How Cinemark utilized Mailgun to streamline their customer service experience

Going to the movies has always been about connections - connecting with people, as well as the on-screen action, which keeps guests returning to the movie theatre. Cinemark strives to maintain that vital connection by creating simple, innovative customer interactions. 

For Cinemark, ensuring each moviegoer has a seamless experience from start to finish is paramount to their company mission. As the first company to introduce digital movie tickets in 1999 with Enowshowing.com, Cinemark has made a point to lean into new technologies for its customers and the movie-going journey; and while they may not always be perfect, they learn from any challenges encountered along the way. 

For example, in 2018, Cinemark noticed that select guests were not receiving emails or promotions even though they had elected into email offers. As Cinemark investigated the cause of the issue, they determined that misspelled names and email variations were the culprit. Luckily, the challenge it posed would be simple for Cinemark to solve.

“MAILGUN'S EMAIL VERIFICATION API IS SIMPLE AND INCREDIBLY ACCURATE. IT ALLOWS OUR CUSTOMERS TO MAKE CHANGES TO THEIR EMAIL ADDRESS QUICKLY, WHICH ONLY ADDS TO THE PRODUCT’S VALUE-ADD.”

Developing a plan

When Joe Dan Galyean, Cinemark’s Vice President of Software Development, and Emily Yeh, Director of Digital Communications and Customer Experience, set out to find a solution, they wanted to innovate the process for the benefit of the customer. However, in order to streamline the process, Cinemark needed a technical solution that would fit in the signup process seamlessly. 

Initially, Cinemark used another third-party validations vendor to help clean up their long list of emails. While that helped them get on their feet with their existing list, it didn’t solve the challenge of real-time email validation. During that same time, Cinemark was already using Mailgun for transactional email confirmations for internal applications. As such, when Mailgun launched its email verification solution for web forms in 2018, Cinemark saw the opportunity. 

The integration

With Cinemark bringing validations and transactional emails all under one roof, their internal processes were cleaner with fewer providers in the mix. All they had to do was integrate email validation API into their signup process, which was a breeze for them.  Once completed, Mailgun's email validation API provided real-time corrections on misspelled email addresses, allowing the user to select the correct email, rather than submitting one that doesn't exist.  

Joe Dan Galyean, Vice President of Software Development at Cinemark commented, "Mailgun's email validation API is simple and incredibly accurate. It allows our customers to make changes to their email address quickly, which only adds to the product’s value-add."

Top tier customer care

Not only did the new Mailgun email validation API integration create a better user experience, but it improved their company’s productivity, as well.  With fewer customers calling guest services regarding missing confirmation emails, there was a considerable reduction in tickets related to this issue.  With that, the team was able to redirect their time and efforts on other initiatives to grow and innovate their customer experience, both within and outside their theatre walls.

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