided to simplify our approach with the help of AI.
A seamless journey from search to seat
As many people now spend less time in the office, they’re generally less exposed to out-of-home advertising — and have fewer water-cooler conversations which may otherwise help them discover new or upcoming movies. In addition, reduced budgets following COVID-19, as well as industry strikes, have led to a significant decline in marketing spend for the majority of today’s releases.
This makes it more important than ever for us to stand out on Search, where, as seen through rising interest for “movies near me”, an increasing number of our customer journeys begin.
To maximise Search coverage while adjusting ads to the preferences of our local audiences, we used to organise all our campaigns based on location, categorised by ticket type, keyword grouping, and match type. But with 120 cinemas across the U.K. that resulted in hundreds of different ad groups per campaign — all live at the same time, all manually handled.
“This highly granular and manual approach demanded a significant effort from our team and had also begun to limit our growth, visible in a decreasing impression share,” explains Sophie Le, head of search at MG OMD. “The solution was to move towards a simplified, AI-powered structure — primed for the changing search landscape and better serving ODEON’s business priorities.”
Prioritising value over volume
The first step we took to reduce complexities was shifting towards value-based bidding. While plenty of guests seek cost-effective options, we’ve seen a growing demand for luxury experiences, such as IMAX and Luxe cinemas, as well as recliner seats and better food and drink services. As a result, we’re increasingly focusing our business on higher-value options that set us apart — and we wanted our ad campaigns to match that objective.
Instead of casting a wide, inefficient net through brand and generic keywords, we increased our focus on ticket type by switching to Google’s AI-powered Smart Bidding. Integrating robust first-party data and contextual signals (i.e. location, day of week, search query, remarketing list) into our ad campaign structure has allowed us to connect with high-value customers more effectively.
“We also eliminated redundant or duplicate keywords and moved away from phrase match types in favour of Broad match. Instead of striving to cover every relevant search term in our keyword list, we now harness AI to understand people’s search queries on a deeper level and identify nuanced intent, helping capture demand that would have been simply impossible through a manual approach.”
For example, if someone’s looking to catch a movie in town after work versus planning a Friday night date at a local cinema, we make sure to show up accordingly with the right offering, highlighting available add-ons such as pre-ordering food to make someone’s experience as enjoyable as possible.
Location is still important, but rather than manually setting up separate campaigns for each cinema, we use AI-optimised location insertion in our ads, showing nearby branches within a five-mile radius. This allowed us to reduce our number of ad groups from 600 to 60, while still ensuring ad relevance for users across the U.K.
A happy ending (for customers and brand)
After rolling out our new account structure last year, we saw an immediate positive impact on our performance metrics. While the conversion rate jumped by 43%, the overall cost per click reduced by 46%. This has enabled us to unlock more investment for Search and reinvest saved budget back into the channel.
This is all the more remarkable considering the simplicity of our account structure. With fewer manual optimisations required, we can dedicate more time to collaboration and strategic thinking, staying ahead in a competitive industry that includes not just other cinemas but also streaming services.
When technology and customer behaviours are rapidly shifting, you simply can’t rely on outdated strategies and structures, even if they have served you well in the past.
Our guests increasingly seek more control over their experiences. They want to explore their options and book in advance, choose their seats — which might be a comfy sofa — and order food and drinks ahead of time, ready to collect upon arrival. For us, it’s ultimately about providing a seamless and superior experience, both online and in front of the big screen.
