Reviving Community Gems: A Tale of Grassroots Triumph
THE BRIEF: Relaunching a cinema with a new owner to the local community. In the summer of 2023, Merlin Cinemas acquired two ex-Odeon sites and wanted to relaunch them and communicate their brand and offer.
The two cinemas, Plaza in Weston-super-Mare and Astoria in Ayr, Scotland, were beloved hubs and local landmarks, so there was already community awareness. However, part of Mustard Studios' undertaking was to ensure the campaign focused on the everyday audience offer, which is in Merlin’s DNA—that is, ‘Big Screen, Small Price’. Alongside that, and working with Daisy Wren, Merlin’s Marketing Director, we focused on creating excitement for the launch events and building lasting partnerships.
This deeper grassroots approach started several weeks before the opening to ensure news about the cinema was coordinated to hit the same campaign beats and to identify as many local partnerships as possible, which can take time to nurture and develop.
Each cinema had a launch event, an opportunity for local partners to experience the cinema and meet the Merlin team.
The grand entrance to the Plaza @Alistair Swan Photography
‘The Mustard team were an absolute dream to deal with and maintained a professional, timely, yet friendly approach throughout the entire process. They quickly grasped our ethos and approach to doing things and were fantastic at representing us as if part of the internal team. Their expertise in branding, loyalty and people engagement enabled us to embed our brand and USP with local audiences, community groups and partners to build long-lasting relationships and build new and reoccurring admissions. We will be working with them again in the future I have no doubt!
The Plaza’s Renaissance
After a competitive analysis check and a deeper dive into audiences coupled with the release slate, we had a mixture of bought and organic media to create awareness and conversion campaigns. All campaigns can benefit from something magical and a standout USP. With the Plaza, that is a rare working Compton organ.
This historical gem became a highlight of the cinema’s opening programme, and the audiences were thrilled to be part of a special event, creating an emotional connection with a local cinema that we can all recognise and appreciate. The cinema opened on 15 December 2023 just in time for Christmas.
The Astoria's Revival
Unlike the Plaza, the Astoria was Ayr’s only cinema. Its closure sparked a passionate neighbourhood movement, with the community rallying under the "Don’t Go-deon Campaign" banner to save their local venue. The news that the cinema would reopen, albeit with a different owner, meant excitement and a warm welcome, especially as the locals had many childhood memories. That makes it easier for the incoming circuit - and people love a cinema.
The media strategy was geographically wider, focusing on some key messaging: that the cinema was reopening, the date (Good Friday 2024), and the same everyday ticket offer. This meant the communication was focused on affordability and aiming to encourage frequent visits. The local enthusiasm, alongside the targeted and focused campaign, resulted in high Facebook engagement and reach, adding over 5,000 new followers and, more crucially, the best new opening of a cinema that Merlin has seen, with over 4,000 admissions in the opening weekend.
Here are some key strategies to reopening a venue for sustainable results:
Work closely with the marketing team as they will manage the relationships and grow audiences after the launch.
Whilst audiences are often loyal if there are competitive venues, people can form new habits quite quickly, so don’t assume everyone will return, and put plans in place to reach them. People can also lose the habit of going to the cinema during that time.
Find the USP of the venue.
Start work early to maximise partnerships and communicate the key points to audiences.
Blend a mixture of paid and organic media to reach people.
Plan strategically for the opening launch, targeting a mixture of audience groups with programming and events.
Duration: 20 weeks.
Services: Campaign and Asset Management, Marketing and Outreach, Partnership Development
Please get in touch if you’d like to work with us on a campaign to launch or revitalise your cinema or an audience development initiative.
