Gruvi data shows “Barbie” owns the highest pre-sale tickets for any 2023, so far

Gruvi collaborated with a cinema chain in Australia to track demand and conversions for the “Barbie” movie, comparing it to benchmarks established over years of analysing distributor & exhibitor website data.

Gruvi’s expert data team have developed advanced cinema analytics, meaning we’re helping exhibitors understand their customers’ journey, from the moment they interact with an ad to the moment they purchase their tickets. We monitor the full transaction funnel, so we can build a clear picture of how customers interact with showtimes and how screens are filling up, providing our clients with those all important metrics on the true interest around a particular film.

Let’s take “Barbie“ as an example. In the buildup to the film’s release, an unprecedented two thirds of visitors had reached the seat selection screen. This confirmed the significant interest in the film that the industry was, by that time, expecting. Of those, 42% went on to purchase.

Let’s compare that to our benchmarks at this particular chain. In more usual cases, a quarter of potential customers initiate a checkout, and then around 18% of those users go on to purchase tickets. 

In ecommerce terms, this is still extremely positive. Show most online professionals an 18% conversion rate and they’ll start to get excited. At Gruvi we look at the specifics of different purchase funnel shapes, typically the thinner the funnel the lower the intent and the broader the funnel the higher the overall intent. Barbie’s funnel is truly unique and a phenomenon, with interest jumping from one quarter to two thirds and purchases more than doubling from 18 to 42%. Congratulations to Warner Brothers and the filmmakers on disrupting the norms.

If we combine these behavioural insights with audience demographic data, our clients can leverage specific audiences as the campaign is in progress, deliver retargeting and other strategic advertising, and maximise results. The following graph shows how the under 35s embraced the film.

Having this data at your fingertips during a campaign enables you to optimise advertising by enhancing creatives across specific channels, therefore reaching the exact audience most likely to purchase tickets. 

What were the results? Well, you already know the film was a smash. But the above approach - combined with long standing brand building activity to increase awareness & market share around the cinema chain itself - meant that more tickets were sold as pre release bookings for “Barbie” than any other 2023 title managed to sell during its entire theatrical run!

If you’re interested in learning more about how you can leverage your cinema data to improve the understanding of your audience and deploy more efficient advertising, get in touch here.