Cineplex opens its doors to millions of moviegoers and entertainment seekers every year.
CONTEXT: INNOVATING WITH LIMITED PREMIUM OPTIONS
With its origins being traced back to 1912, Cineplex and all its predecessor companies have been striving to entertain Canadians for more than 100 years now.
Throughout these 100 years, as the types of entertainment society enjoyed evolved, so did Cineplex. However, to provide consumers with the modern, high-quality entertainment they seek isn’t always easy.
More than 10 years ago, when Cineplex once again looked for innovative ways to bring more Canadians through their doors, there was a lack of premium experiences on the market. For movie theaters especially, options were seemingly limited—other than 3D, there were very few ways to further immerse consumers in their movies.
CHALLENGE: FINDING AN EXPERIENCE WORTH LEAVING THE HOUSE FOR
Not only were there few premium theatrical experiences available, but one of Cineplex’s biggest challenges at the time was also the rise of at-home streaming services.
Since moviegoers were able to watch more content from home, fewer people came to theaters. This meant that not only did Cineplex’s innovation need to offer something different, but that ‘something different’ also needed to be engaging enough so moviegoers would happily come back to experience it repeatedly.
To find an immersive premium experience that could be enjoyed often and not found at home was a challenge. However, as Canada’s largest exhibitor, they were determined to find a solution.
SOLUTION: IMPLEMENTING D-BOX’S HAPTIC CINEMA SEATS
After initial discussions with D-BOX, Cineplex decided that their high-fidelity haptic cinema seats were the solution to their conundrum.
By integrating moving seats into the auditoriums, their customers could watch movies with an immersive experience they could not create at home. Since D-BOX uses in-house haptic designers to hand-code the movies, every movement, vibration, and texture felt is specifically chosen to enhance each moment and to submerge moviegoers in the action. This means Canadians could see over 100 different movies in D-BOX and never have an identical experience! Additionally, each experience can be personalized to the user individually as each ultra-comfortable chair comes with personalized intensity controls, allowing them to be the ones who guide their experience.
Additionally, as Kevin Watts, Executive Vice President of Exhibition and LBE at Cineplex, said in an interview with D-BOX: operating the haptic system is simple, the mechanics are reliable and integration with the POS is seamless.
RESULTS: MORE THAN 10 YEARS AND 100 SCREENS LATER
While Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was the first movie Cineplex brought to moviegoers in D-BOX, it was far from that last. More than 10 years later, the D-BOX and Cineplex partnership is still going strong.
Moviegoers responded so well to the new premium experience, Cineplex is set to open their 100th D-BOX screen and now has more than 3000 haptic seats nationwide. D-BOX collaborates diligently with movie studios to lock in the biggest titles and add value to the moviegoing experience. An experience that can’t be replicated at home. In fact, the continuous demand for D-BOX and the ROI altered the way Cineplex schedules showtimes: now they assign the biggest titles to D-BOX auditoriums first rather than the largest auditoriums only.
Watts said it best during his interview: The D-BOX and Cineplex partnership is a great collaboration between 2 very strong Canadian companies that has no end in sight.