Working with Retailer Awareness Campaigns
More and more, shopping centers are working with (or working around) retailers’ awareness-raising campaigns. We recently looked a Lush campaign that had mall security keeping an anxious eye on Lush workers lest they leave their shops while protesting in the buff. But awareness campaigns don’t need to turn antagonistic.
The Dolphin Shopping Centre is testing out that theory as Costa Coffee works to raise money to build schools in five coffee-growing communities in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Uganda and Columbia. The Costa Coffee employees at the Dolphin Shopping Centre location put their hearts, souls, and tips into the fundraising effort, and worked with the shopping center to increase exposure. Throughout the shopping center’s Escape the Midday Sun program of free family events, Costa Coffee employees are circulating through the mall. Each afternoon, they bring shoppers mini-muffins and samples of milkshakes, smoothies, coffee and hot chocolate in exchange for donations so shoppers don’t need to break away from the fun events to go for a bite to eat.
Meanwhile, The Lion Yard Shopping Centre embraced the interest brought in by another Lush campaign, this time against keeping reptiles as pets. Last week, a staff member from Lush at Lion Yard dressed as a chameleon and was crammed into a small cage Other Lush employees held posters that read “Exotic animals are not pets!” and handed out leaflets to intrigued shoppers.
Image: coffee beans, a cc licensed flickr photo shared by datenhamster.org
