For years now much of what I've read from the movie industry is stories about how this that or the other is impacting ticket sales; how the industry is hurting and how no matter what they do, piracy and a host of other issues is keeping them from getting the numbers they should have. Well putting aside the skyrocketing price of a movie ticket, overcharging for popcorn (see this book) and the fact that many Americans now have large screen TVs with rocking home theatre systems all of which has helped make the issue worse, I've always said the real heart of the matter is the product, not the customer. Case in point, Batman opened last Friday to a lot of hype and fan fair and it delivered for the customers and the studios.
Delivering of course meant even more hype and not just the "let's go see it again tonight" comment hardcore fans make but posts to blogs, news sites (for a change CNN did a great job of covering via their iReporters), twitter and facebook and all the others. Summed up best by Dan Fellman, Studio distribution chief for WB, "[T]his movie's gross was partly because of the reviews it received and the incredible buzz and word of mouth that preceded it with our early screenings." I booked my tickets days in advance hoping for something fun but woke up Friday morning to discover (through a dozen comments and posts) that I was in for something special - something I HAD to see.
And the sales? Well it smashed opening weekend records for midnight shows, first day ticket sales, IMAX openings and set a new overall record for weekend ticket sales. The first film in the series sold a mere $48 million in tickets opening weekend, this one $155 million. Say whatever you want about why movie sales have been declining but you can't refute the simple fact, for years people [customers] have complained about how little there's been in the way of good films, how few true blockbusters are being made and when a great one hit the screens, it delivered.
So what's the take away here...? In a nut shell, give your customers what they want. This means scrapping the old world philosophy of strategizing about how to sell people on something you want them to want and instead figuring out what it is that captures their interest and delivering it. It doesn't matter if you sell movies, housewears or collect mortgage leads - when prospective customers find something that matches their needs, delivers on its promise and is interesting, they'll buy it and maybe even talk about it. And getting consumers talking these days is more important than any amount of brand awareness.
If fail to respond and insult the customer by simply ignoring them, all your so-called brand loyalty in will go right out the window and into the door of the first person who does.
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