According to a recent report by our marketing department during the past year fewer people attended Super Screen produced movies than in any other year And yet the percentage of positive reviews by movie reviewers about specific Super Screen movies actual

The advertising director of the Super Screen Movie Production Company is suggesting that they should increase the advertising budget for the next year in order to reach more prospective viewers. This suggestion is based on multiple assumptions apart from the supporting information mentioned in the memo and I feel that there are multiple loopholes in reaching this conclusion.

First, the memo states that the percentage of positive reviews for specific movies has increased over the past year. Percentage increment does not imply absolute increment. As the number of viewers has declined over the past year, it would be fair to assume that the overall number of reviewers would have declined as well. Thus, it wouldn't be entirely fair to compare the percentage of positive reviews for the past and previous years. Also, the percentage of positive reviews have increased only for specific movies. The memo seems to be generalizing this outcome to the entire basket of Super Screen produced movies, which can be flawed. If the director can provide absolute numbers of the qualitative reviews of the movies, we would be in better shape to draw conclusions.

Second, the director is assuming that even though the reviewers are giving positive reviews, these reviews are not reaching the prospective viewers. It can be the case, that the prospective viewers are aware of the reviews and are willing to go and watch the movie in the theatre, but the movies are not easily accessible to the viewers. This can be due to multiple reasons. Maybe, the larger base of prospective viewers for a certain bunch of movies is from suburban areas and the movie only released in urban theatres. Maybe, the movies' release timings clashed with some important events like examinations of students, or the release dates clashed with some other competing movie or maybe, there was a trend of recession in the economy and the viewers were hesitant to spend on entertainment.

Third, the director is boldly assuming that there is no problem in the quality of the movies based on the positive reviews. This is a bold assumption as it is based on a dubious percentage review assumption and can very well be rebuked by the fact that the topics and the storylines of the movies are not aligned with the general taste or choices of the prospective viewers. It can also be the case that the movies are way ahead of their time and are not being accepted well with the viewer's current perception.

In conclusion, if the director can provide concrete details for the above questions, the Super Screen Leadership would be in a better position to take a call on deciding the budget for advertising for next year. Without more information, I feel that the company would be going a step too far in allocating some extra budget based only on this memo.