AMHERST CINEMA | ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP & FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN
After years of flat revenue, deep research and a resonant strategy yield a sure-footed path to success.
Located in the heart of progressive Western Massachusetts, Amherst Cinema is renowned as one of the nation’s leading independent art house theaters. Boasting world-class offerings and famous free popcorn with noosh* topping, its seats were full and its patrons were bubbling with enthusiasm, but that wasn’t reflected in the theater’s messaging or bottom line. Why were memberships and donations—Amhert Cinema’s prime sources of revenue—not reflecting the worth of this invaluable institution? And what could we do to get them there in a smart, cost-effective way? By asking the right questions we found out the surprising answers, which yielded a successful, long-running campaign.
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To do things right you can’t do them halfway
There’s a double meaning in that headline that we may as well explain right now: We’ve learned through long experience that not every business problem can be solved with a new look and a clever headline. Sometimes you need to dig to get to the truth—really listen to customers’ interactions and feelings. It takes commitment and people (us) who know how to ask the right questions, and done right it almost always reveals gold. We unearthed Amherst Cinema patrons’ surprisingly deep connection to their theater, which they recognized and saw as a major cultural resource. But few knew that their ticket price covered only half the costs of admission, with the balance dependent on memberships and donations. And eureka, our campaign was born.
That goes for fun, too.
Great film is about great personalities. For our “You’re Our Other Half” campaign we created posters to be hung at the theater with vintage stills featuring famous movie couples forever entwined in our collective memories. The emotional punch of nostalgic photography set off with a pop of bright saturated color was impossible to ignore. And the message, once learned, couldn’t be easily ignored either. But of course we didn’t take any chances: everyone on the email list got 10 weeks of communications that repeatedly—but entertainingly—sent the message home.
And how about those results?
Amherst Cinema set a campaign goal and a stretch goal. They were able to exceed both in the campaign’s first year. They ran it again the following year and once more saw excellent results. That means a lot more than just a healthy budget sheet, especially in an era when art house cinemas are a vanishing breed. A victory for film geeks everywhere!
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