SITUATION
The Esquire IMAX Theatre, in Sacramento, California, desired to reposition itself as more than just a larger-than-life movie theater, but also a catered event facility for situations such as product launches, sales meetings, etc. The challenge was to try to capture IMAX’s larger-than-life experience in a direct mail piece.

SOLUTION
Barcellona’s first order of business was to conduct research among corporate meeting planners as to their top reasons for selecting, or not selecting, a particular venue for their organization’s meeting or launch.

With this information in hand, Barcellona created a direct mail piece to convey all the amenities and conveniences IMAX can offer for events, specifically touching on the five top issues that were hot buttons for meeting planners. Because IMAX theaters are so unique, the direct mailer was designed to imitate IMAX’s super-sized screen with playful die-cuts that turn this compact brochure into something much more lively that definitely stood out among the daily mail. We also played up the theater’s art deco ambiance throughout our design.

To better market the theater’s event capabilities, the direct mailer doubled as an invitation to a special, private party that featured an IMAX 3-D film and catering from some of Sacramento’s hottest eateries. The invitation portion of the mailer was represented with a movie ticket for admittance.

RESULTS
The Esquire IMAX Theatre was very impressed with the product delivered, in addition to the successful marketing results. The theatre was full and four events were immediately booked. In addition, residual recognition continued to bring in reservations. Barcellona won a gold ADDY award from the Sacramento Advertising Club for this project.