Cineplex Case

Executive Summary

Introduction

Cineplex is currently one of the largest film exhibitors in Canada; they own, lease, or have a joint venture in at least 133 theatres with 1,438 screens from British Columbia to Quebec1. With headquarters in Toronto, Ontario Cineplex currently runs a total of 8 different brands, which include: Cineplex Odeon, Galaxy, Famous Players, Colossus, Coliseum, SilverCity, Cinema City, and Scotiabank Theatre brands. Cineplex first started out in the 1920’s when Paramount Pictures acquired a small but established theatre chain called Nathan Nathanson’s Paramount Theatres, which had been established approximately four years prior to this acquisition. Following this acquisition by Canadian Theatres, Nathan Taylor, known as Nat and inventor of the multiscreen theatre, and Garth Drabinsky, previous Canadian producer and at this time in prison for embezzlement, opened the first 18-screen Cineplex location, which was located in the basement of the Toronto Eaton Centre1. At this time the 1,600 seats Theatre was so unique that it earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records1. After successfully challenging the Famous Players/ Canadian Odeon duopoly and their exclusive contracts with studios, Cineplex succeeded in purchasing Canadian Odeon and formed the Cineplex Odeon Corporation1. Cineplex also successfully launched a distribution unit, called Cineplex Odeon Films. Although its assets were largely sold to Alliance Atlantis in 1998, they changed the home viewing industry for the better.

With all this competition and new market openings, Drabinsky lost control of Cineplex in 1998 and the ownership fell to Bronfman’s Seagram (alcoholic distribution) and its MCA (music corporation of America) division. Cineplex Entertainment caters to all types of audiences and with their current and revamped mission statement of “passionately deliver an exceptional entertainment experience” (Cineplex 2012) 1. With plans of international markets in the works and constant expansion and acquisition of other markets in Canada, Cineplex has become the largest theatre chain ever. While marketing for an already established company you can clearly see which points of the industry they excel at.

Currently, Cineplex offers concession vendors, which include the famous popcorn and drink combos, as well as offering many restaurants that cater to the audience needs3. Cineplex also currently offers a rewards program, called Scene. Launched in 2007, the program added roughly 630,000 new members during 2011 bringing total membership at December 31, 2011 to more than 3.3 million3. This program allows consumers to gather points from purchasing movies, concessions, or using the ScotiaBank scene debit/credit cards2. SCENE members can redeem points for a host of rewards including movies, concessions, music, DVDs/Blu-rays,