In Queensland, cinema advertising starts from around $250 per week for a 15-second ad in a single cinema, and from $400 per week for a 30-second ad. Cinema advertising investment is driven by how many cinemas you book, how long your ad is, how many weeks you run, and whether you need the commercial produced. Producing an ad from scratch is priced by ad length - $500 to $3,000 plus GST for a 15-second commercial and $2,000 to $5,000 plus GST for a 30-second; converting an existing video to cinema format costs a small fee.
Most cinema advertising companies will not publish a price. We think that wastes everyone’s time, so here are real starting numbers, what moves them, and a worked example.
Every figure on this page is an indicative starting point, not a quote. Cinema advertising is priced per venue and per week, so the honest answer to “what will it cost me” always depends on which cinemas you want and for how long.
Indicative package investment
| Package | Ad length | Indicative price |
|---|---|---|
| Fame Maker | 15 seconds, excluding Gold Class | From $250 per week |
| Fame Dominator | 30 seconds, excluding Gold Class | From $400 per week |
| A-Lister | 30 seconds including Gold Class, industry exclusivity, production included | From $750 per week |
Packages are billed monthly in advance. Custom campaigns across multiple cinemas are quoted individually. Full tier detail is on the pricing page.
The five things that drive the investment
1. How many cinema locations. This is the biggest lever. One local cinema is a legitimate campaign - you do not need to book a whole network. Because most cinemagoers travel within roughly 5-10km of the cinema they attend, a single well-chosen venue can cover an entire catchment.
2. How long the ad is. A longer ad takes up more of the pre-show block, so it costs more per screening. See how long cinema ads are for which length suits which message.
3. How many weeks you run. Cinema rewards repetition, because the same local audience comes back. A longer run at a lower weekly rate usually outperforms a short burst at a higher one.
4. Whether you want exclusivity. Industry exclusivity means no competing business in your category appears in the OzCoWilliams pre-show slot at that cinema. It is a premium option.
5. Whether you need the ad made. Production is a separate, one-off investment from the media placement:
- You already have a video: conversion to cinema format (DCP) is a small fee, typically about seven days. See ad conversion. On the A-Lister tier, conversion to cinema format is included.
- You need one made: priced by ad length - $500 to $3,000 plus GST for a 15-second commercial, $2,000 to $5,000 plus GST for a 30-second, depending on the concept. See video production.
A worked example
A Brisbane real estate agency wants to be known across one suburb catchment for a full quarter.
| Item | Choice | Indicative investment |
|---|---|---|
| Ad length | 30 seconds | Fame Dominator tier |
| Cinemas | 1 local cinema | - |
| Duration | 12 weeks | - |
| Media | 12 weeks at from $400 | From $4,800 |
| Production | Existing video converted | Small one-off conversion fee |
That is a full quarter of being the agency people have seen and heard before every film at their local cinema, for roughly the cost of a few weeks of prime radio.
Change any one input - a second cinema, a 15-second ad, six weeks instead of twelve - and the number moves accordingly. Typically, most clients are on screen 52 weeks of the year, which leaves fewer locations available.
How this compares to other media
Most media try to impress with impressions. Being one of the 6,000 to 10,000 messages a person sees or hears in a day is not engagement.
Australian cinema CPMs (cost per thousand impressions) typically run $40 to $80, depending on location, season and exclusivity. That is materially higher than digital display or online video.
The reason it is a better buy is that the impressions are not equivalent. Independent attention research has measured cinema attentiveness at around 85%, against about 1.4% for skippable digital pre-roll. A cheaper impression that nobody watches is not cheaper.
The sensible way to read this: cinema is a brand-building medium and digital is a direct-response one. For most local advertisers the strongest mix is cinema as the recognition layer, with digital capturing the demand it creates.
What is not included
To be straight about it:
- Prices exclude GST unless stated
- Production and conversion are separate from media cost
- Gold Class screens are excluded from the two lower tiers
- Peak periods such as school holidays and major releases have limited availability, and many advertisers run year round, so book early to avoid disappointment
Get an actual number
Indicative pricing only takes you so far. Tell us the suburbs you want to reach and whether you already have a video, and we will come back with availability and a real figure.
Call (07) 3310 8794 or send us the details.