Can pubs learn from cinema's revival to keep their doors open?

Going to the cinema in 1984 was pretty rubbish. Years of neglect had left many auditoriums dank and rundown with seats so uncomfortable they could give even a jelly baby a sore bum and backache. Customers faced a tough choice at the food counter between sugary sweets, popcorn or more sugary sweets.

So it seems little wonder that 1984 was the year that customer attendance numbers dropped to their lowest level. In 1946 the number of visits to the cinema peaked at 1.64 billion. But from 1980 to 1984 attendance figures halved from 101 million to 54 million a year. Just under a third of cinemas closed down, the buildings left empty or converted to bingo halls. Many thought cinema's glory days were over.

"There was an air of fatalism about the industry, that there was no way it could compete with TV and VCR," says Karston Grummitt, managing director of Dodona, a specialist cinema research company.

So what has this got to do with pubs? Well, clear parallels can be drawn between the decline of cinemas then and the licensed trade now. The story of a historic leisure industry struggling to survive as people choose to stay at home, as new entertainment technology depletes customer numbers and venues close in massive numbers, does sound horribly familiar.

Investment​

But cinema isn't dead - it's booming. Since the mid-1980s audience numbers have tripled, and last year 74 new screens and 24 new venues opened. So how did cinemas turn things around? And can the pub trade learn from them and do the same?

It was investment that saved cinemas, says Grummitt. From 1985 onwards, those that were left invested heavily in installing more comfy seats, bigger screens and better sound. Many voluntarily banned smoking from their auditoriums or at least confined it to a small section.

Also, with the first multiplex in 1985, cinemas started to diversify what they sold and became destinations in their own right, with cafés, specialist ice-cream stands, confectionary shops and hot snacks stands all appearing.

"Apart from anything else it turned cinema from a dreary and unfashionable thing to an exciting experience," says Grummitt. "It became very fashionable."

Cinemas spent a huge amount of money making things more convenient for customers. It's easy to take for granted online booking and the credit/debit card ticket machines available in big multiplexes such as Vue, Odeon and Cineworld now, but they were radical when they were introduced.

Smaller independent chains, such as City Screen Picturehouse Cinemas, concentrated on offering healthier food and alcohol that could be taken into a screening, and on providing sophisticated bar spaces for people to gather before and after a film. "We just gave the traditional cinema a new lease of life," says City Screen's Gabriel Swartland.

Licensees need to do the same by investing in technologies that speed things up and take the hassle out of going to the pub, says Ian Bidmead. He is the communications director of IMI Cornelius, the drink dispense manufacturer behind the TwinIce frozen cider dispense system used by cider brands Westons and Thatchers.

"People need to think big and long term," he says. "Too much of the thinking behind how to rejuvenate pubs is trying to wind back the clock and people cry into their beer because things aren't the way they used to be.

"You might not get served very quickly in a pub on a Friday or Saturday night. But IMI Cornelius has the technology where you can get a beer served in six seconds. Queues are the sort of thing that can put off some consumers when they decide where they are going to go."

He does have a point, and of course, a product to sell - the UltraFlow to be exact. Technologies like this may be out of reach for most, but small investments such as renting a mobile bar for the beer garden so people don't have to return inside for a drink or stocking healthy snack foods, are realistic for most pubs and could make a big difference to profits.

But for the more hi-tech solutions, investment by already struggling licensees clearly isn't feasible. "The brand owners, the retailers and the suppliers need to work together to invest," says Bidmead. "Between the three there is a way to get technology out there to help pubs."

Innovation​

While licensees hold their breath for such an alliance, there are other things the industry could be doing. Cinemas focused on improving and innovating on the thing that consumers can't get anywhere else, the films themselves, in order to turn their fortunes around.

For the Picturehouse that meant becoming the first UK cinema chain to switch completely to digital in 2005, and providing alternative content such as exclusive live screening of operas, ballets and in the future sold-out concerts. Swartland says the next big thing for them will be 3D. What the multiplexes are planning is anyone's guess. So successful are they, they couldn't spare the time to talk to The Publican.

For pubs though, many point to their unique atmosphere as the thing that sets them apart from drinking (and smoking) at home. But, with the latest British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) figures showing 27 pubs are closing a week, this clearly isn't enough of a draw. So drinks, in particular exciting new on-trade exclusives, could be looked to as the big draw the industry needs to focus on to keep attracting customers.

Shaun Heyes, customer marketing director for brewer Scottish &Newcastle UK (S&NUK), says the brewer is working on new products exclusively for the on-trade to draw people back to pubs.

"We can't stand still," he said. "We have to keep working with the trade to make sure draught beer remains our raison d'etre to go to pubs.

"Clearly quality in the off-trade has improved, but you still can't get a quality pint of cask ale at home. We are working on more technical solutions that involve limited input from barstaff."

Heyes says S&NUK is looking at new dispense technologies that it hopes will match the success of its extra cold lager, something he says can boost annual revenue in a pub by £10,000. Like Bidmead, he also calls on the industry to work together, to develop innovative new products and to ensure staff are properly trained. But is anyone listening?

We shall have to wait and see what exactly these new products are and if they will succeed in reinvigorating the market. For licensees on the

frontline though, investment from brand owners, suppliers and in some cases pubcos can't come quickly enough. Surely if cinemas can do it, pubs can too.