National CineMedia to utilize Coinstar kiosk screens as theaters continue to struggle

In a push to expand beyond the silver screen, movie advertising giant National CineMedia will be teaming up with Coinstar to use its change-exchange kiosks as a platform to showcase ads. This marks National CineMedia's first digital out-of-home push. NCM is the country’s largest cinema ad seller, according to Nielsen data, with its pre-pandemic inventory reaching an estimated 750 million moviegoers across 1,600 theaters annually. But with many U.S. movie screens remaining dark since early 2020, the company and its peers have increasingly been embracing unconventional ad venues. For many purveyors of pre-movie ad inventory, cinematic investments are currently on hold or scaled back until COVID-19 restrictions (and public opinion) change to allow theaters to reopen or see a more meaningful return of movie-goers. Though those traditional avenues are now widely supplemented with out-of-home ventures that have seen cinema ad companies explore everything from Coinstar kiosks to electric vehicle charging stations. The partnership will initially materialize on 4,000 Coinstar kiosks that are fitted with AdPlanet screens: 32-inch HD digital displays that sit atop the machines, capable of running both video and static ads. Still, this is just a fraction of Coinstar's 22,000 kiosks. “Working with Coinstar allows us to create innovative, integrated cinema and DOOH campaigns that engage movie fans where they shop,” says Steve Sapp, NCM’s senior VP of digital out-of-home sales. Sapp joined the National CineMedia team last month following a six-year stint at Gas Station TV to lead its new DOOH-focused arm. In addition to displaying paid ads, the Coinstar screens will also be capable of running NCM’s Noovie “entertainment and trivia content,” which has traditionally been integrated in movie theater pre-shows, Sapp adds. The Coinstar partnership is the first of several digital out-of-home partnerships NCM hopes to announce in early 2021 out of its new DOOH group.

National CineMedia to utilize Coinstar kiosk screens as theaters continue to struggle

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