Blog post written by Jennifer Swartz
We are finally here! The entire semester has been building up to these two weeks in Vietnam, and our agenda has been non-stop in the best of ways. Given that, we did not have time to fully develop expectations for our first meeting with our client, Cinestar, a local Vietnamese movie theater. To best prepare, we sent off an email outlining a tentative agenda – review our project with the Cinestar team, address any questions or concerns, and visit a few local Vietnamese theaters. When we finally met, every aspect of our meeting exceeded our expectations.
For one thing, Cinestar dedicated the entire day to meet with us – from 8:30am until 6:30pm (the original time was 8:30am-12:30pm). Secondly, they were so invested in our project, truly illustrating time and time again that they wanted to be a part of it. And lastly, they were so immensely kind and generous throughout the day.
Our day began with a comprehensive review of our presentation. We went through each slide, with both our team and Cinestar’s team asked clarifying questions along the way. Cinestar provided constructive criticism, for example nixing elaborate technological enhancements that did not coincide with the needs of their consumer base. Such feedback was not only helpful, but also exciting because it highlighted that the Cinestar team is ultimately striving to implement our recommendations. Our in-depth discussions ensured that everyone was on the same page and that our next steps accurately reflected any changes. Overall, it was incredibly rewarding to see how much our presentation resonated with the Cinestar team.
Throughout our meeting, the Cinestar team showered us with kindness and generosity, providing refreshing iced coffees and sodas, as well as delicious Chicago-style popcorn. Following our morning meeting, they treated us to a delectably authentic Vietnamese lunch and visits to all of their key competitors in Ho Chi Minh. For our site visits, we assessed every aspect of their competitors from their purchasing process to facility aesthetics to moviegoer viewing experience. At each theater, we purchased tickets to Deadpool 2 and 11, a Vietnamese romantic comedy. We popped in for parts of both movies equipped with a fresh batch of popcorn each time, as we obviously needed to ascertain which theater provided the best (it was Cinestar). We ended our day around 6:30pm with a fun photo session at one of their competitor’s photo booths.
We went in thinking we would get some questions answered, but we came out getting an immersive education as to how Cinestar operates at both a strategic level in their office and a granular level in their theaters. We were also able to get first-hand look at the typical Vietnamese moviegoing experience, which will be essential to our final project presentation. And most importantly, we got delicious popcorn all. day. long.
