I was intrigued by the speech by Kathryn Hellewell from Vue Entertainment, the cinema chain business.
She rightly pointed out that the trailer (in whatever format) continues to be critical in driving people to the cinema. Having seen the trailer for 300, you can't help but agree with her of the power of the trailer to drive footfall. Personally, knowing that this film comes from the graphic novel of the legendary Frank Miller is only a further enticement.
So imagine my surprise when Kathryn introduced us to deck collector. Having informed us about the power of the trailer, she then showed us a trailer of what deck collector is all about. It is a trading card game based on images and elements of a film, with participants collecting digital cards across the net. Part mystery part rewards, the idea is not new, but could be a great idea. Vue Entertainment have got films such as Cars involved, so clearly there is interest. However, I am not sure what anyone else thought, but in my mind the deck collector trailer was as enticing as a rainy night in georgia. Poorly sold, lots of overpromise and a terrible voice-over. It seems that Vue Entertainment need to pick up some tips from the film companies on how to pull together short communication messages...
Also concerned about Vue Entertainment being reticent about negative customer feedback on a film. Kathryn showed us some negative feedback received for a film online. She shared her concerns about the impact of such criticism on other potential cinema goers if it were to sit on a VUE UGC site. All completely understandable really. A tough call for a business based on encouraging people to go to the cinema and keeping the film distribution companies on their side. Yet the criticism of a poor film will appear somewhere anyway. Film-goers will find out whether a film has got good reviews or not.
The critical piece here is what Vue Entertainment wish to be. They cannot be half-committed to UGC. They are either in or out, no halfway house.
Vue Entertainment is in the business of offering up the cinema experience in all its glory to paying customers. At a time when the competition against the downloadable broadband experience or even the plasma screen TV experience is hotting up, the company surely has to be doing everything they can to build a trustful relationship with the movie loving public. Filtering out honest comment of a film is not the way to do that.