Marketing and promoting shopping malls to generate additional footfall
Here John Hicks shares some ideas from his years at Headline Promotions, Press & Public Relations here in the UK:
· Place yourself at the heart of the community and partnered up with all the local schools & colleges by offering a fraction of a percentage of the proceeds of receipts from your shops back to the schools through a rebate programme. Work on some strong marketing materials for the schools to use.Offer new computers to the school that has the most receipts. I did a similar exercise for an IT company and we had huge PR from this and business from the schools.
· Street entertainment such as fire eaters or magicians etc will give people who come out something to remember for ever. Live music or karaoke in the street, can also be successful parts of an overall campaign.
· In school holidays, lay on plenty of children’s entertainment including face painting sessions, story telling and model making.
· In the UK you normally have to pay a fortune to park your car before you go shopping to spend more. At Brent Cross the parking is free and you find people will travel to it. Negotiate with local car parks to get free off-peak parking and cheaper peak time rates – or offer a refund on parking if they spend more than £50 in one day.
· One of the most successful of my projects was for a garden centre complex that encouraged shoppers to save their receipts. For every £100 in mall receipts, they received 1 entry in an annual drawing for a new car. The winner had to be present to win, so that day the centre was unbelievably crowded. We ran the project jointly with a local car dealership who, in turn, received dealer support from the manufacturer.
· Create events:
Health fairs with free screenings, health information, etc.
Craft fairs highlighting local artists
Fashion shows
Cooking demonstrations
Events tied into various holidays or causes
Record launches
· If you can increase the number of woman visiting your mall the men will follow automatically and your footfall will increase dramatically. Have special women oriented events like beauty workshops, events, have a special women's day where they are given 10% off their purchase.
· A good TV celebrity which appeals to a wide age group will be expensive but my experience shows that it has always, and I mean always, paid dividends!
· At Christmas time, help busy employees of local firms by providing personal shopping assistants before work, during lunch breaks and after work.
· Last, but certainly not least, think about establishing your own on-line radio station. UK Internet Radio Developments can create one for you in 24 hours with music programmes 24/7 – visit their website at http://www.ukird.com/
Do you need practical advice on marketing, PR and promotions for shopping centres and malls in the UK? The contact John Hicks at Headline Promotions, Press & Public Relations http://www.headlinepromotions.co.uk/ or by e-mail at john@headlinepromotions.co.uk
Keywords: how to market shopping centres, how to promote shopping malls, marketing, promotions, public relations, PR, advertising retail, Christmas offers, xmas shopping, shopping for gifts, gifts, marketing, internet advertising, target marketing, press releases, press release distribution, search engine linkings, selling online, malls, promotion, outlet centres, uk pr agency, increasing mall footfall
Here John Hicks shares some ideas from his years at Headline Promotions, Press & Public Relations here in the UK:
· Place yourself at the heart of the community and partnered up with all the local schools & colleges by offering a fraction of a percentage of the proceeds of receipts from your shops back to the schools through a rebate programme. Work on some strong marketing materials for the schools to use.Offer new computers to the school that has the most receipts. I did a similar exercise for an IT company and we had huge PR from this and business from the schools.
· Street entertainment such as fire eaters or magicians etc will give people who come out something to remember for ever. Live music or karaoke in the street, can also be successful parts of an overall campaign.
· In school holidays, lay on plenty of children’s entertainment including face painting sessions, story telling and model making.
· In the UK you normally have to pay a fortune to park your car before you go shopping to spend more. At Brent Cross the parking is free and you find people will travel to it. Negotiate with local car parks to get free off-peak parking and cheaper peak time rates – or offer a refund on parking if they spend more than £50 in one day.
· One of the most successful of my projects was for a garden centre complex that encouraged shoppers to save their receipts. For every £100 in mall receipts, they received 1 entry in an annual drawing for a new car. The winner had to be present to win, so that day the centre was unbelievably crowded. We ran the project jointly with a local car dealership who, in turn, received dealer support from the manufacturer.
· Create events:
Health fairs with free screenings, health information, etc.
Craft fairs highlighting local artists
Fashion shows
Cooking demonstrations
Events tied into various holidays or causes
Record launches
· If you can increase the number of woman visiting your mall the men will follow automatically and your footfall will increase dramatically. Have special women oriented events like beauty workshops, events, have a special women's day where they are given 10% off their purchase.
· A good TV celebrity which appeals to a wide age group will be expensive but my experience shows that it has always, and I mean always, paid dividends!
· At Christmas time, help busy employees of local firms by providing personal shopping assistants before work, during lunch breaks and after work.
· Last, but certainly not least, think about establishing your own on-line radio station. UK Internet Radio Developments can create one for you in 24 hours with music programmes 24/7 – visit their website at http://www.ukird.com/
Do you need practical advice on marketing, PR and promotions for shopping centres and malls in the UK? The contact John Hicks at Headline Promotions, Press & Public Relations http://www.headlinepromotions.co.uk/ or by e-mail at john@headlinepromotions.co.uk
Keywords: how to market shopping centres, how to promote shopping malls, marketing, promotions, public relations, PR, advertising retail, Christmas offers, xmas shopping, shopping for gifts, gifts, marketing, internet advertising, target marketing, press releases, press release distribution, search engine linkings, selling online, malls, promotion, outlet centres, uk pr agency, increasing mall footfall
