Yesterday I had a meeting at Gillette Stadium as part of planning the Inbound Marketing Summit. As we took a tour of Patriot Place, a collection of shops and restaurants attached to the stadium, I was shown the Showcase Cinema de Lux. It was explained to me that this movie theater offered a “lux level” ticket which allowed you private access to a balcony level of the theater with private servers, full food and liquor menu, oversized plush chairs, and a handful of other amenities. Yeah, ok, right.
Being someone who loves going to movies, I ventured back out later last night to see “The Hangover” (hilarious movie!). Once I walked into the theater I was floored by the technology and how nice everything was but I had no clue what I was in store for. We went over the stairs leading upstairs to the “lux level” and were greeted by 2 friendly staff members. First, we were carded because no one under 21 is allowed in the lux level (a huge plus!). Then we were escorted upstairs. Since we were a little early, we were invited to have a drink at the trendy restaurant and bar. Seriously, this was nothing like a movie theater restaurant. After watching the Red Sox game for a few minutes a staff member told us our seats were ready and escorted us into the theater.
Upon reaching our seats, he wiped them off for us, told us the features of the lux level and then presented us with our menus. Again, these were trendy menus with everything from chicken satay to pizza, burgers, entrees, martinis and just about anything else you could want including standard movie theater snacks. A few minutes after being seated we were greeted by our server who chatted with us for a few minutes and then immediately got our order taken care of. Ok, private server, full food and liquor menu…check.
The seats were incredible! Imagine the huge all encompassing leather recliner that you could fall asleep in. Now picture it with an elegant tray attached, server call button and enough leg room for this tall lanky guy to fully stretch out his legs. It was like a slice of heaven in a movie theater. Throughout the movie the server made sure we were taken care of and then thanked us at the end of the movie Oversized plush leather chairs and a fantastic experience…double check.
This entire experience cost $10 additional but you received $5 credit towards food/drinks so it really only cost $4.50 more than a standard ticket. That’s a little extra to pay for an experience that should cost much more than that. Plus, we will ensure that we go back there from now on so they have gained a pair of regular customers.
What’s the point of this story? Well, besides the fact that if you live in the Boston area, you should visit the Showcase Cinema de Lux, the point is that National Amusements (owner of the theater) is providing a velvet rope experience to their guests. Even if you choose not to get the lux level seating, the movie theater is incredible. But, if you are willing to pay a few extra dollars, you’ll never want to watch another movie any place else. National Amusements took something as simple as going to the movies and thought outside of that standard box to come up with this velvet rope treatment.
We typically see this with the airline industry who is constantly trying to add increased value to their first-class services. Look at some of the recent changes that Cathay Pacific, Virgin America and others have made that will push the envelope on flying experience…yet another experience that usually is pretty dull especially for those who travel a lot.
Are you looking for ways to provide your customers with a velvet rope experience? If you are, then let’s chat about how you provide that experience in the comments. If you aren’t providing a velvet rope experience, or at least the option of one, why not?
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to receive future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Photos by: lolololori
