|
|
 |
industry headlines
|
|
|
this week's news
|
top
|
Delicious Deals
Starting November 1st, Santana Row shoppers can get a great deal on an early meal.
To get shoppers in for dinner on the slower days of the week, Santana Row restaurants are offering early-bird specials. Between 5 and 7pm, Sunday to Wednesday, diners can get a full three course meal for $30. And the purchase of two of these “Fashionably Early” entrees comes with two tickets to a local production of The Christmas Story.
After a long day of Christmas shopping, shoppers will definitely enjoy the chance to put their feet up and eat a great meal without breaking the bank.
Comment on this story.
|
An Apple A Day…
Orchard Park Shopping Center is living up to its name this weekend. The Canadian shopping center is providing a last-minute venue for the BC Orchard Industry Museum’s annual Apple Festival.
Apple tasting is the main event. Popular apple varieties like Fuji and Gala will be on hand, as will experimental and heirloom varieties. Heirloom apples are a part of orchard history – varieties that have been abandoned by commercial markets, but once grew widely.
An Apple Festival wouldn’t be complete without some traditional entertainment: the Brightside Cloggers and BC Old Time Fiddlers will be performing for the crowds. And apple-themed craft workshops will be offered for the little ones.
Comment on this story.
|
Kid Friendly
SM Supermalls has put together what it calls the Philippines’ first recreation center for children, and it sure didn’t do things half way.
After touring children’s activity centers across Asia, SM employees put together the concept for a massive children’s recreation complex. Unveiled at the Mall of Asia, it’s 3000 square feet, and cost P100 million. It has a 5-storey space-inspired structure called Cosmic Kidz. SM hopes it will stimulate children’s dreams of outer space. It also has a “four-dimensional” cinema with moving seats, air jets and different themes.
If successful, the center will be replicated at other malls in SM Supermalls portfolio.
Comment on this story.
|
Customer Service That Keeps Them Coming Back
The Glades just got some great news. As part of an annual performance evaluation of the shopping center by its owner, Capital Shopping Centres, mystery shoppers tested many of its retailers. Ten of those retailers passed with 100% grades.
The results were the best ever received by the Glades, and its management is very happy. Said Maria Cooper, Marketing Manager at the Glades, “This is a fabulous endorsement of the quality of customer service at the Glades.” Congratulations to them. Retailer customer service is a huge part of what keeps shoppers coming back, but its often a factor out of a shopping center’s control.
We’ve covered a couple customer-service related promotions in the past. Often, centers encourage shoppers to nominate customer service representatives who do a good job (and both shopper and nominee get entered into a draw). The Glades holds an annual “Store Wars” competition to award stores with the best customer service. How do you encourage your retailers to keep their customer service top-notch?
|
Insider’s Tip of the Week: Virginia Boggie
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 Virginia Boggie, Partner and Director of Client Services at Suburbia Advertising:
Has Your Centre Put its Stake in the Ground?
A well-crafted brand strategy is one of the most important business decisions retailers face – and yet often fail to address. Every shopping centre needs to differentiate itself from its competitors if they want to gain greater market share. If you don’t claim your territory and stand for something that is relevant to your target, you can bet your competitors will.
Developing a distinct brand strategy or will help you express the type of shopping centre you are, serve as a blueprint for building your brand over time, and help provide consistency over every communication channel you use. Once you define who you are, stick with it! Unlike advertising, which can launch a new campaign every year or two, your brand strategy should endure. The only reason to depart from this is if you have a solid underlying reason to do so. For example, your property has just gone through a redevelopment and has radically changed its store mix.
Committing to a brand strategy is liberating. You will wake up each day with a clear focus and the confidence to allocate your resources in the right places to support your objectives.
Want to know more?
You can reach Virginia by phone at 604-943-6414 or by email. You can also visit Suburbia Advertising online at www.SuburbiaAdvertising.com.
|
|
viral marketing
|
top
|
Intrigue Them, Don't Terrify Them
Viral Marketing: Also known as Word of Mouth Advertising. Any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, thus creating the potential for exponential growth in the message's exposure and influence. Just like viruses, such strategies take advantage of rapid multiplication to explode the message to thousands, even to millions.
A good viral ad leaves viewers with questions they’re eager to answer. But those questions should be things like “Is this real?” or “Who’s behind this and where can I buy their products?” not “Is my life in danger?”
On the good side of that divide is this recent video. The ad picked up a lot of press attention early on, and was reported as being new work by “Colombian pop artist Bon Yurt.” In reality, it was made by yogurt company Bon Yurt to promote their products, and the ensuing confusion brought them a lot of positive press. The video itself is pretty fun, too.
On the dark side is Toyota, who is being sued by a woman who thought she was being harassed and stalked by an escaped prisoner thanks to a marketing stunt gone wrong.
Another great reminder not to make your audience the butt of the joke.
Comment on this story.
|
|
cause marketing
|
top
|
Scrapbooking Survivors
Cause Marketing: Cause Marketing is the art of combining your commercial brand with a non-profit issue. Cause marketing campaigns have years of history and range from relatively superficial tactical partnerships, to long-term, strategic alliances that penetrate deeply into business and nonprofit organizations.
This weekend, over 120 women got together at the Tri-City Pavilion Shopping Center to scrapbook for the cure. Survivor Crop aimed to raise $70,000 for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
The women were teamed up in “islands” modelled after Survivor, the popular reality television show. For 24 hours, the women were “cast away” with their scrap book supplies, and worked to raise pledges and become the Ultimate Survivor. During the marathon, there was food, drink, entertainment, activities and prizes for participants.
You just can’t go wrong harnessing the power of a strong, creative community.
Comment on this story.
|
|
mall world
|
top
|
A Trip to the Asia Expo
Our Editor-in-Chief, Myriam Beaugé, just got back from the ICSC Asia Expo. Here's a brief taste of her time in Singapore.
Last week’s ICSC Asia Expo in Singapore didn’t break any attendance records, but those retail professionals who made the trip did take heed to the event’s theme, “Harnessing the possibilities…the time is now.”
Whether during panel discussions, roundtables or trade exhibit hours, delegates were keen to make new contacts and exchange strategies that could make their shopping centers more attractive to consumers and also more productive.
Given that, with the exception of Japan, market recessions in the region were being spoken about in the past tense, emerging trends weren’t only tied to survival of the present but also to long-term growth and success.
Here are some of the trends we picked up:
- Vacant in-line shops might become an alternative to kiosks and RMUs when it comes to incubating new retail concepts in malls. Some of these spaces could come fully furnished yet allow for customization and branding.
- To enhance a mall’s service roster, landlords could approach their current tenants and convince them to create retail spin-offs of their own service centers. That means a department store could turn its in-house tailoring service to a stand-alone tenant in the mall to offer alteration services to all shoppers and not only its own customers.
- Some landlords aren’t too keen to cave in and reduce rents to address the problem of declining retail sales. Instead, they are coming up with imaginative lease terms. Among them are deferred-rent leasing deals that give mall developers an opportunity to take ownership in new tenants’ businesses.
- Branding is no longer about flaunting a brand name, but about creating a memorable experience for a specific retail environment. Starbucks made that realization in Hong Kong, where it eventually designed its coffee shop to resemble a teahouse.
- Sustainability isn’t a fad and it isn’t only about environmental stewardship. It’s also about making management decisions that support long-term productivity. One case in point: landlords curtailing their costs and responding to lower traffic numbers by reducing operating hours. This not only saves money for the landlord, but it also helps struggling retailers to run their shops more efficiently until business picks up again. Westfield and Simon were two trendsetting developers cited.
We’ll have more on the Asia Expo, including a feature on the winners of the ICSC 2009 Asia Shopping Centre Awards, in the next edition of Tactics Magazine. Don’t miss it!
Comment on this story.
|
|
|
|
October 22, 2009
|
tactics magazine
|
|
A famous actor created quite the commotion recently, drawing 2,500 fans to Harrisburg Mall in Pennsylvania, USA.
Find out how the celebrity appearance was planned in the next edition of Tactics Magazine.
Subscribe today!
|
marketing trendz
|
|
Biodegradable helium balloons were key to one UK shopping center’s popular sales promotion.
Read about it in the upcoming edition of Marketing Trendz.
Don't miss it. Subscribe today!
|
marketing directory
|
|
rate card
|
|
Our 2009 advertising rate card is now online.
US/Canada
United Kingdom
Australia
|
weekly quote
|
“Concentration comes out of a combination of confidence and hunger.”
Arnold Palmer
(1929 – ) |
trial offer
|
 |
Get a complimentary digital issue of Tactics Magazine or Marketing Trendz today!
Click Here
Click Here
|
|
 |
contact the editor
|
Have a story idea? Looking to submit your mall's event or program for publication? Do you have burning ideas about our print publications? Want to let us know your comments on this weekly newsletter?
Whatever's on your mind, Shopping Center Weekly editor Nissa Campbell would like to hear from you.
So, please keep your emails coming - send your messages to the Editor.
|
marketing links
|
|
|
