Big Cinemas eyes over 30 per cent growth in ad revenue this fiscal

Mumbai: The movie exhibition arm of the Reliance Anil Ambani Group, Big Cinemas that nets close to 50 per cent of its net profit from advertising revenue, is expecting over 30 per cent growth from the same vertical at around Rs 57 crore this fiscal. "Having already clocked over 120 per cent growth in the past two years, from Rs 19 crore to Rs 44 crore in FY14, we expect our advertising revenue to grow over 30 per cent this fiscal at Rs 55-57 crore," said Shirish Srivastava, Head of marketing and sales at Big Cinemas, which is a division of Reliance MediaWorks.

Srivastava also stated that his company's ad revenue, which contributes close to 50 per cent of the bottomline, is much above industry average of around 17 per cent. The contribution of advertising to the overall revenue is a little above 10 per cent, he said, adding while food & beverages contributes over 25 per cent or over Rs 100 crore, its share in the net income is much lower.

Srivastava also said 35 per cent of the ad revenue comes from non-metro halls. 'The country's second largest multiplex operator operates over 410 screens in 320 halls, out of which around 100 are in the country, and the rest in the US, where the ad revenue is minimal', added Srivastava  Some of the advertising strategies that Big Cinemas follow are experiential marketing under which it ties up with marketers for washroom advertising with a view to offer not just a cinema viewing experience but a holistic retail and entertainment experience.