Advertising in movie halls: From still cards to experiential marketing

While in-cinema advertising is yet to reach pre-pandemic levels, multiplex operators are making the next big leap to lure brands. Will it revive the market?

At a recent event to showcase its new in-cinema advertising platform, multiplex chain PVR drew attention to a commercial for car-maker Maruti Suzuki. This wasn't a conventional ad projected on a giant screen in front of viewers. Instead, it used the walls of the cinema hall to show the car driving into the main screen.

The 270-degree on-screen experience, as PVR describes it, has the possibility of taking marketing to a new level within cinemas, a captive space that can induce high brand recall. PVR isn’t the only one to drive engagement with new tech, though.

At Inox theatres, for