By Amanda Davis, Kaleidescape Director, Marketing & Sales Enablement
People love a good demo because it is an emotional experience, one that allows the audience to connect with the content in an optimized environment alongside family and friends.
Sam Cavitt, publisher of The Cinema Connoisseur, president of Paradise Home Theater and industry-leading private cinema designer stresses the reason why demos are so important. “We in the industry owe it to our clients and our industry to pass our passion forward eloquently and effectively and without assumptions. To point out the attributes and elements that elevate the arts and separate well-engineered systems and environments where these arts can be best experienced and shared,” he says. “Doing so gives our clientele a reason to pursue our passion, as well, and engage us to deliver excellence in the services we provide.”
Just like selling a luxury car requires giving the customer a test drive, giving your customers the opportunity to experience the source firsthand will help them better understand the impact quality content can bring to the investment.
After all, you wouldn’t purchase speakers without experiencing them, so why not the source?
We polled the Kaleidescape sales team, distributors, and integrators to crowdsource the best tips and tricks to create the ultimate home theater source demo with Kaleidescape. These 5 tips have helped effectively sell Kaleidescape as the source while elevating the art of the home theater demo.
Environment & Entertainment Are Essential
Tip 1. Setting the mood always helps to make movie magic. First, it’s important to set the stage by getting the room dialed in. This is an opportunity to show how Kaleidescape’s metadata uniquely triggers room elements such as lighting, screen masking, theater curtains, window shades, and seating.
Mike Beatty, CEO of Pulse Cinemas shares, “Lighting can create drama and excitement even before playback begins, so set the mood right from the start.” Next, clue the customer in as to what to look and listen for in the content they are about to experience. “What colors really stand out in a given scene? Are the flesh tones lifelike in a certain scene? Does the system deliver a fast-moving sequence particularly well? Where do bass notes accentuate the drama for a particularly effective moment? Point out what the high points are so the customer will notice them more readily.”
Tip 2. Be sure to emotionally engage and entertain the customer. Choosing the right content is essential to emotionally engage the customer. Whatever content you choose, have a wide variety of clips that appeal to a broad audience. Many home theater demos, for example, cater to male audiences. But is an explosive and raucous scene appropriate for young children who may be watching the demo as part of a family experience? For families, have age-appropriate material that can also entertain adults at the ready. Features like Kaleidescape’s included Parental Controls and Common Sense Media ratings are also great to highlight for customers with children. Avoid insensitive content that might offend any audience members, at all costs.
Simon Gibbs, Technical Sales Director of Pulse Cinemas states, “Create a succinct script to play at the beginning that outlines the goals of the demo and offers your company background.” He suggests using the Kaleidescape video as part of the script to help drive home the benefits of the platform in a visual way.
Mike Beatty explains, “Select content that evokes strong emotions and captivating moments. A nature documentary showcasing breathtaking landscapes or an emotionally charged film scene can truly immerse the viewer in the experience. Don’t always pick the most recent blockbusters.”
Adam Gold, Kaleidescape Regional Sales Manager, also urges integrators to discuss the content in some detail before the demo starts, as well as pointing out that Kaleidescape has the best possible content available. “Go through all types of content in the Kaleidescape movie store,” he says. “Stress and explain the importance of the source in relation to the system performance and overall enjoyment and experience.”
Give Some Control to the Customer
Tip 3. Let the customer choose the demo content. Because films are often associated with emotions and memories, a convincing demonstration can be the tipping point that leads to a purchase.
Tim Schafbuch, Kaleidescape Regional Sales Manager says, “By allowing a customer to choose their favorite films, you capitalize on that emotional connection. When they choose movies they know well, they will be able to readily identify the difference in quality and see how their cherished films are enhanced and brought to life by Kaleidescape.”
Anthony Savona, content director for Residential Systems, offers interesting insight on content selection in his recent article “For the Love of the Demo” He says, “I waver over which demo I prefer—a scene from a film I have never seen before or one that I am very familiar with. Going in cold, everything is a surprise…On the other hand, experiencing a scene I love in a new setting and having a new encounter with well-known content can also dazzle me.”
Tip 4. Put the customer in the driver’s seat. The user interface is one of the most exciting aspects of the Kaleidescape system. “The Kaleidescape interface is the star of the show here and the thing that really makes a Kaleidescape system special,” says TechRadar’s Al Griffin, who recently reviewed Kaleidescape’s new Terra Prime lightning-fast movie server.
Mike Beatty offers more insight, “Wherever possible, put the customer in charge by handing them the controller and letting them see firsthand how easy it is to navigate Kaleidescape via the onscreen display. Showing the customer how the product performs, rather than simply describing its features, allows them to visualize using the product in their own home. This visualization helps create a sense of ownership and fosters an emotional connection.”
Kaleidescape Regional Sales Manager Scott Wilson always includes a tour of the movie store. “I show customers how simple and fast it is to find the latest releases, pre-order movies that aren’t available yet, and filter movies. I then explain the convenience of ordering a movie using the Kaleidescape mobile app,” he says.
Save the Best Example for Last
Tip 5. Compare Kaleidescape to other sources, like streaming, with content that really shines. Presenting a scene from a variety of movies on both a streaming platform and Kaleidescape is a persuasive way to demonstrate that Kaleidescape offers the highest quality presentation.
Tim Schafbuch explains, “It provides potential customers with a clear, tangible, and objective basis for choosing Kaleidescape. They can see the difference in image quality, color accuracy, and sharpness. In addition to the visuals, the audio experience is crucial. A comparison can highlight the distinct difference in Kaleidescape’s lossless audio quality, showcasing the nuances and details in the soundtrack, which is integral to the overall experience. Kaleidescape’s customization features are also a huge differentiator over streaming and one to demonstrate, such as the ability to build your own collections and scenes intuitively.”
Jason Welsh shares, “The customer now is excited about their prospective purchase, and they are expecting to be entertained. As such, the structure of a demo should be similar to that of a screenplay. Just like a fireworks show, concert, or your favorite action movie, you’re saving the best for last. You’ve prepared the customer, now it’s time to give them ‘the show’ by demonstrating a visual and aural spectacle that anyone would love to be able to re-create at home. Choose scenes that are visually stimulating. Iconic scenes from films recognized for cinematography and nature movies also work well. Scenes with elaborate wardrobes and colorful backgrounds are also effective when comparing Kaleidescape to streaming.”
Sharing your passion for home theater in an exciting and persuasive way is an art. The goal of the demo is to create an emotional connection with the customer, allowing them to envision how Kaleidescape—along with all the attached audio and video components—can enhance their lives. By implementing some, or all, of these demo strategies, you can elevate the home theater experience and demonstrate the value of luxury cinema.
Cinema Connoisseur: Championing the Art of Home Theater
Kaleidescape’s content team has worked closely with Sam Cavitt of Paradise Theater and publisher of The Cinema Connoisseur on the Cinema Sommelier series of articles designed to explore the best source and demo material available. Cavitt says:
Considering the joy I personally experience when hearing a favorite recording or taking in a beloved movie scene, I am moved to share that joy with others. But, I have come to realize that assumptions and inexperience often prevent that communication. It reminds me of a time when my son observed me taking in an audio demo. We were visiting a dealer client and we needed to get going to make a dinner appointment. We didn’t make that meeting. “I didn’t have the heart to interrupt you,” he said. “Your expression was like someone enjoying the finest dining experience.”
Yeah, it’s like that!
How often do we assume a client appreciates the depth of experience available to them, in a private cinema, a listening room, through music, movies, and the sharing of these pleasures, as much as we do? Too often, I fear.
This realization is one factor that led me to develop The Cinema Connoisseur, Cinema Sommelier Movie Reviews, in collaboration with Kaleidescape. The Cinema Sommelier Reviews are intended to emphasize the importance of educating movie lovers about the details, nuance, and elements that make a movie or musical experience extraordinary. It can make all the difference— opening a door to countless hours of shared joy—when a client discovers this experience nonpareil for themselves.
Below is a list of all The Cinema Sommelier Columns from The Cinema Connoisseur, in which Cavitt and the Kaleidescape content team examine some of the best source material available in detail, calling out what to look for in various demo scenes and speaking with the filmmakers to gain additional insight. All of which serve to help you elevate the art of the demo.
● Avatar: The Way of Water: Delivers a Sophisticated Sonic Signature with Visceral Visual Flow
● Dune Dawns New Age of Sci-Fi Filmmaking
● Captain Marvel Delivers Cosmic Colors and a Sonic Punch
● Unearthing the Sonic Aromas of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
● Unleashing the Emotion of Unbroken
● How Silence Enhances the Audio and Visual Fear Factor in A Quiet Place
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