Social Media Strategy Review: PVR Cinemas

This review is a part of our ‘Social Media Strategy Review’ series where we do a 360 degree analysis of a brand’s social media activity. You can read the reviews of more brands here.

PVR Cinemas is a fairly well-known name in an urban culture where multiplexes are becoming more than just a cluster of cinema halls. Multiplexes are steadfastly headed towards becoming lifestyle-service brands. In times when infrastructural progress is on a constant rise, the erection of a multiplex is now regarded as a milestone on the horizon of a developing city or an aspiring town. Having said that, it becomes imperative to observe whether a new age cinema hall utilises new age techniques to gain attention. Or can it roll by, just relying on the undying love for cinema of the audiences?

I write this review keeping in perspective the fact that PVR Cinemas or any similar brand, is an extension of an industry that already enjoys ample attention and following.

Generic Observations

A quick Google search for the words ‘PVR’ pulls up the official website as the first result. However, out of the first ten results, not a single link connects to any of their other online properties. It does provide ample links to ticket booking websites, a successful use of a simple internet search to gain footfall at numerous venues. I then went on to do a search of their online properties. They have a presence on Facebook, Google+, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, WeChat and Pinterest. Interestingly Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, LinkedIn and WeChat receive a spotlight on the official website home page. They seem to have got it all correct in making a presence but what are they doing with it? Before we get into a detailed analysis of the brand’s social media strategy, I must mention that all their active, inactive and neglected online properties have immaculately matched and maintained cover photos, background images and profile pictures. Surprisingly only a few accounts are verified but the uniform branding makes guesswork a breeze.

Facebook

PVR Cinemas has seven personalised tabs on its Facebook page. Either I have a really poor internet service or some of these tabs are utterly inactive. So you can play the ‘Hobbit Trivia Quiz’ but cannot pursue a career at PVR Cinemas because the ‘Careers at PVR’ tab is just a pretty, glamorous-looking, soft-focus picture of bubbles or tiny bulbs. They are currently running a contest called ‘Queen of Selfies’ for the upcoming movie ‘Queen’. No hashtags have been introduced to create any trends or buzz amongst users. The post is dated 20th February and as on 21st February, has 27 likes and only 3 shares. None of the users who have commented on the post, have been responded to. Previously posted comments by users on earlier posts have been left unresponded. The likes on their posts range from a minimum of 4 to a maximum of 90 over the last month.

They definitely need a new copywriter for their page posts, regardless of how little the response on the page is. The content is obvious and talks primarily about release dates and upcoming films, intermingled with PVR offers, PVR business updates and film-related trivia. The tone is straightforward and unimaginative at best.

Twitter

Continuing the trend, PVR Cinemas needs a better copywriter for Twitter also. The tweets are tweaked Facebook posts. The recent posts for the #ToSaveLove contest lack enthusiasm and good sentence structure. They have 1,83,000 followers and yet a maximum of five people have interacted with the account during the contest. Even a contest winner doesn’t receive a reply. In the last month they have received 1660 mentions, 776 RT’s and the tweets sent from the account are an unenthusiastically low, 71.

Google+

The posts on Google+ are same as the Facebook posts. Although, the ‘Queen of Selfies’ contest has not made it to Google+. They receive a minimum of +1 to a maximum of +4 on their posts. The user comments are rare. Going by the plan of action followed on Facebook and Twitter, I believe responses to user comments are not to be expected.

YouTube

The PVR Channel on YouTube is a labyrinthine collection of official trailers. Of what I hear, a lot of movie launches and premieres are held at PVR and none of that content is seen here. I have also watched quite a few adverts from PVR, which also haven’t made it to the channel. Surprising.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the only website on which PVR Cinemas once again decides to cross-market their online properties. With an exception of the official website and LinkedIn account, no other pages, channels or accounts are interlinked. Once again, PVR lacks user interaction. The page is as professional as it can look and yet fundamental professionalism isn’t maintained. They have a single product listed with two recommendations; they have 3,353 followers!

WeChat

They are also on WeChat, so I downloaded the app to check out PVR Cinemas. I could not go beyond their grammatically incorrect introductory text and being redirected to the official website.

Pinterest

They have a presence on Pinterest but they have not even linked to the posts that mention PVR Cinemas. In fact, just take a look at the page because I could go tizzy talking about the possibilities for PVR Cinemas to grab attention on Pinterest.

Demographic

Teenagers have a lion’s share of 45.62% when creating a buzz about PVR Cinemas, online . So when one refers to the activity in an hourly analysis of the Buzz Trend, it stands proof to the fact that school and college kids are PVR’s influencers, online. The activity begins around eight in the morning and dies out by 8 in the evening. At least now we are free to think that these are good kids with healthy sleep hours.

Comparison with competitor: Cinemax

Unlike PVR Cinemas, Cinemax makes no mention of any online properties on their website. In fact, the Cinemax website home page is a straight out search engine for movie-goers to find tickets at numerous locations. While the Cinemax website layout is straightforward, the PVR Cinemas website is more attractive. There is more reason to linger on the PVR website in comparison to Cinemax.

As far as Twitter and Facebook analytics go, PVR Cinemas definitely enjoys a better rate of engagement, receives more number of likes, shares, mentions and RT’s in comparison to Cinemax. PVR Cinemas is also received in a more positive light than Cinemax.

Conclusion

I think I will be happy booking my tickets on bookmyshow.com, instead of cluttering my social media subscriptions with PVR Cinema’s resources. It really doesn’t give me that extra edge that should come off a brand that flaunts and enjoys glamour. Cinema is an irresistible alternate reality and social media is one platform where a modern day cinema-goer can flash, flaunt and be glamorous. And yet PVR Cinemas shies away from going that extra mile in innovation.

Expert View

The ubiquity of PVR Cinemas on social media, makes for an interesting case study for social media; but being present everywhere is one thing and having an active presence is another. Behind all the glam and glory, some rooted conversation on social media will go a long way in further building a positive sentiment amongst cinema-goers everywhere.

They could take some lessons in being ‘cooler’ from their teenage fans and followers. Their tonality is mundane and disinterested and they could borrow some of the vibrancy of the cinema they speak of. They could also look at making evangelists out of loyalists by designing online loyalty programs. With no mention of their offline activities they leave a gaping rift between experience and its vicarious promotion. Having said that they could also look at effective use of social media for offline activations.

Expert View by Rajiv Dingra, Founder & CEO of WATConsult – An Award Winning Digital & Social Media Agency.

Analytics Support: Simplify360