2022 Winner
BronzeBest in OOH/Ambient/Place-Based Media - Budget Over $100,000
Warner Bros. Pictures Canada
"The Matrix Resurrections
Canadian Premiere"
Your Brand Integrated
Marketing Communications
"The Matrix Resurrections
Canadian Premiere"
Your Brand Integrated
Marketing Communications
Nearly every business sector was hit hard by the global pandemic. This was especially true for the Canadian movie theatre industry, which suffered ongoing closures, sporadic regional shutdowns, and mass consumer anxiety around public gatherings. As consumers and media decried the death of the theatre-going experience, and as in-home viewership of film dramatically increased, Warner Bros. Pictures Canada was faced with a significant challenge: when safe, how could they get people to return to the theatre?
Seeking insight, Warner Bros. Pictures Canada asked people on the street the following: “When safe, would you return to the movie theatre?” Some verbatims: “Not anytime soon”; “I’d love to, but I don’t think anytime soon”; “Maybe 2023”. Such verbatims represent the overwhelming sentiment expressed by those interviewed: desire, tempered with doubt.
Additionally, The Exhibitions at a Crossroads study (by The Quorum, Cultique, Fanthropology; U.S. November 2021), found that there were three pain points for the segment identified as Former Filmgoers: price sensitivity, safety concerns and the feeling that going to the theatre doesn’t provide a great experience. “Now, more than ever, theatrical has to address price sensitivity, the low experiential value, and the safety concerns if it hopes to reduce the number of Former Filmgoers and bring people back into the theater,” the study stated. Price sensitivity lies outside the purview of film distributors. Similarly, safety concerns are the responsibility of governments and theatre companies—again, not an area that film distributors could greatly impact. However, low experiential value was identified as something that could be proactively addressed.
The research analysis led to a powerful insight: people were suffering from TEDD (Theatre Experience Deficit Disorder). Going to a theatre transcends just watching content: it’s a complete experience. From arrival to exit, it’s an experience unduplicated by sitting on the couch in front of a tiny screen surrounded by life’s distractions. And, through innovation, it’s an experience Warner Bros. Pictures Canada could affect.
Viewing theatre-going through a wider experiential lens that recognized competition from restaurants, bars, bowling alleys, digital art projection events, nightclubs, etc., led to a strategy designed to get people to return to theatres. The strategy: premiere The Matrix Resurrections with a world-exclusive immersive theatrical experience, providing fans with the opportunity to step inside the film. To do so would require true innovation. When theatres responsibly opened, Warner Bros. Pictures Canada wanted to resurrect people’s passion for the Hollywood blockbuster experience. The Matrix Resurrections was the perfect opportunity to deliver a unique, immersive, and participatory experience rooted in a beloved franchise making a comeback of its own.
Using the iconic and instantly identifiable green digital rain from The Matrix franchise as the creative framework, the national effort began with the unleashing of a cryptic QR code via outdoor wall projections, building wraps, and wild postings. The QR code led users down a digital rabbit hole to win tickets to the Canadian Premiere at Cineplex’s Scotiabank Theatre Toronto. In a never-been-done initiative, a full takeover of the iconic theatre was created whereby its entire façade was enveloped in digital green rain code, turning the theatre into a massive billboard spanning an entire city block. Inside, the immersion continued as it rained green everywhere: lobby, escalators, walls, floors, stairs and hallways—resulting in 18,000+ sq. feet of rain using over 31 million pixels.
Additionally, the event drew the film’s star, Keanu Reeves, who interacted with ticket winners and media, elevating the immersive nature of the experience. People weren’t in a theatre, they were now inside the film.
The Matrix Resurrections’ innovative use of OOH transformed the theatre from a place to see the film to the place to be inside the film. People’s desire to go to the theatre was resurrected, demonstrating that any rumours of the death of theatre-going were greatly exaggerated.
Seeking insight, Warner Bros. Pictures Canada asked people on the street the following: “When safe, would you return to the movie theatre?” Some verbatims: “Not anytime soon”; “I’d love to, but I don’t think anytime soon”; “Maybe 2023”. Such verbatims represent the overwhelming sentiment expressed by those interviewed: desire, tempered with doubt.
Additionally, The Exhibitions at a Crossroads study (by The Quorum, Cultique, Fanthropology; U.S. November 2021), found that there were three pain points for the segment identified as Former Filmgoers: price sensitivity, safety concerns and the feeling that going to the theatre doesn’t provide a great experience. “Now, more than ever, theatrical has to address price sensitivity, the low experiential value, and the safety concerns if it hopes to reduce the number of Former Filmgoers and bring people back into the theater,” the study stated. Price sensitivity lies outside the purview of film distributors. Similarly, safety concerns are the responsibility of governments and theatre companies—again, not an area that film distributors could greatly impact. However, low experiential value was identified as something that could be proactively addressed.
The research analysis led to a powerful insight: people were suffering from TEDD (Theatre Experience Deficit Disorder). Going to a theatre transcends just watching content: it’s a complete experience. From arrival to exit, it’s an experience unduplicated by sitting on the couch in front of a tiny screen surrounded by life’s distractions. And, through innovation, it’s an experience Warner Bros. Pictures Canada could affect.
Viewing theatre-going through a wider experiential lens that recognized competition from restaurants, bars, bowling alleys, digital art projection events, nightclubs, etc., led to a strategy designed to get people to return to theatres. The strategy: premiere The Matrix Resurrections with a world-exclusive immersive theatrical experience, providing fans with the opportunity to step inside the film. To do so would require true innovation. When theatres responsibly opened, Warner Bros. Pictures Canada wanted to resurrect people’s passion for the Hollywood blockbuster experience. The Matrix Resurrections was the perfect opportunity to deliver a unique, immersive, and participatory experience rooted in a beloved franchise making a comeback of its own.
Using the iconic and instantly identifiable green digital rain from The Matrix franchise as the creative framework, the national effort began with the unleashing of a cryptic QR code via outdoor wall projections, building wraps, and wild postings. The QR code led users down a digital rabbit hole to win tickets to the Canadian Premiere at Cineplex’s Scotiabank Theatre Toronto. In a never-been-done initiative, a full takeover of the iconic theatre was created whereby its entire façade was enveloped in digital green rain code, turning the theatre into a massive billboard spanning an entire city block. Inside, the immersion continued as it rained green everywhere: lobby, escalators, walls, floors, stairs and hallways—resulting in 18,000+ sq. feet of rain using over 31 million pixels.
Additionally, the event drew the film’s star, Keanu Reeves, who interacted with ticket winners and media, elevating the immersive nature of the experience. People weren’t in a theatre, they were now inside the film.
The Matrix Resurrections’ innovative use of OOH transformed the theatre from a place to see the film to the place to be inside the film. People’s desire to go to the theatre was resurrected, demonstrating that any rumours of the death of theatre-going were greatly exaggerated.
Credits
Warner Bros. Pictures Canada : Sandy Power - Senior Vice President Marketing CanadaWarner Bros. Pictures Canada : Christopher Lewchuk - Vice President Marketing Canada