Q: What is the current state of consumer communications in the retail sector?

A: Some retailers have been successful in shifting their communications strategy from product focused to emotion focused.
With so much choice for where consumers could buy similar (or the same!) products, differentiation is found through a more deeply-rooted emotional connection.
The shift from traditional advertising to relationship-based marketing is about behavioural change. Consumers’ expectations are different in today’s marketplace. It is more about them and less about the brand—on demand versus on command.
Consumers are researching differently, seeking opinion differently, recreating differently, connecting with friends and family differently, enjoying family time differently. Where retail advertising would have attempted to reach consumers at times when they were predisposed to thinking about purchases (which means generally having fun), different media are at play.
The challenge in creating a wide appeal for broadcast media is that the marketing message risks being so generic that the emotional appeal is lost. This is where tactical interactive elements work well.
Spend on interactive, whether viral or not, has been increasing across all retail and there is evidence the bulk of budgets are moving to online activity. This is where an emotional connection can be made more directly.
Less TV (or more TV content but fewer TV ads) consumed through increasingly prevalent digital recording devices means that advertisers need to shift their execution to more closely match where the eyeballs are now.
This means smarter use of technology to harness information in a way that deepens the relationship and understanding each time a company interacts with consumers.
The power of relationship-based marketing is about linking the right experience opportunities across all channels to deliver the appropriate experience for consumers, based on information relevant to them.
At the core is the concept of increasing customer loyalty, establishing a learning relationship with each customer where every interaction, whether big or small, is an opportunity to learn about their individual expectations, motivations and personal preferences.

Q. Where do you see the biggest gap between what consumers are seeking from their retail experience and how retailers/shopping centres plan and deliver that experience?

A: The biggest gap is the appreciation that the consumer is in control of driving the message. Consumers expect to have their experience be all about them. They call the shots and they want to be engaged. Many retailers/shopping centres are still broadcasting rather than concentrating on hosting the right conversations that will appeal to their audiences.
Traditional advertising focuses on a "one-way" communication channel between brand and user where the brand determines what is of value to the user and broadcasts its message over a specific medium of choice.
To make the change from broadcaster to connector, marketers must shift their mindset on how they communicate and define their brand. They must learn how to channel this consumer power, and influence in directions which are favourable to the brand. At the same time, it is equally important to ensure every experience with the brand is a good one. Customer service is as important as ever, whether it is offline or on. As George Colony of Forrester Research stated,"It’s now a two-way conversation. Listen, respond, and talk intelligently. Stop dictating to customers. It’s your customers, not you, that have the power."

Q: Where does social media fit in? What are the best opportunities for retailers and shopping centres?

A: To quote Matthew Roche’s The Simple Beauty of Social Media, "Social media has allowed consumers to feel empowered and in charge of their Web experiences, but it can be far more than that for marketers. When marketers harness social media elements, they can use the "wisdom of the crowds" to great advantage to increase sales and to generate goodwill among visitors."
This opportunity for "new virtual relationships of trust" between individuals—a departure from traditional media, which works to build relationships between consumers and large institutions—allows for the retailers to be more aware of the typical "word of mouth" kinds of discussions, to be a part of conversations they may have never known of previously. And, considering that consumers are much more likely to complain, it provides a new avenue to set the record straight or apologize, correct and adapt before it is too late.
Retailers/shopping centres need to be involved in and genuine about the conversation with consumers online and let them know they are listening and care about how customers feel, whether positive or negative, about their experience with the brand.
Social media acts as a gateway into the mind of your audience and allows retailers to know and understand how word of mouth and social networking are contributing to their overall brand image and customer experience.

Q: How can retailers/shopping centres take advantage of existing online communities for promotional, customer care and entertainment purposes?

A: Similar to traditional advertising it comes down to budget. Large organizations such as Blockbuster, Dove, Herbal Essences, Saturn and Coca-Cola are all using Facebook (which has 50 million-plus users) to build avenues for good customer experiences. It is tapping into the need of many online users to share and connect with others.
As reported by Brian Morrissey in BrandWeek, instead of a dedicated microsite, Coke's Sprite introduced an online destination through Facebook ads.
"Visitors to Facebook.com/spritesips can customise a new animated character, Sprite Sips, watch videos, listen to music and start discussions. The page also is linked into the social network, broadcasting to users' friends their affinity for the brand. And it ties into the Sprite Yard, the brand's foray into mobile social networking."
The biggest opportunity for retailers/shopping centres is to understand their online pre-shoppers and what they like to do online. We would then suggest retailers consider the available online communities they have access to, based on existing or complementary partnerships. The goal is to extend the relationship to pre-shop and post-shop experiences that work to engage and entrench the consumer.
With some ingenuity, creativity, and understanding of the consumer, large budgets don’t necessarily have to be case.

Q: How can retailers/shopping centres create their own online community? How can they identify the best target segment for this form of communication?

A: Understand your consumer and anticipate their needs.

A solid online community always starts by defining for the brand, retailer or shopping centre, who their target customers are, what conversations they are participating in online, what type of experiences would best suit their ever-growing needs and what the online community is going to represent within the dialogue or conversation.
Taking a user-centric approach to creating an online community ensures the brand will in turn be engaging in a two-way conversation with the user and providing positive user experiences by offering value and reliability to its audience.
In our experience with Cadillac Fairview in Canada, we have helped the organisation build its online community over the past five years through the development and execution of online contests and in-store promotions. Through an understanding of the type of consumer visiting Cadillac Fairview’s consumer website, www.Shops.ca, as well as understanding the type of users going to any of the developer’s 29 shopping centres across Canada, we have developed campaigns that have met the interests of the consumers and they have historically responded well to sharing the experience with their friends and family.

Q: Are viral marketing schemes cost-prohibitive for shopping centres with modest budgets? Are there ways to get into the viral marketing "game" without breaking the bank?

A: Viral marketing is best used as an integrated part of the overall marketing mix, not a one-off tactical end in itself. It is a means to not only generates buzz about a product or service, but also enables ongoing benefits, such as increased brand awareness and peer-to-peer endorsement of your offering.
Viral marketing campaigns are an attractive tactic because they use the free endorsement of the individual rather than purchase of mass media to spread the word. Viral marketing campaigns can be developed within a modest budget. Once the business objectives are established, and an organisation has a good understanding of its user’s expectations and preferences, a user experience team should be in a position to help a retailer or shopping centre ‘get into the game’. One example of successful viral marketing is Hotmail, a company that promotes its service and its own advertisers' messages in every user's e-mail notes— Microsoft now owns Hotmail.

Q: What resources does a centre need to dedicate to a viral marketing endeavour for it to be effective (number of staff, hours/week, etc.)?

A: This is really dependent on the size of the organisation. However, I would caution that to establish an online community and build viral campaigns does require staff or consultants who are regularly and consistently monitoring and hosting the conversation taking place online.

Q: How can you integrate online and offline marketing schemes?

A: It is exciting to see retailers making the clear connection between offline and online communications. There is certainly more emphasis on pulling together a full experience rather than considering online as its own silo.
Unfortunately, for many clients, the interactive space is an afterthought of a campaign or a communication approach. The strategy is defined and online is considered merely another venue to broadcast a message.
From our experience, the best way to integrate offline and online activities is to have representation of an interactive marketing team involved from the very beginning at the strategic level. They will work with the client and any other agency to develop an appropriate plan to meet the needs of the consumer both offline and online.

Q: How can you make viral marketing campaigns productive beyond word-of-mouth promotion? How can you ensure your viral marketing investment can produce sales?

A: If you want to see a direct correlation with sales, the campaign must focus on a promotion that can be tracked and that is meaningful for the shopper. To see a return on investment it is important to establish the measurement goals before the campaign is implemented.
Cadillac Fairview partnered with Aeroplan, a Canadian-based loyalty reward program, to provide 75 Aeroplan points with every $75 (€51 or £36) gift card sold. This was promoted through the 29 participating shopping centres, via online and offline media as well as through Cadillac Fairview’s online community. The call to action drove people to Shops.ca, the company’s retail website.
On the first day of the campaign, traffic to Shops.ca reached a 1,000-percent increase over the average daily rate. While year-over-year sales growth normally averaged between five and 10 percent, sales during the campaign reached increases of 27 to 35 percent, more than four times the historical growth rate.

Q: How do you encourage consumers to engage in your campaign? How can you build a social media consumer database?

The campaign must meet an emotional need for consumers for them to take the time to participate and share the experience with others. Therefore understanding the different types of consumers (personas) who would like to participate in an online community is the first step. Also, it is important to realise that only a small percentage of your consumers will actually contribute to content, so realistic objectives and integration is critical.
We’ve had success building Cadillac Fairview’s online consumer database through online contests and promotions that are relevant to the consumer. We determine first the campaign idea and the communication goals. This dictates the appropriate channels (offline or online) that will help increase awareness and participation in our campaigns.

Q: How can you protect your brand image within an online community? How do you "control" your brand positioning?

A: The best way to protect your brand image is to be authentic in your messaging. Retailers/shopping centres must engage in conversation with their audiences rather than broadcast their message. Becoming a good host for a conversation and participating in the conversation should be the priority.
Consumers now have the control. Their ability to share their opinion has opened to the world, therefore retailers/shopping centres must be prepared to participate and be authentic.

Q: What are examples of effective viral marketing schemes you have seen or worked on in the retail/shopping centre industry?

A: Dove, A Campaign for Real Beauty is a good example of an effective viral marketing campaign. It’s an emotional appeal that is important to Dove’s worldwide demographic. Its wise use of real people plays well in the interactive space. The use of video that pulls at the emotional core of an individual pushes a user to pass it along.
It would appear to that Dove is focusing on the conversation about real beauty that it is hosting rather than focusing on broadcasting its brand. The payoff, however, is that it is helping the brand identity and increasing sales.
From a shopping centre perspective, we have helped Cadillac Fairview in Canada build their own online community that pulls together like-minded people coast-to-coast. The development of this community has been done through partnering with relevant brands to extend the reach.
As mentioned earlier, Cadillac Fairview partnered with Aeroplan, one of Canada’s leading loyalty solutions partners. For the 2005 contest, T4G worked with Cadillac Fairview to develop the strategy, contest details and creative elements. To ensure people engaged and connected the contest to others we increased the value of the ‘tell a friend’ feature. Entrants would receive an extra chance to win the grand prize for each friend they referred who also entered. Plus, the referred friend had a chance to win a $1,000 (€ 680 or £486) shopping spree and 50,000 Aeroplan miles.
To sustain interest over the contest period, 50 instant-win prizes of $100 (€68 or £49) gift cards were given away with each purchase of the national gift card during the contest. The instant win directed customers to the contest Website to see if their coupon number was a winner.
The overall response to the campaign outperformed all six previous campaigns. The number of entrants exceeded the 2004 contest by 142 percent, and 17 percent of the entrants came from the ‘tell-a-friend’ programme.
The winning combination of increased entries and consumer awareness and a decrease in cost resulted in Cadillac Fairview achieving a 35-percent return on its investment—a great holiday gift for them.

Q: Can you offer suggestions of online communities with which you believe marketers should be familiar?

A: There are a number of social networking sites, such as Bebo, MySpace, Facebook and Mixi, that are changing the landscape of communication. Connection is the key driver for these online communities. They are allowing individuals to connect with others and share an experience, and the most interesting component is that it is extending the language of communication to include all forms of content, be it written word, audio or video.
Also interesting are sites like Flickr, del.ic.ious, and dig, which are changing the way people tag and bookmark, share and pass on information, and provide their approvals.

Q: What do you think of Second Life (SecondLife.com), the 3D online digital world? Do you believe it presents real opportunities for retailers/shopping centres?

A: Second Life certainly is a trend that gets a great deal of media attention, and there are retailers exploring the opportunities of Second Life either by using it as a test market or as an avenue to appeal to a specific, younger demographic. We have not, however, seen or heard any compelling return on investment that would convince me to invest in it. We believe there are other more relevant targeted interactive experiences that can be formed to reach retailer /shopping centre objectives. For example, user generated content (written, video and audio) will become an important medium.
That said, Second Life does open the discussion about digital assets and the interest people have in owning something virtual, which has possibilities for extending the shopping centre experience online. .