Dial M for Marketing

Competing in the retail real estate arena requires creativity at the very least and, sometimes, marketers come up with the brilliant plan that will elevate their shopping centres from common places of commerce to destinations like no other.
This month, BCSC is putting the spotlight on creative minds, marketing professionals from across the UK and Ireland who have managed to push the boundaries of marketing and earn themselves kudos in the 2006 Purple Apple Awards competition.

It was an industrious year of trading that led to the 2006 BCSC Purple Apple Awards. The number of entries received for this 2006 edition has risen again, with a 12 percent increase on last year. More importantly, the programme welcomed new participants, with 55 percent of shopping centres submitting an entry for the first time.
These statistics are really good news, confirming both how awareness of the Purple Apple Awards has grown over the years and how the industry interest has also grown in winning an award for delivering more than the expected, an award for achieving marketing excellence.
At the Purple Apple Awards Dinner this year, the BCSC is once again rewarding such marketing excellence, with individual presentations for 19 different winning entries. There are winners in all six size bands and, just as in past years, the top scoring entries in each size band win a prize ticket with travel to attend the ICSC Fall and Management Convention in Chicago, USA.
This year, and for the first time, the judges spent four days reviewing all the entries. The judges were divided over two days, each group focusing on individual size bands. They included: John Gray, service charge manager, Next Plc; Justin Young, centre manager, Merchants Quay Shopping Centre, Cork; Sara O’Rorke, creative consultant, Cork; Hamish Miller, centre manager, Buchanan Galleries, Glasgow; James Goodliffe, regional estates manager, The Boots Company; Beryl Emery, research consultant; Don Hales, chair of the National Customer Service Awards; Ray Cliff, management consultant; Peter Davis, creative director, Pavilion Communications; and Jennifer Creevy, property editor, Retail Week.
The jury, which was once again chaired by Kate Mason, marketing director for British Land, came out of the sessions with a clear picture of where the industry had focused its marketing efforts over the past year, noting the following trends:
• A strong focus on events with some fantastic ideas coming through, including new ways for customers to get involved using SMS and Web tools.
• Partnership becoming a driving force, a trend that was clearly demonstrated through all categories.
• Some great work where centres have been opportunistic in piggy-backing activities happening locally to produce work that is relevant to their shoppers and creates real value for money.
Meadowhall in Sheffield once again demonstrated the quality of its marketing. It picked up a Purple Platinum award for Funky Feet, a programme that celebrated the centre’s 15 years of trading with an attention-grabbing campaign that also helped to raise £70,000 (¤103,500) for Sheffield Children’s Hospital.
"Judging this year was as interesting as ever with a wide range of activities being presented. This provided the judges with a real challenge to decide who demonstrated the most exciting and effective work and there were some excellent entries," commented Mason.
For the first time, there were no Purple Apples awarded. Instead, the jury gave out 16 Purple Merits and two Purple Pips.
There were a few of the usual suspects—among them, Gunwharf Quays, Brent Cross, thecentre:mk, Eastgate and The Paisley Centre—but also others who managed to prove their worth in a number of areas.
Best Single Event and Community Relations were the most profilic award categories, which really comes as no surprise. Shopping centres in the UK, Ireland and around the world are forging new types of destinations whose bread and butter remains retailing, but which attract customers with elements that enhance and support their lifestyles.
This takes the form of marketing initiatives based on entertainment, education and community outreach.
"There were clearly some winners that stood out from the rest, but it is fair to say that some marketers are still missing the opportunity to really think outside of the box to create innovative and exciting marketing that truly engages shoppers," said Mason.
She added that for this to happen, however, shopping centre marketers needed to work more with retailers who, after all, play a major part in why shoppers feel compelled to visit.
Mason believes that marketers have to find a way to break down some barriers to develop memorable campaigns that create a win:win situation for shoppers, retailers and the centre. There are exciting times ahead.