Key takeaways
- Cinema advertising is video advertising shown in cinemas before the movie
- It is the #1 medium for attention (Kantar 2023): captive audience, dark environment, no second screens
- Australian cinema attendance is concentrated in 16–44 year-olds, with most attendees travelling under 10km to their cinema
- Cinema delivers ~6× the engagement of television and ~85% watched-through rate vs 1.4% on online video
- Cinema is best as a brand-building medium; complementary to direct-response digital
Cinema advertising is paid video advertising shown in cinemas before the movie. Typically a 15-, 30-, or 60-second commercial, run in the pre-show alongside film trailers and cinema-house promotions. Designed to make you locally famous.
How cinema advertising works
A cinema advertising campaign has four moving parts:
- Booking: Placement is booked before every movie every day so you never miss your local targeted audience.
- Production: your commercial is produced in cinema-grade format. We convert your current video, a video you are to produce or through our production partners, to cinema format (DCP, 2K resolution).
- Delivery: the cinema receives the DCP file and key, schedules your ad in the pre-show
- On-screen: your ad runs before every movie in the cinema’s session pattern, every day during your campaign
Most advertising relationships are between the brand (or its agency) and a cinema-advertising specialist (like OzCoWilliams), not directly with the cinema chain.
Who Advertises in Cinemas?
Common cinema advertisers in Queensland include car dealerships, real estate agents and agencies, schools, RTO’s, retail chains, retirement living, aged care, NDIS providers, healthcare, dentists, tourism operators, restaurants, attractions and local services.
Cinema advertising suits businesses and organisations that match these criteria:
- Local-to-regional engagement is a priority: you don’t need every Australian to engage with your ad, just the ones most likely to be your clients.
- Brand-building matters: becoming locally famous is a super power to drive revenue. Cinema is excellent for large-scale local awareness, recall, and elevated perception of your business, making your marketing activity work better and harder.
- Premium audience matters: cinemagoers are more affluent and more brand-receptive than average.
- You need more attention: you are already marketing and you want to make that marketing perform better. Cinema skips the attention phase. That is already guaranteed. You now have the time and the space to engage them.
Why Cinema Advertising Works
Highest Attention
Cinema captures the attention of 85% of audiences without them looking away (industry attention studies). Online video captures 1.4%. Television sits in between but with growing skip and second-screen behaviour.
Captive environment
Dark room. No phone. No skip button. No competing screen. The audience is there to watch, and businesses benefit from that attention and engagement.
Local catchment
Most cinemagoers attend cinemas within 10km of where they live or work. Cinema advertising is hyper-local by default, perfect for businesses serving a defined geographic area.
Cinema advertising costs
Australian cinema advertising costs depend on cinemas booked, ad length, and campaign duration.
Industry-wide ranges (published figures for the Australian market as a whole, not OzCoWilliams pricing):
- Local SMB campaign: $5,000–$10,000
- Metro brand campaign: $20,000–$40,000
- National saturation: $100,000+
What it costs with OzCoWilliams: entry is considerably lower than those market averages. Packages start at $250 per week for a single Queensland cinema, and $400 per week for a 30-second spot. See current pricing for what each tier includes.
Cinema vs other media
| Medium | Attention | CPM | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cinema | Highest | Mid–High | Brand-building, local reach |
| Television | Mid | Mid | Mass reach |
| Outdoor | Mid (low dwell time) | Mid | Frequency, awareness |
| YouTube pre-roll | Low (skip) | Low | Direct response |
| Social media video | Low | Low | Direct response |
Cinema is rarely the only media in a brand’s mix: it’s the brand-building base layer that other channels reinforce.
Getting started with cinema advertising
If you’re considering cinema for the first time:
- Define your target catchment (which suburbs / cities / regions)
- Confirm your budget: with OzCoWilliams a first campaign starts from $250 per week per cinema, plus a one-off production or conversion cost if you do not already have a commercial
- Get a quote from a cinema advertising specialist. OzCoWilliams will come back to you with the cinemas available
- Plan an 8–12 week minimum first campaign: cinema rewards sustained presence
Cinema advertising in Queensland
OzCoWilliams has been Queensland’s largest independent cinema advertising company since 2003. We book across 40+ Queensland cinemas (Event Cinemas, BCC, Cineplex, and many independents), plus interstate cinema networks.
Contact us on (07) 3310 8794 or via the enquiry form for a custom Queensland cinema advertising quote.