CIOReview | | 19 SEPTEMBER - 2023CXO INSIGHTSSince the dawn of the digital age, marketing and technology departments have become more intertwined, evolving processes and communication in order to deepen customer relationships. Step by step, change by change, companies have undergone digital transformations, executing strategy and utilizing new technology to collect and apply customer data in the most efficient and impactful way. Over the past five years, Cinemark has undergone its own digital transformation. While necessary, a complete digital overhaul is not an easy process, and it takes strategic coordination amongst multiple teams to successfully adapt operations to the digital world. For Cinemark, this meant strategically designing not only an engaging customer-facing online experience, but also changing how internal teams utilize consumer data gathered to continually evolve and create the best value for both the customers and the company. Bringing Moviegoing to the Digital RealmTechnology has greatly changed the in-theater movie experience, and the same can be said for digital advancements outside of our auditoriums. In order to better connect with our moviegoers, Cinemark has focused on creating a frictionless e-commerce experience for customers while simultaneously increasing revenue for the company. This has included meaningful changes in strategy across key areas such as media, website and app, email, data analytics and more.At the beginning of this transformation, Cinemark was focused on more traditional channels for reaching potential moviegoers, including newspaper ads, direct mailers and limited email communications. These types of marketing messages also pushed many people to purchase their tickets in person at the box office of the theater. As other companies were making it increasingly easy for consumers to purchase goods and services directly online, we saw both an opportunity and consumer preference toward online ticket purchases that could be easily obtained with a few simple clicks. But to be successful in shifting long-standing consumer behavior, such as the way in which moviegoers obtain tickets for a film they want to see, Cinemark had to create a memorable brand experience for customers across all digital channels through strategic use of technology and information. A key focus of the overall transformation was developing an engaging and intuitive website and app, which would make the ticket purchase process a positive, and frictionless experience for our consumers. Every step, including movie and location selection, to seat selection and checkout process has been designed by the technology and marketing teams to maximize conversion while also building brand loyalty. In addition, we have dedicated more resources on targeted paid media, reaching potential and returning customers in multiple digital spaces, including social media, programmatic display, connected TVs and general search. This, in conjunction with our strong loyalty program, and completely revamped and robust email and push communications has all helped drive more traffic to the updated website and app, and ultimately driven more online ticket purchases. All these updated strategies, along with the expanding and deepening of our digital talent pool, have been instrumental in meaningfully increasing Cinemark's digital penetration over just a few short years.THE CINEMATIC POWER OF GREAT DIGITAL TRANSFORMATIONSBy Jeff Rosenfeld, SVP Digital and Customer Experience, Cinemark Theaters Jeff Rosenfeld
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