Getting Paid in Scene Points? Unlimited Movie Passes at Cineplex Theatres?
You may have read about this recently but Cineplex (who runs loyalty program Scene Rewards) was bought out by a British media group, Cineworld. Shareholders approved the deal this month. As a result, Tanner Zipchen (Cineplex pre-show host, the one you see while waiting for a movie to start), was let go from his position. Turns out that he was being paid in Scene points while working here?
Ok… the story is not that far fretched, even though he was actually paid in Scene points when he first started working for Cineplex, before converting his compensation into actual cash.
To me, firing Tanner so quickly after the takeover means that we should be looking at some sort of shake up. What is Cineworld looking to do with Cineplex, as well as its Scene Rewards program? I have so many questions. I held out writing this post until I got more details. So this is more of a preview post before I eventually write a full blown post when the things become more clear.
What we know so far
There are some details being leaves over the past few weeks:
- The idea of an unlimited movie pass is being tosses around, something in the range of $23 a month. I would definitely love to see this happen. I can see this being popular. I just hope that it will be more of a monthly pass thing, like with public transit. Where you can decide which month to buy the unlimited pass to time your favourite movies.
- The Cineplex name won’t change. This is a smart move as there is no need to rebrand since Cineplex is already a well-established name. Cineworld is better off focusing on other efficiencies instead of spending time on new marketing and branding. Name change can be very costly and I do not believe there is a need for such a change in this case.
- Layoffs are bound to happen with redundancies. Hopefully they will eliminate jobs through attrition mostly as there is still some time before they take drastic layoff measures I would hope.
Cineworld has resources
Cineworld seems to have some deep pockets if they are able to pay $2.8 billion to buyout Cineplex. Not only that, but Cineplex had the option to shop around where they contacted 52 potential buyers. None of them were able to compete with this offer. So I assume Cineworld some money to invest and ideas to implement with Cineplex to make it more profitable.
Questions?
Cineplex almost has a monopoly in Canada as it is, so what more can Cineworld do to take Cineplex to another level? If Cineworld does a good job, this could be a lot of trouble for other movie theatres.
This unlimited movie pass has the potential to be a game changer. Imagine if you lived near the theatres. Instead of watching TV at home tonight, just go to the theatres any time of the month to watch a movie and be able to And the ability to re-watch your favourite movies over again in the theatre.
What’s going to happen with Scene Rewards? I just hope that they keep the program and find ways to improve it even though.
What are your thoughts about this takeover? What would you like to see happen? Please let us know in the comment section below!
Hmmm, interesting idea. I’m actually not a big Cineplex fan. We have a Landmark less than 5 minutes away and I find the food is better. The seats are the same now. Our Landmark doesn’t serve alcohol…yet…but, I can’t see the need for it for a 2-hour movie.
The idea of a monthly pass is intriguing. I’m not sure I’d get value for it every month, so it would definitely have to be flexible. In February there are 6 or more movies I would like to see. In March, only one. Do I want to see the same movie a bunch of times? Uh, no. Not me, anyway. Hard to say if this will be successful. But, I think, even if they did it for a year or less, they would drive Landmark out of business. Then there would be no competition. That’s never a good thing.
Maybe time for time for Landmark to up their game.
I work as a cleaner at a Cineplex and I think they should start closing on certain less busy days like monday nights are dead, why pay employees to stand around and do pretty much nothing? Then the few people who go on a monday would fill the seats on tuesday cheap night or go on another less busy night like Wednesday or Thursday. I really wish they would close on holidays but I do understand that not everyone celebrates holidays and would like something to do.
Thanks for sharing your personal experience with us Candice. Always nice to hear the perspective of an insider.
I agree with you, they could optimize their business model a little more by adjusting their movie showings to be more cost efficient, but it could also depend on theatre to theatre!