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UCI Cinemas

Title: Blast
Target: 200,000 16-24 year olds
Key aim: Attract younger readers, retain older readers
Pagination and frequency: 30 pages, B2C monthly
Format: Saddle-stitched A4 magazine

Atom was asked to produce a monthly magazine on behalf of UCI Cinemas which would attract and excite 16-24-year-olds (without alienating older visitors), and encourage them to visit UCI Cinemas more frequently.

Additional objectives were to communicate the UCI brand proposition – being experts in cinema exhibition and dedicated to the escapism of cinema – to the core audience, creating a tangible point of difference between UCI Cinemas and its competitors, thus helping to build loyalty to the brand.

Atom was briefed to deliver 200,000 copies into a central distribution depot, for onward delivery to 33 cinemas throughout the UK and Ireland.

Blast’s launch followed a four-month development period during which:

Atom recruited dedicated editorial and advertising staff from News International, BLA and Bauer
The masthead, design and editorial format were established
A pilot issue was published for use in qualitative research among target readers and advertisers
A circulation analysis was prepared against the cyclical fluctuations of cinema attendance, along with a three-year business plan

To attract UCI’s core audience of 16-24-year-olds and herald its move away from the incumbent and generic film magazine Flicks, Blast was given:

A high-energy design and tongue-in-cheek writing style
Distinctive covers ensuring 100 per cent take-up of every issue
Contributors and journalists experienced in the lifestyle/entertainment field

To support UCI's brand proposition Atom:

Provided information, opinion and authority via a lively blend of film facts, Hollywood interviews, UCI staff profiles, customer vox pops and premiere previews
Promoted the link between UCI and its American owners Paramount/Universal with appropriate branding, competitions and a Paramount/Universal-focused gossip column

Finally, circulation. From launch, Blast was ABC-audited. The January to June 1998 ABC circulation of 172,000 copies made Blast the biggest movie magazine in the UK and Ireland.

Research shows that Blast surpassed its brief: reader approval was high, and this translated into increased visits and greater loyalty — regular readers were more likely to see their next film at a UCI Cinema than non-readers of Blast.

82% spent more than 15 minutes reading the magazine
(23% spent more than 30 minutes)
84% read all or most of the magazine
97% took home their copy of the magazine
56% kept their copy for a month or longer
72% stated that 1-3 other people saw their copy
96% were likely to pick up the next issue
(73% ‘very likely’)
48% visited the cinema at least once in two weeks
(and a further 38% once a month)
48% only visited UCI Cinemas whilst 39% made most of their cinema visits to UCI
49% stated that the magazine had encouraged them to make more cinema visits (17% ‘a lot more often’)
Among those making all or most visits to UCI the comparable figures were 49-54%, and 13-17%