AMC Theater Case Study

What can exhibitors do to improve their performance?
As a result of the above challenges, exhibitors are performing poorly. For example, AMC Theatres wrote off over $1.3 billion in market value from a 25 percent drop in share price, after the company reported a loss of $1.35 per share. AMC attributed the loss to disappointing blockbuster, debt-fueled deal making in buying up cinema chains such as Carmike and European chains Odeon & UCI and Nordic, and high overhead (Pressberg, 2017b). To improve its performance, AMC plans to cut staff, introduce strategic pricing to help fill seats, better align operating expenses with theatre attendance in each market, and reduce general and administrative costs (Pressberg, 2017c).
Need for a right balance.
There are several movie subscription services in the market. MoviePass is a $10/month unlimited movie subscription service in the U.S. allowing subscribers to buy a movie ticket per day from most major chains. In UK, the Cineworld’s Unlimited Card is available as an annual purchase, at a cost of about $24 per month, and it offers a discount on concessions in addition to the free movie ticket but is limited to a single exhibitor. Movie Club is the subscription service from Cinemark priced at $8.99 per month. The subscriber gets one admission per month, a 20 percent discounts on concessions, no charge for seat reservations, and points toward additional tickets (Brueggemann, 2017).
However, AMC has commented on the MoviePass saying it is not in the best interest of the industry and the customers. The firm believes in subscription but argues that it must be priced right or else it might set up unrealistic expectations and drive attendance even lower (Pressberg,
Golden Village prides itself on innovations in ticket buying, as well as technological advances inside the cinema. Technology has become a significant part of the customer experience. Singapore’s general labor shortage and its restrictions on imported workers mean that many Singapore businesses have turned to technological solutions. First, GV has developed its Digital Box Office concept in order to reduce its requirement for low-skilled workers and introduced the paperless tickets (Quicktix). By using QR codes that can be sent to a mobile device and carried through automatic ticket barriers, the process eliminates queueing to purchase or collect pre-booked tickets (Frater, 2017).
Second, GV developed its own iGV mobile app which not only facilitates booking and seat selection, but also allows the company to promote upcoming films through online previews. This allows GV to target the right segments with its marketing methods, above-the-line advertising, and promotions such as date nights, men’s nights and magic-themed evenings. Third, digital technology allows targeted marketing of alternative content to specific fan groups. As is commonly practiced in Southeast Asia countries, GV has a small but growing business screening live concerts and live Japanese anime shows (Frater,