A dark room, and_no second screen

01

When to invest in cinema

Cinema pays off when the audience includes young adults, when the campaign has an asset that benefits from the big screen and sound, or when a launch needs a striking moment. Cinema also suits a local campaign when the cinema is in the same area as the store or branch.

Cinema's weight is decided in the media plan. In a broad campaign cinema usually needs reach-building channels alongside it, because infrequent visits build reach slowly. In a narrower campaign cinema can be a central channel when the objective and the period are sized for it.

02

Who you reach in the auditorium

Young adults in particular go to the cinema. 51 %* of 18 to 29-year-olds go at least a few times a year, against 35 % of 60 to 74-year-olds. Cinema reaches an age group that traditional TV reaches less well.

Visits are infrequent. 5 %*, about 194 000 people, go at least once a month. So reach builds up gradually, and the screening period has to be long enough.

03

Cinemas and the screening period

We choose the cinemas and the films by who is sitting in the room, and time the campaign around the seasons and premieres the audience goes to. The period is sized so that the target reach has time to build up.

We negotiate the buy with the cinema advertising sellers and fit the screening period to the campaign's other channels.

04

Picture and sound versions

Cinema needs a version made for the big screen and cinema sound. A TV or online video can be the starting point, but the picture, the sound mix and the length are checked against the cinema's requirements. The same asset runs for the whole screening period, so a date-specific message dates quickly.

The asset is usually made by the advertising agency, and we bring to the brief who is sitting in the room and what other media they follow.

05

What to expect from cinema

In the auditorium the ad cannot be fast-forwarded or skipped, but that does not guarantee every viewer's attention. Before the campaign we estimate how wide an audience the chosen cinemas and period will reach, and we report what was delivered.

Cinema produces few clicks, so its effect cannot be read from web analytics. If recall needs to be known, it is measured with a campaign study: was the ad remembered, and did people link it to the brand.

06

What our campaigns and campaign studies have shown

In our campaigns cinema has been among the most expensive channels per contact.** Cinema is bought for the viewing situation in the auditorium, so its cost per contact should not sit in the same table as other channels without that caveat.

In our campaign studies the median total ad recall has risen with the number of channels: 28 % in three-channel campaigns, 40 % in four and 48 % in five.*** This is an observation and does not prove cause and effect, but it supports using cinema as part of a larger plan.

* NØRR3 Media Insights, wave 9, Norstat panel, August 2026, n = 2 022, aged 18 to 74, margin of error ±2.1 percentage points. Age groups: 18 to 29-year-olds n = 400 (±4.9 percentage points), 60 to 74-year-olds n = 559 (±3.8 percentage points). ** NØRR3's own campaign bank, campaign reports 2024–2026: each lesson recurs in campaigns across at least two industries and two advertisers. *** NØRR3's campaign studies 2024–2026, Norstat panel, median total recall by number of channels (three channels 5 studies, four channels 9 studies, five channels 5 studies).