Harvest  Time

The entry deadline is fast approaching for the 2006 edition of the BCSC Purple Apples

It takes courage to examine one’s own work with a critical eye and it’s a challenge that shopping centre marketers take on daily. Footfall levels and end-of-trading tallies don’t lie but instead are sure signs of strategic marketing gone right—or terribly wrong. So when you do come up with effective schemes that inspire shoppers to become loyal patrons while thickening your property’s bottom line, you should celebrate them openly, for your sake and the betterment of your industry.
This autumn, BCSC is again asking marketers across the UK and Ireland to take a close look at the marketing programmes they produced over the past year and submit their top picks to the 2006 Purple Apple Marketing Awards competition.
While any awards gala can be seen as merely an opportunity to make an appearance, boast and engage in PR small-talk, the Purple Apples are about much more than that. Besides celebrating and rewarding deserving work, they are an opportunity for marketers in schemes of all sorts and sizes to join a peer network, enhance their resumes and possibly gain international recognition, not to mention win a scholarship for the ICSC European Retail Property School.
“The Purple Apples have really come into their own with 35 percent more centres entering the 2005 competition and a major awards dinner which attracted 550 people,” said Sue Boor, who heads up the Purple Apple Task Force in addition to fulfilling her duties as head of marketing for The Mall at Cribbs Causeway.
“Both the competition and the sophistication of the entries continue to grow and the increase in jury size and expertise reflects that.”
BCSC has added two spots to its judging panel, which Kate Mason of British Land Shopping Centre Portfolio will chair this year (see the full panel opposite). Another change the council’s Purple Apple Task Force has made for this 13th installment of the award competition is to create a new entry category covering electronic communications to reflect the changes in the typical shopping centre media mix—the move is a further testimony to the award programme’s relevance in today’s marketplace. This “E” category will cover campaigns involving the use of tools such as email, Web SMS and plasma screen media.
What may compel marketers the most to act and participate in the programme, however, is that BCSC has figured out a way to make the entry process as painless as possible.
For the first time, it is offering entrants the chance to purchase a complete folder with all of the elements they need to submit a proper entry. The folder can be ordered at a cost of £35 for BCSC members or £45 for non-members. There is also a next-day delivery service costing members £7 and non-members £10 (prices exclude VAT).
There are 10 entry categories in all, ranging from overall marketing to media relations to public relations, and eligible programmes must have taken place between 1st January 2004 and 30th September 2005.
The winners of the 2006 Purple Apple Marketing Awards will be announced on 8th February during an industry dinner at Chiswell Street Brewery, close to the Barbican in London. The evening promises to be a lively one, with singer and actress Toyah Wilcox hosting the event.
Still not sure if you have winning fare or a spoiled crop? Ask those who’ve been there. BCSC not only posted Purple Apple Advice from the Experts on its Website (the downloadable document contains more than 70 hints and tips), but it also gathered a group of mentors who are willing to peruse individual entries before they are submitted. Among them is Donaldsons marketing head Eileen Connolly, whose insight will be most valuable, not only because of her many years of experience, but also because she has just ended her term as chair of the ICSC Maxi International Marketing Award Committee. Also offering their expertise are Ron Woodman of Metro Centre, Nancy Cullen of SpaceandPeople, Sean Kelly of Hallogen and Andrew Rollings of Whitely Village.
Award entrants can also attend (and even organise) Rolling Apples mini-workshops to learn exactly how to prepare a successful submission.
For more information, visit www.BCSC.org/purpleawards.

The Jury

Chair:
Kate Mason, British Land Shopping Centre Portfolio

Judges:
Sara O’Rorke, Klein O’Rorke
James Goodfield, The Boots Company
Don Hales, National Customer Service Awards
Beryl Emery, Research Consultant
Hamish Millar, The Buchanan Galleries
John Gray, Next PLC
Justin Young, Merchants Quay Shopping Centre
Peter Davis, Pavilion Communications
Jennifer Creevy, Retail Week
Dominic Mills, Haymarket Business Titles

Picking Dates
• 2nd December 2005: Entry registration deadline
•  16th December 2005: Entry closing date
•  5th-10th January 2006: Judging
•  8th February 2006: Purple Apple dinner

The Sponsors

Category sponsors: British Land, ClearChannel, Experian, Footfall, Land Securities, JFR Promotions, LDJ, Slough Estates, Westfield Shoppingtowns and Workman Retail.

Event sponsors: Flex-e-vouchers and Mobile Promotions.

Media sponsor: Tactics UK & Europe Magazine