ICSC Solal Marketing Awards 2007 ICSC Solal Marketing Awards Round Tables, 27 April 2006 The ICSC Solal Marketing Awards Award Categories bring together the very best of retail Grand Opening, Anniversary, marketing across Europe to reward Refurbishment or Extension those with the most effective A complete campaign to introduce a new, refurbished campaigns. Recognising best or extended shopping centre. practice and outstanding marketing Sales Promotion performance, the ICSC Solal Promotional or merchandising events or initiatives Marketing Awards are seen as a designed to stimulate increased sales. The promotion benchmark of quality throughout must take place in-centre and may involve joint activity the industry. with retailers. Consumer and Trade Advertising Strategic or tactical efforts to advertise a shopping centre that demonstrates creativity and effectiveness. The entry can be an integrated campaign across several media or be one single piece of creative work that addresses and achieves a specific objective. Community Relations A single or ongoing event, programme or project whose objective is to benefit a community cause thereby building centre goodwill in its trade area. It may be charitable, promote a community cause or present an event that serves a local interest or lifestyle. Centre Productivity This category recognises efforts that directly impact a centre’s revenue performance or operational efficiency. The entry could show marketing-led initiatives that may comprise sponsorships, strategic alliances, endorsements, retailer partnerships, speciality leasing programmes that genuinely add to a centre’s financial vitality or innovative ways of generating new revenue sources. Public Relations A planned public relations programme or activity designed primarily to benefit the commercial interests of the shopping centre. The objective is to address a shopping centre/company need rather than a community need. Business-to-Business A campaign or programme designed to benefit the leasing/letting of an existing or new shopping centre. 2 Grand Opening, Anniversary, Refurbishment or Extension Category From 5,001 up to 20,000 square metres Los Fueros Boulevard Grand Opening Campaign Los Fueros Boulevard Barakaldo, Spain Planning the grand opening of Los Fueros Boulevard, an urban shopping centre in Barakaldo, Spain, posed unusual challenges for its marketing team. The centre is located in Spain’s Basque province, a region known for being close-knit and somewhat distrustful of foreign companies. Los Fueros’ major investor, Cargill, had no connections in the area. In addition, Los Fueros would compete with two regional shopping centres outside the city. The grand opening had to get the support of the community and local institutions for the centre to be embraced long-term. Implementation The marketing team decided to cast area residents as the main characters of the campaign. In addition to being cost-effective, the campaign would create word-of- mouth among friends or acquaintances of the participants, building traffic and an emotional tie to the centre. A grand opening party was held with 500 leading citizens and regional television celebrities invited, and a fashion show parade Two months before opening, the campaign “You shall be featuring 70 Barakaldo citizens (selected from the pre-opening the protagonist” invited Barakaldo’s residents to pose as photo contest), modelling clothes and accessories sold at the the campaign’s main characters. The centre received 600 centre’s shops. Some 300 friends and relatives helped the models photos via email and telephone messages, with nearly in the parade. 100 selected to participate. Twelve ultimately were cast as the main characters for the centre’s campaign. Results The campaign has created a feeling of goodwill, both from Graphics outside the centre and in the media stressed citizens and the local merchants in the trading area. Los Fueros as an extension of its customers’ homes, using Management has established excellent the slogan “9,000 square metres on your doorstep.” Four relationships with local institutions and different visuals represented the main business categories the press. Traffic was strong, with of fashion, leisure and services and food and restaurants. 162,000 visits in the first month, in a The fashion advertisement was headlined, “A 3,000- market of 100,000 people. square-metre walk-in closet.” The food advertisement read “2,000 metres of pantry space. Come to the centre, Credit Los Fueros Boulevard Team you will fill your fridge in a flash.” The leisure and services Owner: Cargill and Value Investment promotion was headlined “400 square metres of game Management Company: Value Investment room.” Lastly, the restaurant advertisement read “1,200 Professional Recognition: square metres of chats after your meals. Come to the Pedro Ruano, Partner, Value Investment centre, the table will be set in a flash.” Each graphic Gauthier Peyrouzet, General Manager, 4 sales marketers featured at least one Barakaldo citizen and made a Josu Rebollo, Creative Director, 4 sales marketers reference to his or her connection with the city. Additional materials stressed Los Fueros’ convenient location in the city centre. 3 Grand Opening, Anniversary, Refurbishment or Extension Category From 5,001 up to 20,000 square metres SHE's got it! Scotch Hall Drogheda, Ireland The 18,000-square-metre Scotch Hall was scheduled to open in November 2005, around the same time as two similarly sized centres nearby. In addition, Scotch Hall’s trade area of Drogheda, a small town 32 miles north of Dublin, intersected with two of the most successful centres on the north side of the Irish capital. Drogheda’s population has grown dramatically since 1999, when Results two new motorways were built that helped the town emerge as a The public relations campaign delivered over 78 Dublin bedroom community. As a result, the centre has a young separate articles in local and national newspapers. adult customer base. Even so, some members of the community The Mini Cooper Giveaway brought £8,000 in free were concerned about traffic congestion and opposed the advertising to the centre. The sponsorship of the development. Drogheda United football team resulted in tremendous exposure through televised games and To set itself apart from the competition, the centre developed media attention. More than 10,662 customers visited an identity and brand that focused primarily on young adults. the centre on the opening day and approximately A community relations strategy also was employed to enhance 61,800 visited over the four-day period. Many stores relationships with neighbours and pave the way for a future phase 2 reported sales over plan. development. Credit Implementation Owned by: Edward Holdings The Scotch Hall team developed the Scotch Hall Experience concept Management by: Douglas Newman Good (SHE). All campaigns used young, chic and stylish images, with the Commercial tagline “SHE’s got it!” promoting the strength of the tenant mix. A Professional Recognition: second tag line, “SHE likes his style,” targeted men. Gerry Barrett, Owner/Developer, Edward Holdings Ed Douglas, Property Consultant, Three months prior to opening, the tag lines were used on large Douglas Newman Good Commercial mesh banners on the centre’s exterior, in on-air contests and print Nessa O'Brien, Marketing Consultant, advertisements. Three weeks before opening, a full advertising Fusion Marketing Group campaign was launched, using local and regional print, local and Mark Morgan, Centre Manager, national radio and outdoor cards and billboards. The “SHE’ll get you Scotch Hall Shopping Centre in gear” promotion, a giveaway of a Mini Cooper, began two weeks Neil Condron, Creative, XMI prior to the opening. For the grand opening, the team encouraged all tenants to host in- store celebrations. The centre marketing staff then created a promotional strategy to inform shoppers about the in-store events. Community relations included a centre tour for residents, and becoming a major sponsor of the Drogheda United football team. The centre also partnered with the local borough council and six Ed Douglas, Nessa O'Brien, local schools in a student competition to name a new pedestrian Emma O'Reilly and Mark Morgan bridge. The Mayor of Drogheda officiated at the ribbon cutting. The four-day opening event included daily entertainment, culminating in the arrival of Santa Claus on the last day. 4 Grand Opening, Anniversary, Refurbishment or Extension Category More than 40,000 square metres “Manufaktura drives Lódz since 1852” Manufaktura Lódz, Poland Manufaktura is the redevelopment of former 19th century textile mills into a commercial centre. The centre’s marketing team wanted to focus its grand opening around the history of the mills, and the golden age of Lódz, a one-time industrial city. The mills were nationalised in the 1930s, and by the 1990s, political changes in the former Soviet empire and foreign competition led to the mills’ closure in 1997. The area had declined as a result. Apsys’ redevelopment of the property into a complex combining contemporary retail, entertainment, culture, business and education facilities with the historic structures was the result of three years of close collaboration with the city. The grand opening also combined the old and the new. Implementation The grand opening was the culmination of three years of communication with the community, adapted to each use: “Manufaktura drives fashion since 1852,” including opening an information