Winning over a town for a national brand

Background

National chain ODEON Cinemas was seeking PR for its new Dorchester cinema, which had come up against resistance from the local community loyal to the existing independent cinema.

Brief

ODEON approached us in October 2013 for a 10-month project to turn around the fortunes of the Dorchester cinema by:

• Increasing first-time visitors to ODEON Dorchester
• Increasing awareness of ODEON Dorchester in surrounding communities
• Increasing goodwill by making ODEON part of Dorchester

Results

We carried out a multi-faceted campaign including media relations activity, sponsorship/ partnerships and stakeholder engagement, to complement in-house marketing activities.

Within the 10-month LLPR campaign period:

• ODEON Dorchester saw a 50 per cent increase in attendance – the highest across the company in the UK.
• We achieved 146 pieces of regional online and offline media coverage, securing significant coverage of key messages.
• We negotiated strategic partnerships for ODEON Dorchester with Julia’s House Children’s Hospice, Wessex FM Local Hero Awards and Dorchester Carnival, cementing its role in the local community.
• In 2015, ODEON Dorchester subsequently won the brand’s Local Marketing Cinema of the Year award.

ODEON Dorchester has continued to retain us as its PR agency, focusing on media relations, following the campaign period.