Mother Nature’s Little Helpers
www.GaiaShopping.pt

In line with its sustainability mandate, and to encourage customers to implement good environmental practices, GaiaShopping developed the children-focussed and community minded EcoMiúdos programme, inviting all children in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, to embark on a mission to save the environment. giving it a significant presence online.
The EcoMiúdos mini-Website acts as an information hub where visitors read up on environmental facts, consult the eco-dictionary, test their knowledge of green trivia and obtain tips on interesting places to visit in Gaia. There’s even an environmental calendar/activity book and a link to send queries to an expert.
GaiaShopping is currently also using the site to promote two eco-contests—one for elementary schools and another for individual students. Schools will be challenged to create an environment-focused periodical and a sculpture representing endangered animals. Meanwhile, the students will have to produce a pro-environment letter to the citizens of Gaia and a public service poster. Up for grabs are prizes such as a computer system, digital camera, encyclopedias and even a gardening plot in the city’s ecology park. Winners will be announced on 5th June, World Environment Day, during a green expo held at the centre.

Brookfield’s B.E.S.T.
www.BrookfieldProperties.com

Brookfield Properties main Website plays a major role in communicating the company’s commitment to minimizing its environmental footprint and promoting the use of efficient management systems and tenant practices in its buildings. Among the information that Brookfield provides online is an outline of the three-step B.E.S.T. (Best Energy Savings for Tenants) programme.
Among the B.E.S.T. tips posted on the Website are to turn off perimeter lighting circuits near windows, to purchase laptop computers (they consumer 90 percent less energy than standard desktop models) and to purchase photocopiers with power management features such as sleep mode.

Inspired Reading
www.Lakeside.uk.com

With a name like Inspired, Lakeside’s consumer magazine can’t afford to be dry and static. And it isn’t. The UK shopping centre’s seasonal magazine has a dynamic
presence on the Web, supported by technology that US-based NTXbook Media (www.NTXbookMedia.com) developed.
The framework of the digital magazine pages allows readers to ‘flip’ through the publication, using their computer mouse or the arrow keys on the toolbar. Other functions include thumbnails, print, save, bookmarks, notes and a forwarding options that enables readers to send a link to the magazine, or a specific page within it, to friends, complete with their comments.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the digital magazine from a marketer’s perspective is that the NTXbook Media technology produces reports that give publishers insight into the behaviours of readers who interact with their publications.

Working the Angles
www.Freeport.cz/de

Freeport’s Chvalovice-Hate designer outlet centre may be in the Czech Republic, but its proximity to Austria makes it a viable destination for shoppers on both sides of the border.
To encourage Austrian residents to visit, Freeport has developed a German language version of its Website and gave it an Austrian ghost URL, www.Freeport.at.
When shoppers in that market call up the site, they are automatically redirected to the German pages on Freeport’s main Website, where all the information they need is posted—from driving directions and opening hours to sales promotions and special events.
Besides allowing Austrian customers to access information in their mother tongue, Freeport also endears itself to the would-be clientele by offering them the same price guarantee that Czech customers enjoy. If Austrian shoppers are able to find the same merchandise at lower prices in a store back home as they do at Freeport, then the outlet centre will give them the difference back in cash.