SM City Taytay is celebrating romance this month with its Live Your Dream Wedding promotion.

The shopping center has asked unwed couples to share their love story. If they purchase two of the center’s Green Bags and drop off their single-page love story, they are entered to win a dream wedding package. The bride’s dress and groom’s barong will be designed and tailored for them, and hair styling, makeup, photography and a cake will be provided. The lucky couple will also win an overnight stay, dinner and a massage at a resort, and a Home Starter set to start them off in their new lives together.

The stories will be judged on relevance, originality, and “over-all impact,” so it sounds like the judging process is going to take more than a couple handkerchiefs.

Canada’s Lougheed Town Centre is continuing its year-long multicultural series this week.

For the fourth event in the series, the center is holding an Aboriginal Festival. To start the celebration, the shopping center will be unveiling a panel that will remain in the mall, detailing the history, traditions and culture of the First Nations.

There will also be plenty of entertainment to be had. Traditional and contemporary dance, music and drumming will be performed by groups representing six First Nations bands. There will also be story telling and art exhibits, and crafts for kids.

Manchester Arndale is getting ready for its fall fashion show by launching a great fashion competition: High Street Stars.

The UK shopping center has teamed up with Emma Stafford Casting to locate the 12 fresh faces that will appear on the catwalk this fall. Shoppers can visit the center during the first two weekends of August to be photographed (for free) by a professional photographer. Talent scouts will also be on hand to offer advice for getting into TV and film. All participants will be able to request a copy of their photo online when they enter.

Judges will select 12 finalists from the online gallery of entrants. Eleven of the finalists will receive a £250 shopping center gift card and a trip down the runway in October. The overall winner will hit the big time with an exclusive photo shoot that will be featured on billboards, a walk-on part on the BBC drama series Waterloo Road, and, of course, a trip down the catwalk with the other finalists and stars from Coronation Street and Hollyoaks.

Each week, we feature tips from industry insiders. Have a tip to share with our readers? Let us know.

This week’s tip comes to us from Brian Lehn, President of Mall Media Inc.:

“When you’re trying to convince people to shop during a recession, scrapping the marketing programs that your customers have come to appreciate and expect isn’t an option. However, if budgets are being slashed, programs such as seasonal giveaways can quickly become expendable. If you’re temped to strike them off your list, put your pen down and think about which partners could help you fund your program.
One of our Mall Media customers, Sunrise Mall in Texas, USA, could have easily decided not to order giveaways to hand out to children visiting Santa at its property last year. But instead, it added value to the buy. It got Marble Slab Creamery (MSC) involved, featuring it on the inside front cover of the Santa’s Coloring Storybook it ordered from us.
MSC’s page included four coupons, which entitled customers to discounts on items such as ice cream cakes and smoothies. The coupons’ expiry dates were staggered and that gave shoppers an incentive to visit the mall again at least four times over a period of a few months.
Sunrise Mall’s deal with MSC is similar to the marketing strategies that other centers use to cover the cost of their gift-with-purchase promotions and branded magazines. The Mall Media coloring storybook’s cover is printed separately, which makes it easy for malls to customize their giveaways with sponsor logos, advertisements and promotional offers. Just remember to place your orders early to have enough time to receive your partners’ creative and complete the personalization before your order is fulfilled.”

Want to know more?

Contact Brian at 1-800-665-2115 (North America), 1-800-005-583 (Australia), 0800 404 9413 (UK) or 001 604 294 6671 (worldwide). Click here to e-mail him or visit Mall Media online at www.MallMedia.net.

Quaker Bridge Mall continues to impress with its Insiders program.

The program invites teens to engage with the mall on a few different levels. We’ve discussed it in more detail here. This Friday, the Insiders’ Teen Board will turn the mall’s center court into an Acoustic Cafe.

For three hours in the evening, local performers (including one Quaker Bridge Insider, Emily Kate Schiel) will play “unplugged” music for the crowd at a Luau themed gathering. Mall eateries will provide snacky samples too. Sounds like another great idea born of inviting fresh minds into the event-planning process.