Eighties Flashback
www.FarstaCentrum.se

The 80’s won’t be remembered for moving fashion forward yet for fans of the TV soap opera genre, these were the golden years. Dynasty, Falcon Crest and  Knots Landing ruled America’s prime-time slots with their twisted tales of romance and crude ambition. Sweden’s Farsta Centrum recently paid homage to another world-renowned classic soap, Dallas, with A Shopping Story, a tongue-in-cheek advertising campaign that kept shoppers coming back to its Website for more.
Each spot in the centre’s award-winning TV ad series was created to resemble a mini Dallas episode, complete with split-screen opening sequence and familiar musical score. Michael, Cindy and Trey are the main characters in a love triangle that is set against the backdrop of Farsta Centrum. The episode’s storyline has something to do with shopping, with undertones of romance and intrigue.
The fifteen 30-second spots aired on TV4, Sweden’s largest network, during the Stockholm International Movie Festival. Farsta Centrum even had the gumption to run the campaign on a big screen this past 17th to 27th November, right in the middle of the city where several competing centres are nestled. Farsta Centrum also backed the campaign through November and December with advertisements in the Metro newspaper in the form of comic strips that kept shoppers updated on the latest antics of the infamous trio.
This year, Farsta Centrum returns from the producer’s table with a black-and-white drama in Italian of which Fellini would have approved. This time, we follow the tale of the very stylish Roberto and Sophia as they deal with the high emotions that shopping at Farsta Centrum provoke.

Oh La La!
www.GaleriesLafayette.com

Les Galeries Lafayette, the legendary department store on Hausmann Boulevard in Paris, didn’t need any elaborate gimmicks to give its Website a sense of classic Parisian chic. The store’s homepage shows the silhouette of a young woman wearing on her head a small replica of the Eiffel Tower, tightly secured by a blue, white and red ribbon. Paris, France, High Fashion—the shot says it all.
From there, online visitors can select from 11 languages before entering the site. What better way to welcome tourists to the Galeries Lafayette, which houses what the store proudly calls the largest Paris souvenir shop in town. From artwork and DVDs to culinary delights and Lafayette coins, tourists will find a wide variety of items in this 400-square-metre department.

Metropolis Style
www.Metropole.cz/en

Metropole Zlicín (Metropole) in Prague, Czech Republic, is building consumer loyalty by getting shoppers hooked on its Metropolis Magazine. The lifestyle publication, which covers everything ranging from fashion to fitness to entertainment news, can be downloaded straight from the centre’s Website.
Metropole also keeps archives of past editions of the magazine in case customers have lost an issue or would rather abide their environmentally friendly ways and read the publication solely online.
The latest edition of Metropolis, which comes out four times a year, features the sultry Scarlett Johansson on its cover, giving a glamorous feel to the publication and to one of the largest shopping centres in the Czech Republic.

TV Ads on Demand
www.BlanchardtownCentre.com

To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Blanchardstown Centre in Dublin, Ireland, created a TV spot that would urge shoppers to visit. But instead of hoping that enough of its core audience would be tuned in whenever its spot ran, the centre posted the 10th anniversary celebration ad on its Website.
Backed by the centre’s main department stores, the spot reminds shoppers that they can enjoy better shopping at Blanchardstown, as well as take advantage of its 6,500 free parking spaces.
The spot also pitches the centre’s anniversary contests in which €10,000 (£6,600) were up for grabs, along with a brand new car.