MARKETING

STRATEGIES
FOLLOWED BY
MULTIPLEX
IN MUMBAI

A PROJECT REPORT ON

MARKETING STRATEGIES FOLLOWED

BY MULTIPLEX
IN MUMBAI

SUBMITTED BY

YOJANA Y. PATIL
T.Y.B.M.S. [Semester V]

KONARK IDEAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE & COMMERCE

KALYAN (E), MUMBAI 421 301

SUBMITTED TO

UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI
ACADEMIC YEAR

2013-2016

DECLARATION
I, Ms. YOJANA PATIL student of KONARK IDEAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE &
COMMERCE of TYBMS [Semester V] hereby declare that I have completed my
project, titled MARKETING STRATEGIES FOLLOWED BY MULTIPLEX IN
MUMBAI in the Academic Year 2013-2016. The information submitted herein is true
and original to the best of my knowledge.

Signature of Student
[YOJANA PATIL]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Mumbai University for
having projects as a part of the B.M.S curriculum.
I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to the following individuals who have played a
crucial role in the research for this project. Without their active cooperation the
preparation of this project could not have been completed within the specified time
limit.
The first person I would like to acknowledge is my guide Mr. NITIN DWIVEDI who
supported me throughout this project with utmost cooperation and patience. I am very
much thankful to them for sparing their precious time for me and for helping me in
doing this project.
Next I would like to thank my parents Mr. YASHWANT PATIL and Mrs. SHOBHA
PATIL for their strong support and cooperation.
Finally I would like to thank my brother Mr. DNYANESHWAR PATIL and all my
friends who have helped in all possible ways in making this project presentable.
Last but not the least I would like to thank the Almighty for always helping me

1. Executive Summary

As movies & Multiplex were found to be the favorite time pass of the college
students, this topic found to be interesting to study & research on.

Movies are big means of entertainment. The better options

available in the multiplex rather than a single screen theater. Multiplex is at
advantage as it not only provide service of screening movies but also offers
various other service like shopping, eatables, gaming etc.

The topic of marketing strategies of multiplex in Mumbai deals

with the new emerging trend of multiplex over the single screen movie theatres.
The scope for the multiplex & the reasons for their boom are enough to justify that
they have a long way to go in the development of the entertainment sector.

Cinemax, Adlabs, Shringar, are one of the leading groups of

multiplexes. The project named marketing strategies of multiplex in Mumbai
contents the information/knowledge on the following;

What exactly the service in our language we mean. After it

covers the service sector & its importance to the economy.

The multiplex industry in brief, multiplex replacing cinema

theatres & competitive pressure in multiplex business are some of the topics
covered in this project with short explanations.

Service marketing is the part of marketing which is also

explained with other small topics. An effective marketing requires on going
process & todays marketing challenges require strategy to drive tactics.

Service marketing mix constitutes the important & major part

of the project. The 9 Ps are well explained in details with respect to multiplex.

-5-

Marketing media for communication explains the different

Medias used by the multiplex in Mumbai for communication in general. Different
marketing strategies used by the multiplex are explained in vast, along with value
creation & delivering sequence.

-6-

INDEX
Sr. No.

Title

Page No.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Executive Summary
Objective of the Study
Research Methodology
Introduction to Services & Service Sector
Introduction to Service Marketing
Multiplex
Shringar Films Pvt. Ltd.
Cinemax
Adlabs Limited
Service Marketing Mix With Respect to

5
8
9
10
14
19
26
35
38
40

11
12
13
14

Multiplex
Marketing Media For Communication
Value Creation & Delivering Sequence
Recommendations
Conclusion

60
66
72
73

15

ANNEXURE

74

16

BIBLIOGRAPHY

77

2. Objective of the Study

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 To study the service marketing as only theoretical part was not enough to
study & it required different tactics, which was well taken into consideration
by the existing multiplexes.
For the above reason & also as the multiplex was the daily part & parcel of the
college life it raised the interest to study the concept of multiplex.
To study the replacement of cinema theatres by the multiplexes & competitive
threat in multiplex business.
To learn how each major player make use of 9 ps of marketing.
To know the different Marketing Medias used for communication by the
existing multiplexes.
To study the different Marketing Strategies used by multiplex players in the
market.

3. Research Methodology

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The topic includes conceptual structure within which research has been
conducted. The purpose of research design is to as efficient be as possible.

Type of Research: Interview method has been used, for collection of data. The topics were related
to the industry in which the interviewed persons were working, direct questions &
communication were preferred to make the study effective.

Source of Data: Mainly the data was collected with the help of Questionnaire.
To overcome the limitations of incapability, obsolesce, & bias, it was better to
go for primary data by interviewing the persons working in the concerned
industries (direct communication).
Secondary data was collected through newspapers, magazines, websites,
books, friends & relatives. The authors name & websites referred are specified
in bibliography.

4. Introduction to Services & Service Sector

Introduction to Services
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A service is an act or a performance offered by one party to another. Although

the process may be to a physical product, the performance is transitory, often
intangible in nature, & does not normally result in ownership of any of the factors of
production.
A service is an activity that creates value & provides benefits for customers at
specific times & places by bringing about a desired change in, or on behalf of,
the recipient of the service.

Introduction to Service Sector: The Services Sector constitutes a large part of the Indian economy both in
terms of employment potential and its contribution to national income. The Sector
covers a wide range of activities from the most sophisticated in the field of
Information and Communication Technology to simple services pursued by the
informal sector workers, for example, vegetable sellers, hawkers, rickshaw pullers,
etc.

The following broad grouping of activities can be considered to form part of the
Services Sector:

Activities Comprising the Services Sector

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a)

Trade

b)

Hotels and restaurants

c)

Transport including tourist assistance activities as well as activities of

travel agencies and tour operators

d)

Storage and communication

e)

Banking and insurance

f)

Real estate and ownership of dwellings

g)

Business services including accounting; software development; data

processing services; business and management consultancy; architectural,
engineering and other technical consultancy; advertisement and other
business services

h)

Public administration and defence

i)

Other services including education, medical and health, religious and other
community services, legal services, recreation and entertainment services
[E.g.: - Multiplexes, Shopping Malls, Video Parlors etc.]

j)

Personal services and activities of extra-territorial organizations and bodies

Importance of the Service sector to the Economy

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The importance of services sector can be judged from the fact that world trade
in commercial services amounted to US$ 1440 billion in the year 2001 which is 23%
of goods trade. In India, too, services accounted for 49% of GDP in 2000-2001 while
agriculture accounted for 27% of GDP and manufacturing 23%.

The growth of trade in services is expected to lead to the following

benefits:Economic performance: Presence of an efficient services infrastructure is a precondition for economic
success. Services such as telecommunications, banking, insurance and transport,
supply strategically important inputs for all sectors, both in goods & services.
Development: Access to world-class services help exporters and producers in developing
countries to capitalize on their competitive strength, whatever goods and services they
are selling.
Employment Opportunities: Growth in trade in services promotes employment within the country and, to a
larger extent, growth in opportunities for professionals overseas.
Consumer Choice: There is strong evidence in many services, e.g. Telecom that liberalization
leads to lower prices, better quality and wider choice for consumers.

Technology transfer: -

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Services liberalization encourages, foreign direct investment (FDI). Such FDI

generally brings with it new skills and technologies that spill over into the wider
economy in various ways.

5. Introduction to Service Marketing

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In the marketing of services, the providers are supposing to influence & satisfy
the customers or users. An institution or an individual may act as a provider who
requires professional excellence to influence the impulse of prospects & to transform
them into actual customers.
The perception of service marketing focuses on selling the services in the best
interest of its users/customers. It is concerned with the scientific and planned
management of services which makes possible a fair synchronization of the interests
of the providers as well as the users. Marketing a service means marketing something
intangible.
Basically, it is marketing a promise and more selling of oneself; it means
that the service provider is a person who sells his personalized skills as services to the
required users (target group-TG). In the marketing of services, the service provider
goes through a number of problems directly or indirectly, thus influencing the
business index.
Service marketing, as known, consists of two completely different terms
which are individually better explained. Therefore, in view of the above we could
observe the following key points regarding the concept of service marketing. They
are:
Service marketing is a managerial process of managing the services.
Service marketing is an organized effort for providing a sound foundation for
the development of an organization.
Service marketing is a social process helping an organization to understand the
emerging social problems and needs of the consumers/users and to take part in
the social transformation process to justify its existence in the society.

Effective marketing requires an ongoing process

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From the above diagram it is very much clear that effective marketing requires
an ongoing process. Marketing starts by developing a marketing strategy, followed by
identifying market initiatives. Once the marketing initiatives are identified, integrated
communications planning occurs, which leads into creative development. Further
leading to production & implementation& the final step in the process is the analysis,
research &measurement, if not satisfied again a marketing strategy is developed.

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Todays Marketing Challenges Require Strategy to Drive

TacticsMarketers today have challenges and pressures greater than ever before:

Higher work loads

Less staff

More marketing options

Increased media options

Greater pressures for accountability

Reduced budget

The Marketing Mix: Many people have already heard about the "4-Ps of marketing". Generally speaking, the
so-called "marketing mix" is a framework which acts as a guideline for marketers to implement
a marketing concept. It consists of a set of major decision areas that a company needs to
manage in order to at least satisfy consumer needs. According to Kotler (1999) the mix is a set
of "controllable tactical marketing tools that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in
the target market". Hence, in an effective marketing program all of those elements are "mixed"
to successfully achieve the company's marketing objectives.
The 4-Ps of Marketing
The traditional marketing mix contains of four major elements, the "4-Ps of
marketing". As defined by Kotler. (1999)
Product: "Anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or
consumption that might satisfy a want or need. In includes physical objects, services,
persons, places, organizations and ideas."
Price: "The amount of money charged for a product or service, or the sum of the values
that consumers exchange for the benefits of having or using the product or service."
Promotion: "Activities that communicate the product or service and its merits to target
customers and persuade them to buy."
Place: "All the company activities that make the product or service available to target
customers."

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All of these elements have their specific place in any company's marketing strategy

However, the 4-Ps approach has often been criticized in the past. Some critics for example
argue that "it oversimplifies the reality of marketing management" (quoted in Jobber 1998).

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The Ps of Services Marketing

In the context of services marketing, Booms and Bitner (1981) have therefore suggested an
extended "7-Ps" approach that contains the following additional "Ps":
People: All people directly or indirectly involved in the consumption of a service, e.g.
. employees or other consumers
Process: Procedure, mechanisms and flow of activities by which services are consumed.
Physical Evidence: The environment in which the service is delivered. It also includes
tangible goods that help to communicate and perform the service.
The additional P of Relationship Marketing
Furthermore, in the context of relationship marketing (to consumers) or key-account
management (in industrial marketing), it could be argued to add "partnerships" as an additional
"P" to the marketing mix as well. Main reason for this addition would be the growing focus in
marketing toward long-term orientation that needs to be considered in most marketing
concepts.

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6. Multiplex
Introduction: Multiplexes are the new thing today. A multiplex is a multi-screen
entertainment complex showing multiple films (cinemas) under one roof with other
types of supporting businesses in the vicinity like restaurants, shopping arcade and
other entertainment avenues.
In the metros, the single screen old cinema halls are converted into
multiplexes. For example the Metro Cinema Hall in Mumbai, built in 1930, is being
converted into 4-screen multiplex by Adlabs Films.
The emergence of multiplexes in cities could lead to promotion of a certain
kind of films which cater to the lifestyles of upper middle class at the cost of social
and ideological causes of good cinema,

The Multiplex Concept: The concept finds it origins in the west where movie theatres were developed
within shopping malls in residential areas to offer entertainment options within easy
reach. As a result of the onslaught of cable television and advancement in information
technology (IT), the average cinema going population has decreased over the years.
This discourages exhibitors to start new theatres. To promote the construction of new
cinema houses the government of Maharashtra passed the Multiplex Law in 2000.
The idea was to construct complete family entertainment centers, more popularly
known as Multiplex Theatre Complex (MTC).
These complexes offer various entertainment facilities for the entire family
under a single roof. Some of the facilities a MTC must offer are: minimum of four
cinema screens (within Mumbai limits) and minimum of three screens (rest of
Maharashtra); have one theatre compatible for stage performance; have an art gallery;
food court; kids play zone, etc.

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There is a rise in this new avatar of cinema because the format of movies is
changing. Movies are being made to target niche segments of the populace. So,
multiple formatted cinemas with varying seat capacity are in line with this current
trend.

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The Multiplex Industry In Brief

If we benchmark against more comparable economies like Australia and
Bangkok, the multiplex concept in India is still in its nascent stage. It is a growing
industry and a very high potential one especially because movie viewing forms an
essential part of entertainment in India.
Currently there are about 20 multiplexes in India and over 15 of them in
various stages of construction. Most of these multiplexes are present in metros and 'A'
grade cities in the country. However, various production companies are entering into
alliances with cinema exhibitors to develop multiplexes in smaller towns too. It is
estimated that by 2005 India will have close to 50 multiplexes across the country.
Though there are numerous players who have entered into the business there
are only a few large exhibition houses viz Adlabs, Shringar Cinemas Pvt. Ltd, INOX,
PVR, Zee Group among others with multi-locational presence.
New concepts are being introduced to revolutionize the cinema exhibition
industry. Digital projection systems are expected to replace the existing projection
system through reels. But it may take a while before such a thing becomes the norm.
Industry players are definitely vying with each other to offer better value to woo the
patrons. Value added services like telebooking, free home delivery, Internet and SMS
booking of tickets are gaining ground.

Market Players

PVR Cinemas

INOX Leisure

DT Cinemas

Satyam Cineplex

Fame Adlabs (Shringar Cinemas Pvt. Ltd)

IMAX Adlabs

Fun Republic

CBS Entertainments
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Market trends
Multiplexes Replacing Cinema Theaters
Multiplexes are not a new concept in India. Chennai (then madras) had the
Devi Complex and Diamonds/Sapphire/Emerald complex over three decades ago;
While Mumbai had Shivam/Satyam/ Sundaram complex for the same period of time.
But the US had set up movie complexes in the suburbs about twenty years back this
concept is now spreading all over the world. Major movie production houses and
media companies, including 20th century Fox, paramount, United Artist, ColumbiaTri-Star/Sony and Warner Brothers, operate multiplexes all over the world.
This concept has gathered momentum lately with the retail boom in India. In
fact, several state governments have provided incentives to encourage the multiplexes
all over India. The single screen movie theater has now

become a dying breed, with

the failure of most Bollywood movies lately. A positive concession to the cinema
theater is the deduction of 50 to 100% of the profit earned by multiplexes that come
up in the next two to five years. The waiver is restricted to multiplexes, which are
essentially in the metropolitan cities, but concession has extended to second line cities
like Kolhapur and Baroda. This concession will spur developments in the capitals and
entertainment centers like Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Pune and Goa. Several are
planning several multiplexes in the next 5 years. Companies include PentaMedia,
which has 10-12 complexes on the anvil over 5 years and the Essel Group, which plan
12 multiplexes cum entertainment centers over 10 cities. Other group includes Adlabs,
Runwal, Sringar Film, PVR Group and INOX Leisure.
States which are offering concessions include Maharashtra, West Bengal,
Gujarat, Rajasthan and UP. Maharashtra is currently the hot spot with 20 new
multiplexes under construction, since they offer 100% waiver of entertainment tax for
the first four years in Mumbai and for the rest of Maharashtra the exemption period is
five years. The state has over 230 applications for exemption of entertainment taxes.
Maharashtra has the most attractive policy for multiplexes, followed by the West
Bengal, Gujarat Rajasthan. The requirements are atleast three theaters with a
minimum of 1000 seats, which must be complete within two years of

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the application being approved. HUDCO too has planned to use prime areas in major
cities belonging to the Department of Post (DOP) for multiplexes.
Typically, the multiplex model is built around primary anchor-movies. The
revenue generating channels in a multiplex includes box-office collections, rent from
display systems, restaurant rentals, food & beverage collections; product launch
rentals & promotion by companies. The other revenue systems are often larger than
the box-office collections, but movies are the main pull of such complexes. Several of
these multiplexes are being located in shopping complexes and average an investment
of around Rs. 5 crore for a four screen theater. Having a multiplex ensures about
1,200 footfalls daily, which is great for a shopping mall. There are about thousand
screen planned over the next five years all over the country, joining the existing
12,000 screens. The screens per one million populations for India are only 11 as
compared to 117 in the US & 77 in France. Though this scheme has not boosted the
existing single screen cinema theatres, several theatres are planning to upgrade to the
multiplex concept & hence provide a boost to the big screen cinema. There is healthy
competition among the multiplexes and the initial high ticket rates will definitely
come down to more acceptable levels. In fact, these may actual spur the declining
cinema market in India. The smaller cinema halls provide the owner flexibility to
rotate the movies economically. The cinema going concept has changed drastically,
becoming part of the broad spectrum family entertainment. This is good for
consumers & film buffs. The threat of over capacity of cinema seats has not
dampened the multiplex mania currently prevailing all over India.

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Concerns
Competitive Pressures in Multiplex Business
Recently a major hype has been built up over the multiplex industry in the
media. Industry sources expect a large number of multiplexes would be built in India
in a few years time. After the success of Adlabs multiplex in Mumbai & PVR
multiplex at Delhi, several people have jumped into the multiplex bandwagon. The
profitability of multiplex business is very sensitive to availability of software and
occupancy rate. If multiple multiplex spring up in close vicinity, this will impact the
profitability. However, it is believe that the multiplex business in India is in the
evolution stage. Hence, incumbents will not be under serious threat, as multiple
opportunities will exist for setting up multiplexes.

Effect of movie viewing habits in the country due to emergence of

multiplexes
Multiplexes have created a new class of audience. These cater to audiences
who wanted to watch cinema on big screens but rarely visited theatres. Multiplex have
been successful in attracting those audiences who did not visit theatres on regular
basis because of lack of hygiene, bad quality of seats, etc. The same audience comes
and watches movies in multiplexed now. Multiplexes would continue to cater to the
demand of these premium audiences. Standalone cinemas have been impacted by the
emergence of multiplexes. These cater to a different class of consumers who cannot
afford to spend Rs100-120 on a movie. They offer value for money at Rs30-40 for a
ticket and will continue to provide a cheaper alternative of entertainment.

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7. Shringar Films Pvt. Ltd

Background: In the late 1990s, they saw an opportunity in providing good quality movie
viewing experience to the Indian audience. Combined with the boom in high quality
retail space in India, the avid movie going habits of Indians and the paucity of good
quality theaters in the country, they felt this was a viable opportunity for a successful
business. They, therefore, reoriented our business model to increase our focus on the
nascent Film Exhibition business, by leveraging on our strong Film Distribution
experience.
They benchmark themselves with global retail multiplexes, and strive to
enhance their service offering in line with the emerging trends globally. To give the
customer a movies plus experience they have let out retail space to various entities.
These partners provide value services to the patrons in the form of movie based
merchandise, eating options, deserts etc. They pay them a fixed sum every month
and/or a certain percent of their sales. E.g. BIBA, Caf Coffee Day, Candy Treat,
Donut co. A multiplex offers the brand owner an opportunity to interact with the
patron. Various advertising opportunities available are on screen ad shots, posters,
stalls etc. LG, Hyundai, Citibank, these are an important source of revenue.

Evolution: They were incorporated in 1999 and commenced operations in the same year.
They were formed with the core objective of providing cinema goers a unique movie
viewing experience. The film exhibition industry has traditionally been a very capital
intensive business. They wanted to build a capital efficient, main-stream exhibition
business model. They leveraged our relationships as Distributors with various
Exhibitors to initiate their foray into Film Exhibition using the Theater Management /
Programming Model.
In the Theater Management / Programming model they offered their content
selection and programming skills to the theater owner for a fee and/or a share of
profits. They were able to work with a wide range of Exhibitors including existing
single screen theaters like Maratha Mandir (Matinee), Gemini, Globus as well as new

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multiplexes like Imax Adlabs. Till date, they (directly or through their group
companies / firms) have used this model for the following theaters.

Theater Management / Programming Model: Cinema Name Location

1 Maratha Mandir (Matinee) [Mumbai]
2 Gossip [Bandra]
3 Mehul [Mulund]
4 Globus [Bandra]
5 Prabhat [Sholapur]
6 Velocity [Indore]
7 IMAX Adlabs [Wadala]
8 Diamond [Borivali]
9 Starcity [Matunga]
10 Gemini [Bandra]
11 Premier [Parel]
Apart from the above, they also leased existing theaters and operated them
with their own processes and employees. They managed theaters like Cinestar and
Cinemax in the western suburbs of Mumbai.
Lease Model: Cinema Name Location
1 Cinestar Kandivali
2 Cinemax Goregaon
As a result, over the last 9-10 years they have built up a good experience in
programming and managing a wide variety of single screen and multiplexes at
multiple locations.
In 2001 in order to encourage investment in the sector, the Maharashtra
government announced significant tax benefits for multiplex operators, which made
investment in this sector more attractive. Sensing this opportunity, they decided to

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invest further capital into the Multiplex business. They raised fresh equity capital
from GW Capital (one of the leading venture capital funds) and commenced
investments in a capital-efficient manner.
Their first investment was made as a joint venture investment in Swanston
Multiplex Cinemas Private Limited (Swanston) along with Adlabs Films Limited.
Swanston operates Fame Adlabs, a 5-screen multiplex located at Citi Mall in Versova,
Mumbai. Thereafter, they have set up a 6-screen multiplex at Inorbit Mall in Malad,
Mumbai, a 3-screen multiplex at Nasik and a 4-screen multiplex at Raghuleela Mall in
Kandivali, Mumbai. The Versova multiplex commenced operations in April 2002, the
Malad multiplex commenced operations in September 2004 and the Nasik multiplex
commenced operations in November 2004. They are awaiting final approvals for
commencing operations of the Kandivali multiplex.

Strengths
a) Market Reputation: The Shringar brand over the last several decades has been identified with
professionalism and transparency in business practices. This is the core strength on
which all our businesses are built.

b) Ability to identify locations: One of the biggest factors for the success of any multiplex is the location.
They believe that their skill in identifying locations is one of our key strengths. They
have a professional team with many years of experience in evaluating various
locations in terms of catchment area, competing alternatives, expenditure patterns, etc.
this process has resulted in selecting locations like Versova (Mumbai), Malad
(Mumbai), Pimpri (Pune) and Nasik.

- 27 -

c) Proven project management skills: They have an in-house professional team for project implementation supported
by project management consultants. This model of implementing projects has enabled
them to complete properties within budgets and time.
d) Capital-efficient project design and execution: Their projects are planned and conceived in a manner that each property is
profitable on a stand alone basis. They use their internal skills to assess the location
and demographics and decide on capital expenditure accordingly. The properties on
which they operate are not owned by them. They manage these properties pursuant to
agreements entered into with the respective owners of the properties. Apart from
stand-alone profitability of each site, it also ensures an efficient use of capital.
e) Selection of content: Due to their experience in content selection and programming for many
theaters and a deep understanding of different film genres (developed in their
distribution business), they are well-placed to exploit each film available in the
market.
f) Marketing strength: The brand Fame has been established in the consumers mind due to
marketing through newspaper ads, radio spots, direct mailers, internet mailers, the
purple privilege club and the use of promotions like paid previews, contests, movies
merchandise, DJ in the lobby over the weekend etc. Premieres of films are also used
as an important marketing tool.
g) Customer Orientation: Fame has built a clear focus on customer orientation, by providing services
such as, tele-bookings, home delivery of tickets, internet bookings and a customer
loyalty program.
h) Long-standing experience in Film Distribution: Apart from the experience in areas of exhibition i.e. programming, theater
management and running multiplexes, promoters have experience of over 25 years in
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film distribution. This distribution experience is particularly useful for the exhibition
business in the following way: Ability to identify under serviced areas and/or untapped locations, where unmet
demand for a movie theater exists. This helps them in selecting locations.
Relationship with producers/distributors in getting access to content.
Relationship with theater-owners enables them to have access to locations for
retrofits properties.
Understanding of different film genres and their box-office potential. This is
important for content selection.
i)Integrated Technology Backbone: They have laid a lot of emphasis on a technology and systems. They use different
softwares, which provide them a regularly updated MIS. This assists them in their
day to day operations.
Vista: Vista is ERP software made by a developer in New Zealand and used
internationally; which covers all aspects of managing and operating cinemas.
The product line is scalable so as to be suitable to exhibitors who run from
one cinema to hundreds of cinemas. Apart from Box Office and F& B sales,
the Vista suite is used for web ticketing, kiosks, employee scheduling etc.
Boss: The Back Office Software System (BOSS) is a specialized Accounting
System for the hospitality Industry / Service Oriented Companies. This
software is integrated completely with Vista, thus enabling accounting to
remain online on a daily basis. This helps in closure of books every month and
preparation of MIS reports within 5 days of the month end.

Growth Strategy: Their growth strategy is to increase number of patrons is through a pull
innovative programming and push block booking and build a pan India presence is

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a cost effective manner, and furthering Fame as an experiential retail multiplex

brand through a mix of multiplexes, retrofits and some standalone properties.

Shringar Multiplexes: Shringar Cinemas Limited operates a chain of cinemas under the brand name
Fame. Fame positions itself a destination with a Movie Plus experience. The signoff of Fame Cinemas is Buzz Chahiye aa jayiye.

Existing Multiplexes in Mumbai

Fame Adlabs: Fame Adlabs is located in Citi mall, on Andheri Link Road in Versova. This is
part of a large up-market residential area and shopping area. The 5-screen multiplex
has state-of-the-art audio-video equipment and projectors. In the last two and half
years of its operations, it has emerged as a preferred location for film previews and
premieres. It was the first multiplex in the area, and among the first in Mumbai. It
currently faces competition from Fun Republic.
Fame Malad: Fame Malad is located in In-Orbit Mall at Malad. In-Orbit Mall is one of the
largest retail malls in Mumbai, spread over an area of approximately 5.5 lacs square
feet. This mall houses a range of strong organized retail outlets like Shoppers Stop,
Giant, Lifestyle and Marks & Spencer. This mall is also very close to Mindspace, one
of Indias largest ITES (Information Technology Enabled Services) / BPO (Business
Process Outsourcing) hub. The 6-screen multiplex has state-of-the-art audio
equipment and projectors, including Jubilee a premier class theater.
Fame Kandivali: Fame Kandivali is located in Raghuleela Mall, which is a 4 lac square feet
mall. It is located adjacent to Poiser Bus Depot. This is part of a large up-market
residential area. This is the only multiplex in this area and has a large catchment area
of Borivali and Kandivali.

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Proposed Multiplexes in Mumbai

Thane: They propose to open a multiplex at Kapurbawdi in Thane, which is an
adjacent district to Mumbai and over the years has emerged as a preferred destination
for middle class citizens. The proposed multiplex will be part of one of the largest
malls in Thane admeasuring about 6 lac sq. ft. The mall is expected to house some of
the prominent brands and establishments, thus ensuring adequate visibility for the
multiplex. The multiplex will comprise of 5 screens.
They expect to commence the operation at the proposed multiplex by Oct-05.
Positioning: They are an integrated film exhibition and Distribution Company operating a
chain of multiplexes which offers a world class viewing experience to the consumer.

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Fame Adlabs
Inaugurated in April 2002, Fame Adlabs has since strived to truly execute its
Mission Statement. Fame Adlabs constantly endeavors to bring in the highest quality
of entertainment to Mumbais film going audiences.
Spread over 50,000 sq ft of area, Fame Adlabs houses 5 auditoriums (screens)
each with an approximate seating capacity of 300 seats. The theatre combines pindrop acoustics and state-of-the-art projection technology with contemporary dcor.
Since its inception, Fame has been operating with computerized ticketing, in line with
International norms of cinema ticketing.
15 Minutes - the concessions area, is the largest in the city with a 5000sq
feet lobby that is a riot of colour and activity, which is also the centre point for all the
buzz at the multiplex. Fame has tied-up with leading food & beverage chains to
ensure that a variety of quality offerings to guests are easily available- all under ONE
roof.
Frequently patrons can avail of discounts at various restaurants with unique
promotional offers. There are weekend specialty food counters, serving delicacies that
are a blend of Indian and Western snacks and mini-meals.
On a regular basis, soups, sandwiches, samosas, rolls and pop corns are
served-without which any film viewing experience would be incomplete. A specialty
chaat counter on the premise satiates the desi taste buds as well.
The theatre screens a vide variety of films ranging from Bollywood
Blockbusters, Hollywood Hits, Indian Art Movies, Movies in Indian Regional
Language and the best of International Film Festivals. On an average the multiplex
provides a choice of over 10 movies per day.

- 32 -

Purple Privilege of Fame Multiplexes

The special customer rewards program from the Fame chain of multiplexes
that comes with exclusive privileges.
Enrolment Privileges
All new members are entitled to rewards worth Rs.50, including a small
popcorn pack and a small Pepsi worth Rs.35 plus 15 bonus points.
Early Bird Prize Two tickets for special screening to be chosen from selected
films being previewed.
Reward system
Members will get one Purple Privilege reward point for every Rs.10 spent at
the box office and the concession counter.
One point is equal to Re.1. Members can redeem their points at the concession
counters against Food & Beverage purchases only. Reward points can be
redeemed once your total accumulated point reaches 25. The validity period of
the points earned is 5 months from the date of earning, post which the points
will lapse.

- 33 -

7 Star Treatments
As a Purple Privilege Club member they can look forward to: Invites to movie premieres.
Invites to special movie screenings.
Opportunities to meet their favorite film stars.
Opportunity to participate in movie sweepstakes and win movie merchandise.
Exclusive Box Office counter.
Exclusive Tele booking agents.
Participation in contests and promotions.
A special help desk at the lobby level to address all the customer queries.
Email and SMS updates on new movies and events at Fame.
Special offers from local entertainment destinations from time to time.

- 34 -

8. Cinemax Multiplexes
Kanakias CINEMAX believe that their customers deserves the best and
their desires to excel has resulted in their emergence as the leading cinema exhibitor
in India and are the pioneers in starting the revolution of small capacity theatres in
Mumbai.
They started the revolution with CINEMAX, having pushback seats,
luxurious and expensive interiors and the best of customer service in Mumbai. The
rest of the country and Mumbai followed their footsteps. They cater to all the age
groups of people at their theatres. They are also expanding by means of more
Multiplexes nationwide. CINEMAX at Kandivali-East, CINEMAX at Eternity Mall,
Thane by JUNE 2005.
Cinemax theatres draw a monthly audience of approx. 7 Lakhs. 5184 seats =
5 Shows * 30 days.

Steps to successful marketing and implementation

by Cinemax Multiplexes (Thane) include: Analyzing their customers and the business enviornment.
Identifying key opportunities to better & more profitably meet customer
needs,
Figuring out how to act on those opportunities, & then
Implementing their plan.

The process doesnt have to be cumbersome. The logic of the action is what is
important.

- 35 -

Cineline Cinemas now at Thane and Mira Road, Mumbai

After gaining recognition for quality accommodation, wholesome recreation
and high profile living in the western suburbs of Mumbai, the Kanakias, one of the
leading cinema exhibitors in Mumbai and promoters of Cineline Cinemas, have made
a dramatic entry into the eastern suburbs.
Cineline is now expanding by means of more multiplexes - one at Mira
Road by the name Cine Prime and two at Thane. Eternity is the name of the groups
magnum opus at Thane. This sprawling, fully self-contained complex is a virtual
township in the making.
Continuing with their past achievements in the field of developing state-ofthe-art cinemas, they are now bringing to Thane the Cine Shine multiplex (which is
housed with-in Eternity) and the Cine World multiplex.

- 36 -

Cinemax launched biggest Multiplex in Mumbai

Mumbai-based Cinemax Cinemas had inaugurated what is the biggest
multiplex. The six-screen theatre is located at a mall in suburban Mumbai (Infiniti
Mall, Versova) and has shown some firsts as far as multiplexes are concerned.
It has a special lounge called the Red Lounge along with Gold and Silver
screens, where apart from the reclining seats, they also have other privileges like a
special menu to chose from and restrooms of their own. Their focus has been to
constantly innovate and provide an enjoyable movie experience. They look at it as
lifestyle enhancement.
It has other facilities like massage chairs and enhanced lighting among other
features. The 1,671-seater multiplex has been readied at an investment of Rs 15 crore,
and Kanakia feels that it will do well enough to recover the investment in 3 to 5 years,
the industry average.
Although the focus is on luxury, the tickets would not be priced too high with
the difference between the special seats and the regular ones being around 40%.

- 37 -

9 Adlabs Limited
An Adlabs film limited was founded by Mr. Manmohan Shetty and Mr.Vasanji
Mamania in 1978 to set up a motion picture processing laboratory in Mumbai. The
company initially catered to the ad film market (hence the name Adlabs). The
company has since evolved into processing full-length feature films controlling 70%
of the western India market.
Adlabs Films Limited today is a large integrated professionally managed
entertainment company with various business divisions that now establish an
extended presence across different points of the value chain within the film segment.
Hence the divisions for production to processing to exhibition.
By far, the greatest achievement of the company has been the erection and
management of the 518 seat IMAX Dome theatre, (which is incidentally the largest
Dome Theatre in the world) along with Mumbai's first multiplex (4 screens and
1314 seats). The Theatre has been operational since the year 2000. That year the
company also floated an IPO of 4.4 million equity shares at Rs.120/- per share
aggregating to Rs. 528 million. It was one of the first film companies to go public.
The trust in the company and its promoters was evident from the public's response to
the issue. Today's market capitalization is pegged at Rs. 2250 million.

Film Production
Entertainment One

Post Production
Leaders in
Business.

Adlabs Films ltd.

Made its debut in
Film Production in
the year 2002
through its 100%
subsidiary
Entertainment One
India Ltd

The Largest Player

in Western India
& the Market
Leader with 70%
of the market share
now rowing in
Chennai &
Calcutta

Distribution
Digital Cinema

Adlabs in a 50-50
Joint Venture with
Mukta-Arts has
introduced the
digital distribution
concept since
2003.

- 38 -

Film Exhibition
Expanding in New
Cities

Adlabs
Multiplexes started
in the year 2000
with the opening
of the IMAX
Dome theatre & a
Four Screen
Multiplex in
Wadala, Mumbai.

IMAX DMR Technology

IMAX has redefined the movie-going experience through IMAX DMR
(Digital Re-Mastering), a revolutionary technology that allows live-action films to be
transformed into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience.
IMAX DMR starts by converting a 35mm frame into digital form at a very high
resolution, capturing all the detail from the original. The proprietary software
mathematically analyzes and extracts the important image elements in each frame
from the original grainy structure to create a pristine form of the original photography.
The image on a 35mm film frame is comprised of a fine grain structure like that of all
photographic images. This grain, when projected onto the IMAX screen, looks like a
TV channel that isnt quite tuned to the station. Removing this grain while preserving
the quality of the underlying image is the basis of IMAX DMR.
The state-of-the-art IMAX technology delivers breath-taking, crystal clear
images projected onto a giant screen, and is complemented with IMAXs proprietary
six channel, uncompressed digital sound system. The 15/70 film format used by
IMAX is ten times larger than a conventional 35mm film and three times larger than a
standard 70mm film. The sheer size of a 15/70 film frame, combined with the unique
IMAX projection technology, is the key to the extraordinary sharpness and clarity of
films exhibited in IMAX theatres.

- 39 -

10. Service Marketing Mix With Respect To Multiplex

Goods are typically first produced, then sold, & then consumed. Most
services, on the other hand are first sold, then produced & consumed simultaneously.
The location of the selling function (i.e. prior to production) & the inseparability of
the production of a service (an operations function) from the consumption of a service
(a marketing function) significantly change the role of marketing in the strategy of a
service firm.

Product
According to Philips Kotler, a product is anything that can be offered to
market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that satisfy a want or a need. It
includes physical objects (TV), Service (Hotel & catering), Person (Political Person),
Place (A Holiday Resort), organization (Red Cross) & idea (Aid Awareness).
Kotler says that, service is an act or performance that a party can offer to
another that is essentially intangible & does not result in the ownership of anything.
Its production may or may not be tied to a physical product.
It is extremely difficult to define a pure good or a pure service. A pure good
implies that the consumer obtains the benefit from the good alone, without any added
value from service; concurrently, a pure service assumes that there is no goods
element to the service which the customer receives. The total product form describes
the service package as a bundle of different services, both tangible & intangible
together.
The multiplex model is based on the concept of an Umbrella Entertainment
built around primary anchor-movies. These complexes offer various entertainment
facilities for the entire family under a single roof.

- 40 -

SERVICE PRODUCT

Potential Product
Augmented Product
Expected Product
Core/Generic
Product

PRODUCT LEVEL

EXPECTATIONS MADE BY THE

Generic (The basic benefit)

CONSUMER
Viewing space in the multiplex, view the

Expected (The expected benefit)

movie with the use of latest technology.

Cleanliness in the multiplex, punctuality
in the start timings of the shows,
comfortable seating arrangements, decent

crowd of people.
Augmented (In addition to the expected Apart from the good quality of viewing
benefit)

one expects great ambience, joyful and

helping employees, and sophisticated

interiors.
Potential (Beyond the usual, pleasant Incentives provided by the multiplex,
surprise)

reward systems.

In Cinemax Thane all product levels are taken into considerations. Their core
product is screening of movies & also provides various other facilities. They believe
that the customers perceived quality should be greater than his expected quality.
(I.e. Perceived>Expected). This results into delighted customers.
For this purpose, they provide lots of options of movie for the customers to
choose, ticket prices kept are reasonable one & also provides facilities such as video
parlors for kids, food facilities for whole family etc.

- 41 -

Price
Pricing policy is much more complex for services than for products. To
manage demand, the price for the same service may be different for different times of
the day or seasons of the year. Price may be scaled to match the steps of a service
versus the entire service. Discounts for services tend to be promotional, whereas
product discounts may be promotional, volume-oriented & trade-oriented.
In manufacturing, a price for a unit is fixed in advance; except certain
products. For services, pricing is more difficult.
Price is the exchange value for a product or service and is expressed in terms
of money. The art of effective pricing is to establish a price level that is low to
represent good value to the buyers but yet it should be high enough to allow the
service provider to make his profits.
Cinemax follows two methods of pricing:

Cost-based pricing.

Demand-based pricing.

Whereas Adlabs follows:

Cost-based pricing.

Competition-based pricing.

Cost based pricing: This method is also referred as cost-plus pricing. Under this method
the company determines the cost of service delivery as well as pre-determined
rate of profit in order to arrive at a price. It is necessary to analyze all costs
accurately and differentiate between fixed and variable costs in order to use
cost as the basis for pricing decisions. The biggest problem in the service
industries is that it is difficult to identify and trace the cost to the particular
offering.

- 42 -

Demand based pricing: Cinemax along with cost-based pricing, also sometimes follows
demand based pricing. In normal circumstances, Cinemax follows the regular
method of pricing but incase of an abnormal situation, they do use demand
based pricing.
Competition based pricing: Apart from the cost based pricing, the company also follows
competition based strategy so as to have an edge over its competitors. In this
method of pricing the price is determined on the basis of the competitors
price. Now the major competitors are single screen movie theatres and other
multiplexes. For e.g. the rates of single screen theatres are 25-50 Rs whereas
the rates in multiplexes are 80-150 Rs. Thus, there is very high variation in
prices in the multiplexes when compared to the single screen movie theatre. To
cope up with the prices of the single screen movie theatres the multiplex,
IMAX Adlabs, has priced Rs 60 for its matinee and early morning shows that
are screened regularly.
Both IMAX Adlabs and R Adlabs follow the same strategies for
pricing. The variations in prices are shown below with reference to the days
and movie timings.

- 43 -

IMAX Adlabs
Show
Mon

timings

RATES DURING WEEK DAYS

Wed
Thurs
Fri

Tues

Sat

Sun

G* S* G
S
G
S
G
S
G
S
G
S
G
S
Morning 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
show
Matinee
show
1st show
2ndshow
3rd show

130 100 130 100 130 100 130 100 150 130 150 130 150 130

R Adlabs

Show
timings

Mon

Tues

RATES DURING WEEK DAYS

Wed
Thurs
Fri

Sat

Sun

G* S* G
S
G
S
G
S
G
S
G
S
G
S
Morning 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
show
Matinee

100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

show
1st show
2ndshow
3rd show

130 100 130 100 130 100 130 100 150 130 150 130 150 130

G* - Represents gold row i.e. higher rates.

S* - Represents silver row i.e. lower rates.

Thus, IMAX Adlabs plans its pricing strategy in both aspects, that is,
competitive and cost based, so that it has maximum share in the market and can pull
in maximum crowds for movie viewing and other facilities.

- 44 -

Due to the variations in pricing options available for different slots all kinds
of audiences can view the films they like as per their like and also taking into account
the money factor.
Multiplex do not depend upon single pricing method, normally they follow
more than one pricing method.

Place
The marketing mix instrument usually referred to as place basically refers to
the location & distribution of services. The main problem is the creation of channels
for services is that they cannot be manufactured in one place and distributed allover.
They can be offered from either single outlet or multiple outlets.
Multiplexes such as Galaxy, Metro, and Starcity etc. do not follow Multi-site
strategy; i.e. they operate or carry out the business activity from single place itself.
Any person who wish to visit Galaxy will have to visit to the single-site were it is
located. In such a case patrons prefers those multiplex which are near by their area.
Such expectation of the customers has been well understood by the Multiplex,
such as Cinemax & Adlabs. These Multiplex are the best examples of an organization
that has multiple outlets situated at various places of the city & provides movie
viewing services with latest technology.
Thus the services are sold directly without the use of intermediaries at the
multiplexes with the help of place variable, that plays an important role, most of the
times. Also, sometimes, the help of agents and brokers is taken when bulk bookings,
corporate bookings or school bookings are undertaken by the authorities. The brokers
and the agents work on commission basis or charge fees either from the multiplex
authorities or the customers and act as a catalyst in the transaction between them.

People

- 45 -

For many service firms, people constitute the bulk of their product or the
employees very often represent the firm. In case of Multiplex employees play a very
important role. The service provider has to train & equip the frontline staff with the
abilities to perform the service, in order to deliver quality service to the customer.
These causes the service firm to integrate appropriate human resource practices into
its strategies.
There is concrete evidence that satisfied employees make for satisfied
customers. Some have even gone for so far as to suggest that unless service
employees are happy in their jobs, customer satisfaction will be difficult to achieve. A
complex combination of strategies is needed to ensure that service employees are
willing & able to deliver quality services & that they stay motivated to perform in
customer-oriented, service minded ways. These strategies for enabling service
promises are often referred to as internal marketing.
Multiplexes such as Cinemax Thane, Imax Adlabs, and Shringar Multiplexes
have four strategies to deal with the employees.

Hire the Right People

Develop People to Deliver Service Quality

Provide the needed Support Systems

Retain the Best People.

Conclusion: -

- 46 -

According to various Multiplexes, Human Resource decision & strategies

should be approached from the point of view that the primary goal is to motivate &
enable employees to deliver customer-oriented promises successfully.
Hire the Right People: People play an important role in the Multiplex. As they are the persons who
are going to represent the quality of services provided by Multiplex. Recruiting or
hiring right people for right job are very much essential for delivering value to the
customers.
Develop People to Deliver Service Quality: The frontline and the support staff should be trained in technical and
interactive skills as it helps to develop their personality and makes them well verse
with all types of situations. Multiplexes promote team work as it reduces the stress
and strain of the front line staff.
To grow & maintain a work force that is customer oriented & focused on
delivering quality, Multiplexes needs to develop its employees to deliver service
quality.
Multiplexes often train their employees for technical & interactive skills.
Empower employees especially frontline employees so that they can
accommodate customer requests & recover on the spot when things go wrong.
These results into;
Quicker responses to customers needs during service delivery.
Quicker responses to dissatisfied customers during service recovery.
Employees feel better about their jobs & themselves.

- 47 -

Provide the needed Support Systems: To be efficient & effective in their jobs, service workers are provided internal
support systems that are aligned with their need to be customer focused.
The support system consists of emotional, technical and communicative
support that helps to boost the quality of the service. Thus due to this system a family
atmosphere is seen allover the multiplex which makes the customer feel that he is not
away from his home.
Retain the Best People: In order to retain the best employees the multiplex, IMAX Adlabs, appreciates
and reward their employees. This helps to boost up the morale and confidence level of
the employee and he always strives hard to put his best efforts for the development of
the company. Performance appraisal is a useful tool for evaluating the work and
motivating the staff.

Process
The process of a service refers to how a service is provided or delivered to a
customer. The delivery system as a whole is a creative process and begins with a
service concept and strategies to provide the service. In order to achieve these
objectives, various alternatives are analyzed and identified before the final decision is
made. To design the process of a service various factors are involved such as location
facility, design and layout for effective design as well as for effective customer and
also for the work flow, procedure and job definitions for the service providers, extent
of customer involvement, measures to ensure service quality, equipment selection and
finally adequate service capacity.
In multiplex, generally, there are some issues that are considered while
designing the service quality process. They are as follows:
Firstly, as compared to the operations manager of preferring to process in the
batch; marketing people prefer to cater to individuals in order to achieve the required

- 48 -

economies of scale and also to perform consistently. This helps the marketing
manager to satisfy the customer individually and also the customer feels being treated
specially.
Operational people are interested to improve the productivity (rendering high
quality services) as the cost of production (services provided) per unit reduces.
Operation people require a customized service since it keeps the cost lower
and is easy for implementation whereas on the other hand the marketing people prefer
customization to match the customers needs.
Also, managing the queues in such a way that the whole available space is
optimally utilized.
Also, apart from the issues to be considered while designing the service
quality process, IMAX, Cinemax, Fame Adlabs & their chain of multiplexes also has
various ticketing options that help in the process of providing qualitative services to
its customers. Thus, they have various ticketing options such as current (on the spot)
booking, tele-booking, and internet booking. IMAX was the first multiplex to start a
unique way of booking tickets, referred as Online Booking Process which is now
carried on by almost every multiplex. The process followed for the booking of the
movie tickets as well the dome tickets are have seven steps which are as follows
(actual process):
Step 1
Select Theatre (Adlabs Multiplexes, Cinemax Multiplexes, Shringar
Multiplexes)
Select Movie
Select Date
Now click on "Go" to get movie schedules according to your
selections.
If you are a registered member of the Adlabs Multiplex website, please
login with your Username and Password.

- 49 -

 If this is your first visit to the site, Please click on the "Sign Up Here"
link and be a part of the (Adlabs) Multiplex family.
Step 2
Choose the Show Timing of your preference.
Step 3
Choose your preferred Seats
Select Payment Mode
You can Edit your User Details, incase the tickets have to be delivered
to another destination.
And click on "Submit" to proceed!

Step 4
Your Booking details will be confirmed to you in this step. Re-check
youre booking details here, and go back to the previous step if you
want to make any changes.
Click on "Enter Card Details" to proceed to the Billing and Shipping
Page or you can "Cancel" your order.
Step 5
You will be redirected to the Billing and Shipping Page.
Please select your Credit Card type or your Indian Net Banking
Account.
Step 6
You will be redirected to the Citibank Payment Gateway.

- 50 -

 Enter your credit card number, the 3-digit pin number (as on the back
of the card) and your credit card Expiry Date to process the online
payment.
Click on "Submit" to proceed.
Step 7
Once your credit card is approved, you will be given a Transaction ID
in your order details, which will be required to be presented at the
counter at the time of collection of the tickets. This transaction ID is
also sent to you by email.
Print the Order Details or else make a note of the Order Details
manually, to collect the tickets from the Box-Office Internet Counter.
You can view the status of your order by clicking on "Order Details"
on the Home Page (of www.adlabsmultiplex.com.) [Confirmed,
Cancelled, Awaiting Bank Approval].

Physical Evidence
In order to judge the quality of services, the customers rely on tangible cues.
Physical evidence thus aims at enhancing the customers perception of the services
offered. It also influences the employees performance at the time of service delivery
process.
The importance of Physical Evidence is basically for communicating service
quality attributes & creating the service experience. Physical Evidence is the
environment in which the service is delivered & where the firm & the customer
interact; & any tangible commodities that facilitate performance or communication of
the service. The first part of the definition encompasses the actual physical facility
where the service is performed delivered & consumed; this is referred to as Service
cape.
Because services are intangible, customers often rely on tangible cues, or
Physical Evidence, to evaluate the service before its purchase & to assess their
satisfaction with the service during & after consumption.

- 51 -

The physical setting consists of the service environment that includes

ambience (ambient factors such as light, color, and temperature), space and decor. The
social setting involves around the appearance of the staff. The uniform of the staff
plays a significant role in conveying positive cues on the quality.
Thus the physical evidence can be summarized into: Ambient factors
Air conditioning
Excellent ventilation
Design factors
Uniform appearance
Extensive parking lot
Spacious interiors
Social factors
Well dressed employees
Courteous
Genial
Elite and up market crowd
Family atmosphere

Productivity & Quality

Productivity relates to how inputs are transformed into outputs that are valued
by customers, whereas quality refers to the degree to which a service satisfies
customers by meeting their needs, wants, and expectations. Improving productivity is
essential to keep costs under control, but managers must be beware of making
inappropriate cuts in service levels that are resented by the customers (and perhaps by
employees, too).

- 52 -

Service quality as defined by customers is essential for product differentiation

and building customer loyalty. However, investing in quality improvement without
understanding the tradeoff between incremental costs and incremental revenues may
hurt profitability.
The service for the multiplex goes as far as actually delivering the tickets to
the clients home so as to limit the customers trouble in actually booking the tickets
in advance. The theater, keeping in mind, its limited accessibility is very considerate
towards the people that determine its success.
RATER: RELIABILITY: People can rely on Multiplex to screen the best of the movies. The
latest and the most awaited movies are released here. Also the customers can
rely on the fact that it will be a great family experience, they will get value
for money, the crowd will be decent etc.
ASSURANCE: Multiplexes have been successful in providing assurance to the
customers with regard to quality. This is in terms of screening of the movie,
sound system, good quality food, cleanliness, ambience, crowd etc. Even if
the customer pays a higher price as compared to other theaters for the ticket,
they are assured that they will not be disappointed. One can be sure that one
will get what one expects here.

- 53 -

 TANGIBLES: The layout is very well planned with sophisticated space planning i.e.
it does not look uncomfortable. It is well ventilated, which is very
important taking into consideration the fact that people will be present in
large numbers as there are five movies being screened at one time. All the
critical areas are well illuminated which emphasizes their importance. The
seats of the theater are extremely comfortable with ample of leg space.
EMPATHY: The personnel at work at Multiplexes are well dressed and presentable.
They are courteous and approachable. They are well spread i.e. there is
always someone available to help no matter where you are within the
theater. They have also made facilities like escalators and lifts made
available, which have proven to be of great help for the elderly and
handicapped customers.

RESPONSIVENESS: The personnel at Multiplexes are very helpful. The employees are
highly motivated and are willing to help the customers at any given point

- 54 -

of time. Any problems or questions of the customers are immediately

attended to. They come out to help you and guide you through the place.

Planning
Planning is the primary function of any management of an organization. It
occupies the first and an important position in the management process. According to
Philips Kotler, Planning is deciding in the present what to do in the future. It is a
process whereby companies reconcile their resources with their objectives and
opportunities.
Multiplexes consider planning as one of the key aspects to its success. There
are various key steps involved in the planning of the services rendered. They are as
follows:

- 55 -

The biggest challenges in the planning of the service marketing for

Multiplexes are to ensure that the task of the product management maintains a strong
customer focus at all the times. The task begins at the corporate level with a detailed
market and competitive analysis, thus addressing each of the markets in which the
firm is involved or is thinking to enter. Parallel to this step is the resource allocation
analysis, wherein the definition and the allocation of the organizations resources are
made and are allocated effectively and efficiently.
The marketing assets statement includes the details of Multiplexes existing
customer profile, market knowledge, knowledge about its competitors, its
product/service line, reputation of its brand, marketing strategies used and its
implementation. After the details are gathered they are matched with the operating
- 56 -

assets statement wherein it is observed whether the physical facilities, equipments and
the human resources can be properly allocated or not?
In the next step, i.e. service marketing concept the opportunities are
transformed into realities so as to clarify the benefits offered to the consumers and the
cost incurred by the organization. The benefits offered to the consumers include the
core product, supplementary services offered along with it, and also their
characteristics in the form of service levels and style and also its convenience in
accessibility. The cost includes the physical efforts, the mental efforts, the time taken
and the price and monetary costs.
In parallel to this step is the service operations concept which has to be
established so as to stipulate the nature of the processes involved the geographic
scope and the scheduling of the operations, design and layout facilities and also the
identification of human resources. At last, the operations concept clarifies which tasks
and resources are to be allocated to the front stage and the back stage employees.
The definition of the marketing and the operations concepts is an interactive
process and the planning task then finally leads to the service delivery process.
Thus, it can be analyzed that the key steps involved in the planning process are
the combination of all the remaining 8 Ps i.e. Product, Price, Place, Promotion,
Physical Evidence, Process, People, and Productivity and Quality. The steps allocated
and the activities undertaken directly or indirectly represent any one of the P.

Promotion (Marketing)
- 57 -

One of the key and the most important elements of the marketing mix is
promotion which is used for the purpose of encouraging sales and also helps to
convey the customer the position of the services offered by the multiplexes. Also,
promotion helps to create awareness among the customers. The customer thus
becomes well verse with the different service providers and he thus possesses and has
plenty of options to choose the right, required and the most efficient service provider.
The service providers have various promotional tools available for marketing
of the services .The tools used by Multiplexes for the marketing of services are
advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, newspapers, posters and web. These
tools are used to create a favorable response from the target audience.
The scenario was totally different before, 3-4 years, for the marketing of
multiplexes as they were new in the market and didnt have their own unique identity.
They were considered same as the single screen movie theatres. Also, the prices
were high with which the people were not much comfortable. The concept of
multiplex actually started during that period, before 3-4 years, in India and so it was
new to all the sections of the society. Thus, to promote the concept of multiplex at that
time and to make it familiar with all the sections of the society Pull Strategy was
used.
Pull strategy plays an important role in bringing in the crowds to the
multiplexes by making them aware of its advantage over single screen movie theaters
and the benefits of viewing the movie in the multiplex rather than on a single screen
movie theatre. Thus, the multiplexes used extensive advertising as their tool to make
the people aware regarding the concept of Multiplex and the benefits arrived from
it.
Now the Push Strategy is used instead of the earlier strategy i.e. pull
strategy. This is because the consumers, in the present scenario, are well verse and
knowledgeable about the concept of multiplex and their benefits. So if anything has to
made aware of to the consumers extensive advertising is not required as it was used
before as being a bit knowledgeable it is easy to convey the message faster and
educate the people for the same. Thus, the marketers advertise in adequate and
minimal proportions which are enough to convey the required message and getting the
required and right amount of people to the multiplex.

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FOR INSTANCE
IMAX Adlabs multiplex was established in 2001 and has within itself a
dome and 4 screens. It was new in the market and first of its kind so it had to
penetrate into the market by making the people aware about the concept of multiplex.
For promoting, Imax Adlabs, at that time marketers used Pull Strategy and now after
3 years of its working successfully everyone is aware about its activities and also the
benefits derived from it and thus, now Push Strategy is used.
In fact, every multiplex has used this same strategy so as to make the people
well verse about its activities. Many promotional activities are carried out by almost
every multiplex such as Imax Adlabs, Fame Adlabs, Cine max and Fun Republic and
so on. The promotional activities such as marketing of services within the multiplex,
sales promotion, web and SMS are some of the activities carried on by Imax Adlabs.
Imax Adlabs has very large space which gives it an advantage over its
competitors (other multiplexes). Due to this many companies and organizations
market their products and services within the multiplex as they are able to target their
own set of target customers. Also, many of these organizations give advertisements to
be screened on the 4 screens. Out of the amount spent by the organizations for
advertising 2% of it comes in the use for cinemas as a part of promotions, films, slides
and signage.
The promotional activities carried out by various companies and organizations
are a mixed combination of both direct as well as indirect selling. Imax Adlabs has its
own set of objectives when it follows the marketing (promotional) strategies.

11. Marketing Media (Channels) For Communication

Print: - 59 -

Multiplexes use various print Medias such as newspapers, magazines,

journals, pamphlets, posters and so on to cater to all the sections of the society.
Extensive advertising is done on all these mediums and regularly their movie
timing are displayed in almost all the leading newspapers such as Bombay Times,
Mid-Day, Indian express, and others. Awareness is generated about the movie
timings and the number of shows to be screened.

Radio: This is the second most used medium. Multiplexes in order to attract more
audience holds various contests regarding the movies with some of the leading
FM stations such as Radio Mirchi, Radio City and others. Also, they sponsor
many of the shows on the radio which indirectly helps in creating awareness about
the multiplex and its day-to-day activities.

Web: This method is used to give personalized feeling to the customer and is
undertaken by the multiplexes officials only. Also, all types of promotional
activities and new happenings within the multiplexes along with new releases and
information about their show timings are mailed so as to provide them with all the
information. Thus, this acts as a reminder for the target customer who feels
attached towards the organization.

SMS: A recent and new trend set up by various Multiplexes; is the use of SMS
services. A database is made from the information collected from the customers

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who visit multiplex. Then as soon as a new film releases or a promotional

campaign starts, the marketing department of various Multiplexes messages about
it to its customers about it. It is done usually after the mail has been sent and it
acts as a reminder to the consumer about the activities undertaken. Also, if
someone has booked tickets then he is reminded about the show timings so as to
make him aware if at all there is any change

Hoardings: They are used so as to make the customers recall about the movies being
screened at the various Multiplexes. Thus, along with the movie the multiplex is
also promoted. Also, these hoardings are very large and are placed at strategic
locations so as to get maximum attention. The hoardings are placed both within
the multiplex as well as outside it, thus covering the attention of the whole
Mumbai public.

Tie- ups: E.g.: IMAX has tie- ups only when it has promotional activities to be
conducted within its premises. It works with the company that is promoting and
markets both the cos product as well its own multiplex.

In house brandings: This promotional activity is conducted within the premises of the multiplexes.
In house branding, promotional activities are carried for the various sections of the
multiplexes such as entertainment arena, cafe arena, and dome arena and so on.
Each and every section tries his best to create its own segment of employees so as
to have higher number of people for the particular section.

Marketing Strategies
Product Differentiation: -

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 In todays competitive world, product differentiation plays a very

important role. It gives the competitive edge over the competitors.

In case of multiplexes, product differentiation when compared with the

theatres is clearly visible. As it is said multiplex is a multi screen
entertainment complex showing multiple films under one roof with
other type of supporting businesses in the vicinity like restaurants,
shopping arcade & other entertainment avenues.

Cinemax Thane is situated at Ghodbundar road; it is a multiscreen

entertainment complex, which also provides other vicinity such as
restaurant, shopping centers etc.

Another important thing that should be taken into consideration is that

there is no shopping or entertainment option for people living in the
near by area.

Imax Adlabs is situated at Wadala, which has again its own features
which give it competitive age over others. Imax Adlabs is a dome
theatre. Imax Adlabs not only provide facilities like multi-screen
entertainment, shopping facility, game parlor etc. {but also provides
facilities such as bus facilities for the convenience of customers.

Multi Service Strategy: -

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 Service firm also can compete for market share by broadening the
range of services that they offer.

The basic marketing challenge for such an approach is the

development of services. Multiplexes are well aware that the
development must be rooted not only in knowledge of the segment, but
also in a firm understanding of what exactly what the Servuction
system is capable of delivery.

Cinemax Thane have developed such facilities under one roof, which
are not available in the near by area of Cinemax Thane. Hence there
patrons not only gets the pleasure of entertainment along with
shopping pleasure.

Again, the same thing is bonded on other multiplexes such as Imax

Adlabs, R-Adlabs, Fame Adlabs, and Fame Raghuleela etc. As they
provide complete entertainment service to their customers.

Multi-Segment Strategy: -

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 Multiplexes also increase their share of the market by broadening the

range of segments that they serve.

Multiplexes segment their market as per Age, Income, Education,

Geographic Location etc.

Multi-segment means an organization focusing on more than one or

two segments.

Multiplexes use the multi-segment strategy of marketing. It offers its

services to wide range of customers.

By providing variety of movie under one roof, it attracts customers of

different age;

By providing different pricing it also attracts customers of different

income group.

Cinemax Multiplexes, Adlabs Multiplexes, Shrignar Multiplexes etc.

This strategy is used by multiplexes so that they are not restricted to
particular segment, as it is their core product film are of different
nature, which attracts people possessing interest in that film.

Multi-Site/Multi-Segment Strategy: - 64 -

 Under this strategy the firm places their services at different site, at the
same time try to attract multiple segments.

There are multiplexes which are multi-segment firms but are not multisite e.g.: - Starcity, Galaxy etc. They try to attract multiple segments
but do not follow multi-site strategy.

On the other hand there are multiplexes which have adopted multisite/multi-segment strategy e.g.: - Cinemax Multiplexes, Adlabs
Multiplexes, Shrignar Multiplexes etc. are the chain of multiplexes
which follow this strategy, for providing convenience to customers &
for increasing the market share of their multiplex chains. Because of
the focused nature of each site, it is impossible to segregate different
segments into different parts of the room.

The need to attract multiple segments comes from a desire to utilize

excess capacity.

12. Value Creation & Delivering Sequence

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Customer/Mar
ket
Segmentation

Advertising

Target
Market

Sales
Promotion

Sales
Force

Positioning

Service
Development

Distributing
Services

Pricing

Customer/Market Segment: All multiplexes, generally uses multi-segment strategy i.e. they
concentrate on more than one segment generally age, sex, education, income,
etc. In multiplex there are mostly visitors who visit in groups or the next one
are the couples. Group comprises of families, societal friends, college groups
or the friend circles. Couples may be married or unmarried. Male & Female
both are the patrons for multiplexes, which are of different age group. Not
only educated but also the uneducated people are the patron for multiplexes.
Mostly middle class, upper middle class & above class people become the
patrons. Lower middle class are patrons but they are not the price giver to
service provided by multiplexes. They probably do the window visit i.e. roam,
roam & roam & do time pass. Patrons are of different occupation say service,
business, student, etc. Because of the above reasons, multiplex has to use
multi-segment strategy because each & every one is fond of entertainment &
this is one of the opportunities which every multiplex is grasping. Also,
customer/market segmentation is not a difficult job for multiplexes. This is
possible because multiplex has service for every one mentioned above. For
instance childrens can have fun with video game parlor, couples can enjoy the
music & can append some time with each other, families can do
group[ shopping together & all of them can enjoy & get entertained.

Target Market: -

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A market is a set of actual& potential buyers of market offerings.

Target market is also called as served market. Target market is the part
of a qualified available market the company decides to perceive. For
multiplexes the feasible target market is the market having large population
comprising of the above market segments. In spite of the above advantage
some multiplexes can rarely satisfy everyone in a market. Hence, every
multiplex try to attract multi-segment groups. Also, they find the market where
they are only players in the near by area if possible.
Positioning: Positioning is an act of designing companies offering & image to
occupy a distinctive place in the target markets mind. Some multiplexes
position themselves as a multiservice provider i.e. provider of more than one
service, this means, screening of movies as it is their core product & shopping
mall, food bazaar, video game parlor etc. as its peripheral services e.g.: Cinemax Thane, Imax Adlabs. Some multiplexes places themselves within a
mall who themselves are the provider of the above peripheral services as core
product & screening of movies from customer point of view becomes
peripheral service. E.g.: - R-Adlabs (R-Mall), Fame Adlabs (City Mall).
Service Development: After Promoting, Multiplexes goes for the next step i.e. Service
development. Services are developed on the basis of, how they have
positioned themselves in the market. Multi-Service provider Multiplexes like
Cinemax Thane has to develop different services for their patrons. IMAX has
to develop Dome service in their Multiplex for their patrons. Other
multiplexes providing or poisoned specially with screening of movies & other
services are provided & controlled by other firms such as malls, shopping
complex etc., have to search for the concerned organization. Like R-Adlabs
situated in R-Mall.
Pricing: -

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Pricing is done on the basis of service developed by multiplexes for

their patrons. Generally cost-based pricing is used in all multiplexes. Demand
based/Competition based also comes into picture rarely. There is also
government interference in fixing the prices of tickets. Even the pricing is
different for different timings & days. There is also difference in timing on the
basis of seats desired by the patrons. Higher the class higher the price, lower
the class lower the price. Pricing also differ from Movie to Movie.
Distributing Services: Services are distributed to patrons in multiplex itself, as there core
product is screening of movies. Distribution of the other peripheral services
depends on the different outlets inside as they have their own business.
Advance booking at Fame: They open advance bookings on Wednesday for movies showing from
Friday to Thursday; Advance booking counter starts from 10am to 10pm.
Patrons can view the Advance Ticket availability on televisions placed above
the 'Box Office'.
Current booking of tickets: Current Booking counter starts from 10am to 10pm. Ticket availability
is displayed on marquee board (LED Display) placed at the 'Box Office'
Patron may also speak to their Customer Service Executive on 56991212 for
current tickets availability.

Weekly schedule for movies: -

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Patron can listen to Movie information by calling their IVR 56991212.

They can also subscribe to their Movie Schedule; the Movie Schedule will be
e-mailed to them on a weekly basis.
Modes of booking tickets modes of payment at Fame: Avail Free Home Delivery Just Call - 56991212, Payment mode
available Cash on delivery of tickets
Book tickets online, pay by Credit/Debit card. Tickets can be collected
from the Internet counter by presenting the Confirmation Page.
Buy tickets from the Box-Office, pay in cash or credit/debit card.
Sales force: To be competitive in today's marketplace, Multiplex need to get the
most from their sales force. Sales force automation supports their sales team
throughout the sales process from lead generation and opportunity
development, through to deal close and beyond to productive account
management.

Sales Promotion: Sales promotion of Multiplex includes promoting movies running in

their multiplex. And also, their tickets sales promotion.
Multiplexes do their promotion activities mainly through,
Newspapers: - Daily news about their running movies, timings & sometimes
cost of tickets.
Radio: - Daily news on radio about their running movies, timings &
sometimes cost of tickets.

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Direct mail: - Regular customers are sent direct mails. It contains information
of movies, tickets availability, offers, other benefits, cost etc. The patron can
buy the ticket by answering/replying the mail.
Tele-booking: - telephone booking is also used by multiplex for sales
promotion. Any patron can book his ticket from anywhere by telephone &
collect his ticket afterwards from the box office.
Internet booking: - Any patron can book tickets for himself by internet
surfing. Patron can also enquire about movies, tickets, offers, and cost of
ticket.
Hoardings: - For promoting they use hoardings at different places e.g.: Railway stations, near by city highways, crowded area etc. Timings of movies
are also displayed accordingly.
Offers/Extra Benefits: - This type of promotion is mostly seen for matinee
shows.
For e.g.: - If the patron buys ticket of a matinee show then he gets one cold
drink & popcorn free. Somewhere tickets prices are very low for matinee
shows.
Advertising: Multiplex mostly advertise their facilities. They generally advertise on city
bus, radio, newspapers, internet etc. Most importantly they advertise their
U.S.P.

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Findings

The Government had reduced the entertainment tax (ET) for the single
theatres from 55% to 45%, the multiplexes need not pay any ET for three
years & then only 25% for the next five. This can be considered as one of
the main reason behind the growth of multiplex in the recent years.

The multiplex owners demanded & got high admission rates. In the
process they forgot the fact that cinema was the most popular mass
entertainment.
Multiplexes or single screen theatres, the major problem facing the
entertainment industry is the poor quality of the average Hindi films.
Cinema is the lifeblood of Mumbais entertainment. It is being anticipated
that an era (2015) of satellite releases without projection or prints. Digital
DVD machines will get rays directly from the satellites & world film
premieres will be common. Cinema screens will become wider & the
prints clearer.

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13. Recommendations
The multiplexes can try to provide extra facilities such as video games, a
theater to stage plays, adequate parking, a crche, gardens & so on.
The Maharashtra Government views the multiplexes as a prestige issue &
a definite plus point for the city. So the multiplexes should try to maintain
the same quality standards.
The multiplex admission rates should differ according to the movie rating
running in the multiplex. For e.g., for Krishna Cottage the rate was Rs.55,
the air conditioning works & it was a nice time pass.
The people have become more brand conscious, prestige & status oriented,
& wants to enjoy higher standards of living. All this can only be provided
in a multiplex & not in a single screen theater. Multiplexes should try to
explore this opportunity, & should provide services in the best interest of
the patrons.

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14. Conclusion
After a research & study on the marketing strategy of multiplexes in Mumbai,
I came to know a lot of things. The overall experience was exciting & full of
innovations as I could myself explore & find out the various areas & the
activities involved & existing in the working of a multiplex.
The multiplex is a different business organization & also has its own
marketing strategy, sales promotion activities, effective marketing media
channels & so on.
I came to know,
The best thing of IMAX that it provides Imax Adlabs Educators
Connection for Children.
Cinemax has the Largest Chain of Multiplexes in Mumbai.
Shringar has a role to play in Producing in Films.
It is a cutthroat competition existing & they need to be innovative to survive.
The last and the most important part is that; it should now be accepted that
multiplexes are gaining an edge over single screen theatres.
Moreover a person can spend a whole day with his family in the multiplex as
it provides him not only with the option of viewing a movie of his own choice
but also with other options like entertainment in the form of games arena,
dining with family within the multiplex premises.

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15. ANNEXURE
QUESTIONNAIRE
1. What are the various ways you follow for marketing your
service?
2. Which of the following strategy do you follow: Relationship Strategy
Retention Strategy
Any other
3. How do you segment your market? Do you follow multisegment strategy?
Demographics
Product 1 Product 2 Product 3
Age
Gender
Income
Education
Size of household
Geographic location
.

4. Can you mention your core/main product [Services]?

5. What all extra benefits/services do you provide to your
customers?
6. What is your U.S.P [Unique selling preposition]?
7. Do you maintain Product Differentiation? If yes then How?
8. Do you follow Multi-Site Strategy?

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9. Do you follow Multi-Site & Multi-Segment?

10.Are your prices different for different times of the day or
seasons for the year? If yes, basic reason facilitating the same?
11. Which of the following pricing system do you follow: Cost Based Pricing
Competition Based Pricing
Demand Based Pricing
12.Do you use any other factors other than the cost of a service to
set prices?
13. Do you incorporate perceived value into service pricing?
14. What all methods/ways do you adopt for efficient
communication programs?
15. Location decision & ways used for distributing.
16. Various people associated with your multiplex?
17.Do you provide any kind of training or orientation to your
employees?
If yes, do you have certain ways & means in doing so?
18.What activities do you perform for maintaining good relations
with your distributors, employees, customers?

19. Mention some Physical Evidence of your Multiplex?

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20. What is the process one has to go after entering the premises
of your Multiplex?

21. Communication Efforts: Media

This year
2005

2004

Newspaper
Expenditure
Frequency
Advertise size
Radio
Expenditure
Frequency
Advertise size
Direct Mail
Expenditure
Frequency
Advertise size
Point of sale material
Expenditure
Frequency
Advertise size

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2003

16. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Service Marketing: - Lovelock Christopher
Marketing Management: - Philip Kotler
Service Marketing: - Govind Apte
Service Sector Management: - Romeo S. Mascarenhas
Service Marketing: - P. K. Gupta

Websites:
www.adlabsmultiplex.com
www.shringar.co.in
www.famecinemas.com
www.cinemax.co.in
www.amctheatres.com
www.yourencyclopedia.net
www.themanagementor.com
www.marketingteacher.com
www.screenindia.com
www.myiris.com
Visited to:

IMAX Adlabs, Wadala.

Fame Adlabs, Andheri.

Cinemax (Cinewonder), Thane.

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