Cinemas are struggling to stay relevant to consumers. Traditionally, cinema complexes had a major competitive advantage offering films you couldn't see elsewhere, an unrivaled movie-watching experience and the opportunity to do movie night out with the gang. The struggle is trying to stay ahead of piracy, legal and illegal online content platforms, offering formats and experiences that surpass what's available commercially via home theatre technology.

While cinema chains like Nu Metro and Ster-Kinekor are rolling out the big guns with 3D, IMAX, Xtreme, D-BOX and VIP cinemas, they're missing one critical element of the experience... the patrons. Cinema goers are enticed by the rollicking movie experiences being offered, but the constant that is continually gnawing away at the overall experience is the human factor.

It's difficult to tell people what they can and can't do, but if one customer is destroying your product experience for another customer, you need to make changes and fast! The idea of movie-going has shifted from a regular occurrence to an occasional one... at least this is the way media conglomerates are treating the situation, diminishing their dedicated space for movie content and condensing their entertainment sections into a one size fits all. Everyone you meet will be able to tell you about a time when they had a bad movie experience, the problem is that more often than not, these experiences are avoidable.

Gyms have rules, so why can't cinemas too? You're meant to bring a sweat towel to the gym, not walk around barefoot on the weights floor and wipe down equipment after use. If everyone was being considerate and responsible, we wouldn't need rules. While our society strives to be considerate and responsible, guidelines and rules are there to uphold basic standards.

The cinema experience is a sacred one for people wanting to be transfixed by a film. Unfortunately, this isn't a view shared by everyone, which makes the buy-a-ticket-and-watch principle problematic. Not wanting to uphold any standards and trying to be everyone's buddy is actually doing more harm than good.

If cinemas introduced a code of conduct, they would go a long way to attracting movie goers for repeat experiences, turning occasional movie-going to a regular occurrence. Changing a culture isn't achieved overnight and if they're in it for the long run, they should be gently influencing their customers for the better. After opening the code of conduct idea to SPL!NG fans, we were able to come up with this list of ten basic rules that should be adhered to in order to improve cinema experiences.

1. RESPECT OTHER PATRONS

2. DO NOT TALK DURING THE MOVIE.

3. DO NOT USE YOUR CELLPHONE.

4. ARRIVE IN GOOD TIME.

5. EAT AND DRINK QUIETLY.

6. ONLY TOUCH YOUR SEAT.

7. MAKE OUT AT HOME RATHER.

8. GO TO THE BATHROOM BEFORE.

9. SIT IN YOUR ALLOCATED SEAT.

10. MIND YOUR CHILDREN.

Spling is encouraging cinemas to pin this poster up in their foyers, circulate this code of conduct on their channels even if it means making their own set of guidelines and campaign. If the build up trailer and ad segment is a good place to warn customers about holding onto their stuff, switch off their phones and what to do in the event of an emergency, this is a good place to influence behaviour. As an avid movie fan and someone who doesn't want to see cinema chains go down the same route as video stores, it's time to act now before it's too late. If you love movies, you'd want this list of rules to find its way to your cinema - so help us get there by sharing this poster on your channels!