Saturn Communications Group has formed a cinema division to provide cinema operators with a customer communication and marketing services that includes digital signage, promotional packaging and digital media initiatives.

To help form this division, Saturn has acquired the marketing and packaging company Cinema Scene UK.

‘We believe consultants, specifiers and buyers are looking for an integrated source of supply for all their marketing and branding requirements. The new division is designed to offer an expanding range of products and services giving operators access to the latest marketing services and technologies,' says Chris Welsh, managing director, Saturn Communications Group.

In 2007, UK movie admissions rose to 162m across 3596 screens. Typically a third of the budget for blockbuster Hollywood films film is spent on marketing and significantly more is invested by retail companies in merchandising. According to market research company TGI, nearly 94 per cent of seven- to 14-year-olds visited a cinema in the past year.

In addition to its Connectvision digital signage, the cinema solutions division will provide a selection of promotional and packaging products, following the acquisition of Cinema Scene UK. These include a range of customised graphic, printing and manufacturing services for concession items, point of sale materials and contest pieces.

Saturn's Cinema Solutions Division is to be headed up by Tony Paulden, the former MD of Cinema Scene UK.