TimePlay, Cineplex‘ interactive app-based film trivia game, is eyeing countrywide domination.
After a successful run in 20 Toronto and Vancouver theatres, Cineplex will expand the program to 725 movie screens across all 10 Canadian provinces, it announced Tuesday.
Since January 2012, the TimePlay app has been downloaded more than 1.5 million times on iOS, Android and Blackberry smartphones and tablets, the company said. The sapp prompts viewers in a given theatre to compete against one another by answering movie trivia questions displayed onscreen before a film begins. Participants can get concession popcorn, drinks and Scene card points.
Introduced as an experiment to select theatres in 2011, TimePlay has become uniquely successful among “gamification” strategies in customer loyalty — and a pervasive part of the urban moviegoing experience in its two cities.
“TimePlay is one of the most innovative and exciting ways we engage our guests and provide an exceptional entertainment experience,” said Ellis Jacob, president and CEO of Cineplex Entertainment. “Our guests have told us how much they love TimePlay, and we look forward to making this cutting-edge experience available in more theatres across Canada.”
TimePlay’s creators tout the app as adding value to advertisers such as Koodo and Pizza Pizza. Cineplex’ research shows that TimePlay scores 93% for advertising awareness and 94% for correct brand association.
Advertisers with TimePlay sponsor individual games or design their own interactive in-game experiences to present offers to players. The in-game ads have high uptake, with 30% – 50% of players opting-in to offers, says Cineplex. A recent TimePlay offer from Mazda resulted in prospective buyers taking 9,000 test drives, for example.
Cineplex operates 161 theatres with 1,632 screens from coast to coast, and the games won’t be offered on them all. Some of the cities TimePlay will appear in include Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg, London, Waterloo, Oakville, Mississauga, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax, Moncton, Saint John, St. John’s and Charlottetown.
