If you want teens shopping in your centre, give them the right calls to action. Here are a few ideas to revive your teen marketing programming.

Digital Minds

When UK street fashion label Ascension wanted to pitch its ethically and organically produced clothing range, it turned to ScreenFX and its nationwide digital-screen media network. The range, which is sold through selected TopShop outlets and the Arkadash Fair Trade clothing store in Manchester, began airing on the network last September. The partners say the media format was chosen to target students and younger consumers within the shopping centre environment.
“We really believe in our range and that the ScreenFX network is the channel to raise awareness and sales,” noted Simon Hawthorne, managing director of Ascension.
Two 30-second, live action commercials rotated every five minutes through the ScreenFX network of shopping centre plasma screens.
The spots aimed to raise awareness of the Ascension brand and driveinterested shoppers to both the ethical fashion label’s Website (www.AscensionClothing.co.uk) and TopShop stores.
To ensure relevance of the marketing delivery to the young demographic, the graphic content of the campaign was created by a group of students from Manchester University and then produced by ScreenFX’s creative and production team. The touch screen feature of the
ScreenFX InfoPods would also allow consumers to view the full range of Ascension products and store locations.
Besides the ScreenFX programme, Ascension developed various other marketing strategies to promote its brand as a real alternative for environmentally and socially conscious youth.
The label celebrated its launch by giving away branded organic shopping bags with every purchase. It collaborated with Becky Higg, a Manchester singer and songwriter who wore Ascension clothing while promoting her debut album, Room to Move. And, like Higg, Ascension has a presence on MySpace.com, the Google-powered online community that is very popular among young people and where registered users can create their own private community to share photos, journals and interests with a growing network of friends.

More Stuff, Less Rules

SPC Card of Canada has a proposition for student shoppers: pay €5 (approx. £3) for a Student Price Card (SPC Card) and get exclusive deals on clothes, food, entertainment, lifestyle, travel and more.
With 72 retailers participating—from Esprit and Footlocker to Pizza Hut and Via Rail—SPC Card marketers believe ongoing discounts, as well as weekly custom offers delivered every Thursday to registered members via e-mail, are the best and most direct ways into students’ pockets.
The card can be purchased in-store or via the SPC Card Website—with every online purchase of one card or more, students get a free €6.50 (just over £4) giftcard. Registered students can then log on to www.SPCCard.ca, punch in their postcode and use the store locator to see which shops in their area accepts the SPC Card.
Every so often, SPC Card holders get tempted with the prospect of receiving additional perks.
Last autumn, students ages 17 and older were invited to apply for a €330 (nearly £220) bursary toward tuition at any of the recognised post-secondary education institutions across Canada. SPC Card also ran a contest to win goodies such as a Lenovo 100 Notebook, a Fergie prize pack and a €330 (£220) Urban Behavior shopping spree.

Teen Talk

Dulles Town Center (DTC) in Virginia, USA, became a popular meeting spot for local teenagers last spring.
At 7pm on the last Friday of every month, the centre hosted Teen Talk at Dulles Town Center (Teen Talk), a free programme dedicated to youths in the Loudoun, Prince William and Fairfax Counties.
The meetings included special events and open discussions on teen issues, giving attendees a chance to share their experiences.
For the programme launch on 31st March, dozens of area high-school students joined the centre’s management team to present a Prom Safety group discussion and a Prom Fashion Show, which featured merchandise from participating DTC retailers. The Dominion High School Step Team provided the entertainment that evening.
DTC ran its Teen Talk events with the support of The Next Level 4 Teens (NXL), an organisation committed to helping teenagers improve their behaviour, interaction, self-esteem, grades and nutrition by using approaches such as mentoring, tutoring, educational workshops, counselling, character development and leadership training.
Among DTC’s upcoming youth-focused events is DTC Teen Idol, beginning this 27th April. Participating teenagers will compete for a €1,928 (£1,272) prize package and seize their opportunity to perform in front of thousands of DTC visitors. DTC Teen Idol event sponsors introduced last year included NXL, YouthFest and AOL.
Tip: If you’re not sure how to get on the teen radar, try following DTC’s lead and find a recognised youth group or student association with which to partner.
Ideal partners are high-profile groups such as NUS, a voluntary membership organisation comprising a confederation of local student representative organisations in colleges and universities across the UK and Northern Ireland.
NUS has nearly 750 constituent members—virtually every college and university in the country. NUS is one of the largest student organisations in the world and it represents the interests of approximately five million students. The organisation provides research, representation, training and expert advice for individual students and students' unions.

Holiday Job Line

Northridge Fashion Center (NFC) in California, USA, tapped into the youth workforce last autumn to help beef up seasonal staff.
On 1st November, NFC introduced a Teen Holiday Job Hotline that teenagers could access to find the latest job listings from retailers looking for holiday help.
“NFC set up the Teen Holiday Job Hotline as a way to reach out to the teen market because [it represents] 20 percent of the mall’s consumer base,” said Carmen Herlihy of M. Craig & Associates, the PR agency that represents NFC. “The mall has 42 out of 200 stores that cater to the teen market.”
NFC senior marketing manager, Lisa Avakian, noted that the hotline was an opportunity for teens to get their first work experience, not to mention learn how to become fiscally responsible.
“In addition, the hotline will be a tremendous help for our retailers during the busiest time of the year,” Avakian said.
Teenagers who dialed 877-MALL-JOB got a voice recording explaining the various job openings at the centre and where to apply, and NFC updated the recording weekly.
Positions ranged from sales associate to cashier both for part-time and full-time work, and participating retailers included Gloria Jean Cafe, Build-A-Bear Workshop and Ann Taylor Loft.
NFC promoted its hotline via onsite posters, e-mail blasts, customer service as well as memos and display flyers distributed to all teen-related stores.

Swinging to their Beat

1. If you’ve got a good in-house Webmaster, organise weekly or monthly Internet workshops for teens. Don’t stick to introductory sessions, but offer medium to high-level content that will make attending teens even more proficient at using online tools, including content creators such as YouTube, MySpace, FaceBook and Flickr. Turn these sessions into sales boosting opportunities by inviting representatives of your technology-focused stores as guest speakers. And make sure they come with plenty of perks for workshop participants, be they discounts, freebies or invitations to exclusive events.

2. Consider teen interests when you look for new commercialisation schemes. Teenagers are avid users of self-service kiosks and often use them to buy food, beverages, movie tickets and long-distance phone cards. Add to your kiosk roster, especially during high trading seasons like Christmas, to offer kiosks that sell technology gadgets, fashion accessories and anything else that teens might fancy.

3. Make the most of your Website. Use it to deliver up-to-the-minute updates on what’s happening at your centre. If you don’t have the manpower or an agency to maintain your site that frequently, use simple tools like a Web camera to give frequent online visitors fresh content each time they log on. An online speaker’s corner alternating with centre messages and a youth blog might be all you need to entertain teens and keep them coming back for more.

4. Teens may have some discretionary income, but not enough to qualify for many of the prime gift-with-purchase (GWP) deals that shopping centres offer. Buck the trend and design a GWP that fits teenagers’ budgets and interests. Top seasons to deliver such deals include Back to School, Valentine’s Day, half-term holidays, graduation season, summer holidays and Christmas.

5. If your food court could use more teen business, create a sitting area that’s just for them (your more mature shoppers might even thank you for it!). Develop a contest to name and/or decorate the new hang-out and then devise a sales promotion scheme that will make your food court part of the local teen scene. Possible options are food-focused loyalty cards, direct e-mail blasts, downloadable discount coupons and cross-promotions with other retailers, including movie theatres, music stores and book stores. And include teenagers in your contact list when you’re testing the viability of new food concepts to bring to your centre.

6. Remain in the know and the now. Make your centre and its Website a resource for cutting-edge literature, music, fashion and technology that teens would find captivating. Invite them to contribute to the content and the upkeep of the site by e-mailing you their suggestions and favourite Web links. To keep the interest high, run occasional contests for the best submissions and link the rewards to a youth-focused community endeavour (e.g.make  a donation to the winning teen’s favourite charity, sports team or youth group).

7. Form a youth advisory board to help you find your teen marketing voice and nail down a visual identity that will be consistent with your overall brand positioning. The more authentic your marketing message will appear to media-savvy teens, the more effective it will be.