2020 Bronze Entertainment and Music

Agency: Ogilvy UK

Client: ODEON Cinema Holdings

Campaign Name: ODEON Digital Customer Experience

Campaign Overview

Go ahead, make cinema-goers’ day

In the face of stiff competition from film-on-demand, ODEON UK set out to extend the emotive, joyful experience of a cinema visit all the way from the ticket booking journey to the point of consideration.

Strategy

To many, a trip the cinema is perceived as an event, an indulgent treat worth the money for the experience. But as on-demand services become the norm for customers, their expectations increase and perceptions of going to the cinema change. There are more convenient ways to watch premium, blockbuster content for less cost.

ODEON UK’s strategy is to address the issue directly: take the simplicity of the customer experience of competing digital platforms and marry it to the entertainment and emotion of visiting the cinema.

To make the experience as compelling as the screen experience, Ogilvy Group - in association with Vista Digital and Mando-Connect - focussed on guest empathy. A mixture of interviews, behavioural science workshops and extensive user-testing enabled them to define the broad design goals needed for the experience, and to illuminate the main areas of friction that needed to be addressed.

Creativity

The programme spanned all ODEON digital touchpoints. To ensure a consistent design insights from the research were translated into five experience principles:

• Elementary My Dear Watson (Simplicity): Make it a seamlessly simple experience.
• Go Ahead, Make My Day (Entertainment): Every interaction is an opportunity to bring joy.
• Martini, Shaken. Not Stirred (Personal): Recognise and embrace difference to create personal experiences for every guest.
• Feel The Force (Empower): Enable guests to choose, discover and create the experience they want.
• You Talking To Me? (Human): Show the human stories of ODEON’s people.

Results

During 2020, ODEON closed its theatres to protect its guests and comply with Government COVID-19 regulations. However, in the overlap between the theatres being open and the programme rolling out, the work has provided tangible impact for the ODEON Group.

The improvements to ODEON’s digital CX has enabled the business to effectively address new customer expectations. This is reflected in the large shift in the ratio of offline to online sales, a key objective of the programme prior to pandemic-driven behaviour change.

Key guest benefits include reduced friction along the customer journey and a digital experience that meets their new needs. Results include:

• 10% improvement in conversion overall, with a channel shift from offline sales to online sales of c. +40%
• A >75% uplift in digital conversion across the new web and app experiences, based on a four-week rolling average

The Team

ODEON Group UK - Amy Miller, Business Transformation Director - Sam Buddington, Product Lead

Ogilvy - Hannah Locke, UX Director - Zoe Fox, UX Designer - Nick Plummer, Lead UI Designer - Lau Moyano, Experience Strategy Director - Dickon Laws, Head of Experience Design - Merryn Mackinnon, Client Director - Nina Taylor, Creative Director - Sarah Duggan, Creative Team - Andy Lennard, Creative Team - Thomas Meagher, Group Programme Director - Hannah Thomas, Project Director - Eric Nouri, Experience Researcher - Bethan Williams, Managing Partner / Client Partner - Paul King, Head of Marketing Technology / Data Privacy Officer

Contributors

Vista Digital, Mando-Connect