Enhancing Business at Empire Cinema

Introduction

Being appointed to work within the department of marketing of Empire Cinema, Sunderland, it becomes important to evaluate the strategy implemented and ways to enhance the business. Empire Cinema, Sunderland is a modern chain of movie halls that ensures that the latest releases are screened with special themed movies. The report in the current instance makes sure that the organization maintains a competitive advantage in business by attracting the customers and providing services as per the demands of the customers. The report thus plans to undertake a concise of the current marketing strategies and propose an innovative strategy to meet the current trends for helping the business to grow. For those needing assistance, seeking marketing dissertation help can provide valuable insights into effective strategies.

Environmental analysis

Internal environment

Internal environment of Empire Cinema is inclusive of the inputs and systematic procedures that are implemented to achieve the strategic goal in business. The movie theatre has been successful in developing modern technologies that support the creation of realistic images through the use of 3D methods. Images screened in Empire Cinema are sharper and brighter with better contrast compared to the other movie theatres. The business organization additionally invented contemporary technologies to address the 3D surround sound system offering better depth and clarity in regards to the sound. One of the prime focuses of the chosen movie theatre is the aspect of research and development and works to present movie screening through the implementation of technical advancements.

External environment

Porter’s Five Forces Model

Threat of substitutes

The threat of substitute for Empire Cinema can be attributed to the fact customers can switch to other organizations. Empire Cinema has an exciting film format with clear images and better sound system. There remains a high threat of substitute available against the ones provided by Empire Cinema. The customers could easily find the service at the same or less price. Empire Cinema. Sound is critical in providing better experience. Currently, it is easier to fund VCD and DVDs with great levels of resolution. Even traditional movie halls project better quality of films. This can be termed as a prime reason for the customers to switch to affordable options (Chang, 2017).

Threat of new entrants

New entry into the market could potentially weaken the market power of Empire Cinema.a specific segment can be deemed more attractive if there exists high barriers to entry and low barriers to exit. According to the market, Empire Cinema can sustain its position as a premium destination not because it offers a better level of services (Ahmad et al. 2017). Empire Cinema is perceived as a cutting edge for new cinema with scope of new experiences. It additionally provides a strong sense of realism to the type of films being witnessed allowing the visitors to feel the destination explored.

Industry rivalry

Rivalry within the industry refers to the immense amount of competition among the existing theaters offering similar services. Intensity of the competition is dependent on the frequency of film theatres and capability to provide services. After shock of the business restructuring combined with poor lineup of films can be termed as one of the leading reasons of poor attendance. The current marketing objectives are to release minimum 6 films in every market and work on forming promotions based on value to drive the business (Quader et al. 2017). The mentioned marketing objectives are going to be carried out using a broad range of marketing mix

Bargaining power of the suppliers

Bargaining power of the suppliers determines the strong position of theatre. As influenced by Quader et al. (2017), film marketing is seen to take a combination of advertising elements for promoting their movies. In similar regards, it can be additionally stated that films take 8 weeks within a staggered program to meet the timing of the customers. Recents trends provide an understanding that the 3 dimensional movies have surpassed the 2 dimensional ones. Unfortunately, there is a limited supply of 3D movies due to lack of budget. Similarly, if a particular movie does well overseas, it is likely to score well in foreign markets too. Research carried out on continuous basis to find titles that can encourage the viewers to watch the movies (Ulker-Demirel et al. 2018)

Bargaining Power of Buyers

As per the market research 78% of people exhibit intent to return provided that the theatres provide better range of services (Yu and Lee, 2018). As influenced by Tyree (2017), there are certain specific activities that influence the people to make repeated purchases, in case of movie theatres, the interior is of prime importance. Thus, it would be fair enough to state the fact that bargaining power of the buyers is highly differentiated as per the movie theatres. If Empire Cinema, Sunderland is presenting huge amount of tickets ordering customers, then they could easily exercise the authority to dictate the price (Parikh et al. 2018)

Competitive advantage

Following are the ways that can be implemented for ensuring better rates of competitive advantage for the business

Differentiation strategy

Cost leadership strategy and

Focus strategy.

In the case of Empire Cinema, the prime reason for pursuing forward, backward and the stated horizontal strategy is to enjoy the advantage of cost leadership. Empire Cinema is a diversified firm of business and may be classified in the three different industries

Supplies and photographic equipment

Video tape production and motion pictures

Distribution of motion and video pictures

These things are horizontally integrated in order to keep the overhead at bare minimum, while implementing the right cost cutting techniques. Thus, it would be deemed reasonable for Empire Cinema to develop and distribute movies in digital format (Li, 2018). This strategy can make significant contribution in lowering the existing operational costs of the firm

Customer analysis

Customers in the mentioned industrial sector are varied with diverse age groups and demands. In order to meet demands of all the customers, Empire Cinema Sunderland the movie theatre needs a better profile of the customers who visit the movie hall on a regular basis. The following profile and analysis of the competitors can be made

Based on the recent statistics, it can be easily stated that the customers for basically young to young adult crowd with high rates of disposable income and time the latest range of technology used to give better viewing experience to the consumers are targeted mainly to impress the young audience (Song, Jang and Cai, 2016). In similar regard it becomes important to understand that the range of movies is varied for targeting the customers and increasing the margin of profit and sales. Partly the reason why customers choose empire cinema is because they want to be considered a part of a bigger franchise. Empire cinema is able to emulate high-end movies with better sound quality and visual experience that can create an opportunity of a lifetime for the viewers (Weinberg et al. 2020). The corporate individuals can be termed as one of the biggest sectors of young adults who indulge in cinematic experiences. These customers are highly introverted and do not like being the centre of attention they are withdrawn but do enjoy social events if given a chance does entertainment for the scope of cinema can be term suitable for the search population (Sinha et al. 2017). The customers have their hands full with work individual time and family does making them dependent on the offer of movies provided by the chosen theatre rather than relying on online reviews or recommendations by friends or families

Competitor analysis

Evaluation of the marketing practice using the 4P structure

In light of the recent market research, it can be conclusively stated that Empire Cinemas need to bring about change in their marketing strategy for getting the needed attention of the customers. The right kind of attention from the customers can be gained through the following strategy

Product: The product provided by Empire Cinema is no doubt better than the other theatres providing a similar list of movies however in order to reach the top level empire cinema needs to compete as per the current marketing strategies and demands. For example, the consumers are fairly young and attracted to technology. The use of technology to enhance the moving watching experience with three dimensional or four dimensional services can work on providing better scope of product advantage to the chosen cinema (Zhang et al. 2019)

Place: location can be termed as the greatest strategy for business it is a location that decides the availability of the customers and thus better profit. In order for the business to grow and expand targeting the urban areas of the suburban areas can be termed as a strategic move. Similarly movie theatres should be situated within commercialized areas with close proximity to office and colleges as the target audiences are generally young studying in colleges are working in corporate structures (Luo et al. 2019)

Price: in order to gain advantage and profit margin in the business it is important to keep a track on the price. The business in the current scenario provides services at an affordable range however if it plans to expand the range of services and make use of technology then the prices need to increase in order to meet the operational cost (Guangyu, Donglin and Ningning, 2019). Thus, it can be conclusively stated penetrative pricing strategy can be termed as a good way of driving away the competition from IMAX to the empire cinemas. Penetrative pricing strategy would work on providing low price for services which are provided in IMAX at greater cost. The initial price differentiation strategy can be termed as a great distraction for customers who enjoy watching movies and would like to pay less provided if the services remain the same. However, keeping in mind the scope of growth of technology that the price should be based on cost plus pricing which can be done by simply calculating the cost and adding a markup (Lyu et al. 2020). Dimension pricing strategy can help in keeping the operation of the movie theatre well while meeting the needs of the customers to enjoy 3D or 4D related services within an affordable range

Promotion: with the advent of technology the promotional strategy for the chosen sector and especially for empire cinema should get a notch up (Cabral, 2019). By saying so would be better to align marketing strategy as per the segment of customer being targeted. The chosen marketing mix aims to target young adults whose greatest time is spent on social media. Forward the marketing strategy also makes sure that the older adults and the young customers are not left out. It is for the same reason that the plan wishes to implement both social media marketing and holistic approach to traditional marketing for gathering attention of customers from all profile for ensuring better business profits (Narayan and Kadiyali, 2016)

Recommendations

Recommendation 1: Understand demands of the customers

Recommendation 2: Producing shows as per consumer demands

Conclusion

On basis of the above statement, it can be concluded that the marketing strategies in Empire Cinema has good marketing strategies. However, with the advent of competition, it would be fair enough to state that redundant marketing strategies is likely to make no evident impact on the business or bring the expect amount of profits. The report in the current instance makes sure that the organization maintains a competitive advantage in business by attracting the customers and providing services as per the demands of the customers.

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