brand owned

I’d like to bring your attention to a not-so-unique, not-so-flashy, but well thought out online community. An online community that is championed by a specific brand and that I think has some very interesting lessons for all involved in this space… first, the background:

One of the largest cinema/entertainment companies in Canada, Cineplex, has recently launched its very own – and I quote: “online social networking movie and entertainment community” (jeez, that was a mouth full!) called mycineplex (all lower-case letters; very creative, I know… also, btw, mycineplex will soon be available in french moncineplex – impressive).

According to Cineplex:

“Movies and entertainment news are a central part of the social experience and mycineplex provides entertainment and movie lovers with a new community to exchange their views. mycineplex is really a community built by movie fans for movie fans”

As part of the mycineplex experience, it gives community members the opportunity to rate, review and comment on movies, become fans of members and theatres, tag and bookmark interesting content, upload photos etc etc. Also, it offers members some cool contests, promotions, entertainment blogs and e-newsletters as well as online and mobile ticketing.

Now, some key things that I would like to point out from this initiative – lessons I think that can be learned from mycineplex:

1. Cineplex already has a “captured” audience through their various databases of movie-goers. Thus, they already have a good base for getting people to join the mycineplex community. A dream scenario for any starting online initiative.
2. mycineplex now offers Cineplex an excellent platform to diversify its revenue streams – offering more innovative and, often more measurable, marketig options to potential clients.
3. The one trait that mycineplex seems to display, the one trait that will most likely lead to its success, is the fact that they have concentrated on what they do best – movies. And this links directly to Cineplex’s core customer – passionate movie buffs.
4. mycineplex now offers Cineplex a very unique tool to garner customer insights, to build and/or improve customer profiles (demographic, psychographic, behavioral patterns etc), as well as being used as a platform to test and share some new innovations Cineplex might be thinking off.
5. mycineplex also now offers Cineplex a platform that can be easily merged with various other marketing initiatives, whether online or offline.
6. Purely as tool to build and increase brand loyalty, mycineplex’s offerings makes sure that every community member will stay loyal to the mycineplex brand – and, most likely, loyalty towards any other initiative with the Cineplex brand attached to it.

Again, mycineplex isn’t a unique online community (see Flixster) but fact is the Cineplex brand has now extended itself and has taken hold of an opportunity to send a message to their customers: “We understand your passion”.

If you have an established community or are looking to possibly build one, give mycineplex a visit, play a bit, test things, observe – chances are that you can only understand online community building better.

Not bad for an “online social networking movie and entertainment community”!

Read more posts by LouisJvR

Louis is the Johannesburg manager of web marketing firm World Wide Creative. Louis is also known as the ‘Case Study Guy’ with an encyclopaedic knowledge of research resources to support the strategic initiatives he is involved in. In between organising Heavy Chef Sessions in the Gauteng region, Louis happens to have a mean sidestep on the rugby field. With his silky skills, dashing good looks, Colgate smile and cunning wit, Louis is the high school quarterback of the World Wide Creative marketing team.

Related posts:

1. How to build your brand online
2. Beware Bozo – The Community Troublemaker
3. South African owned, Chinese-based QQ turns more profit than Facebook
4. Heavy Chef Session for June: Rui Esteves on Building a Brand in South Africa
5. Rui Esteves on Brand Building