LITTLE
BOOK OF
INSPIRATION
Preface At Suburbia Studios, we’re privileged to spend our days working on incredible projects for shopping centres across the country. We have a passion for creativity that helps our clients “get shoppers,” and meet or surpass their goals.
That’s why we began Shoppertunity.com—a blog to share some of our expertise and learning. We’re delighted at how quickly it has grown and attracted a loyal following.
This little book is a collection of some of the most popular posts from Shoppertunity.com in the areas of Strategy, Creativity and Career. Our hope is that you will find a little gem of inspiration to help you on your journey as a marketer. Enjoy!
5
Table of Contents CREATIVE Is the Use of “Mature Models” Smart Marketing?
10
6 Ways to Evaluate Marketing Ideas
14
How to Harness the Power of Brainstorms
18
CAREER 10 Characteristics Outstanding Marketing Directors Share
24
The Next Big Job in Shopping Centre Marketing: Fashion and Lifestyle Editor
28
How to Write an Award Winning ICSC Award Entry
34
STRATEGY What’s Your Positioning? 4 Steps to Better Strategy
42
Effective Taglines: The Bottom Line
46
Are You Ready for a Rebrand? Here’s our Checklist
50
7
CREATIVE
10
IS THE USE OF “MATURE MODELS” SMART MARKETING? Recently, we’ve had discussions with several shopping centre marketers about using “mature” models in their campaigns. To d a t e , h o w e v e r, t h e r e have been no commitments to embrace this approach. This begs the question—why?
11
Marc Jacobs Beauty
recently announced that 64-year
old actress Jessica Lange would be the face of his new beauty line. Diane Keaton, 68, has been promoting L’Oreal products for the past eight years, and British actress Charlotte Rampling, 68, is the face of the cosmetics company Nars. Using “mature” models is not a new concept, but one that’s been adopted by leading brands for years. 81-year old Carmen Dell’Orefice walked the runway for Norisol Ferraro and Marimekko last year, and Linda Rodin, 65, starred in The Row’s pre-fall 2014 Lookbook as well as Karen Walker’s spring 2013 eyewear Lookbook—alongside 91-year old Ilona Royce Smithkin. Is the increase we’re seeing in the use of mature models smart marketing? It’s well known by advertisers that baby boomers are currently 50 plus, make up a large portion of the population, and spend more than any other generation. A lot more. However, many industry leaders are not willing to take a chance on going grey with their marketing. When asked why she doesn’t send mature models down her Milan runway, Miuccia Prada, 64, says, “Let’s say I’m not brave enough. I don’t have the courage.” Can using sexagenarians to sell lipstick or octogenarians to model clothes spell success for a brand? “Brands aren’t just reaching out to seniors for the sake of inclusion. They’re doing it because there’s lots of money to be made,” says Magdalena Kondej, head of apparel research at market research firm, Euromonitor. “The mature demographic makes up the largest part of the population and they are tired of being ignored,” says Ari Seth Cohen, founder of Advanced Style, a leading fashion blog that profiles the inspiring street style of everyday senior citizens. Cohen recently released a new book also called “Advanced Style,” and has a documentary in the works, reinforcing that more and more people are beginning to pay attention to this demographic. 12
With an elderly population that is bigger, healthier, and also richer than ever, tapping into the over-60 crowd with fresh, relevant and brave marketing programs can present some exciting opportunities for shopping centre marketers. And in our view, that’s smart marketing. Who wants to be first?
Call us. 13
WAYS TO
EVALUATE YOUR SHOPPING CENTRE’S
MARKETING IDEAS
15
WHEN WE LOOK AT CREATIVE, we rely on 6 questions—with the acronym RETAIL—to help us evaluate creative and marketing ideas quickly and confidently. Why does this matter? If you are like many shopping centre Marketing Directors, you are probably in the midst of meeting with your agency or creative department to review ideas and creative elements for your next campaign. It can be an exciting, but scary, process. You brief the team on your objectives and target, you stay in touch and answer questions along the way, and you think you have a good sense of how things will unfold. You are excited: the big day arrives and the work is unveiled. Your mind is swirling. You like parts of what you see, but other ideas are not working. You want to provide feedback that is clear, actionable and that keeps the team motivated. It’s at this point you may want to apply RETAIL to ensure everyone involved is using the same criteria when reviewing ideas. It’s not an exhaustive list of considerations, but it’s a great start. Using the RETAIL acronym, here are six key ways to evaluate ideas:
16
R is for Relevance. Relevance is about making sure the creative reflects an idea that is important to the target—will the target care about the idea and what you are saying?
E is for Easy to understand. You should be able to “get” the idea quickly and easily. It should be simple. If you have to work at it, something’s wrong.
T is for Truth. The statement or claim being made in the idea should be credible and believable coming from your shopping centre. Consumers will only be disappointed if you cannot deliver what you are promising.
A is for Achievable. Is the idea achievable with the resources available? Do you have the budget, time and manpower necessary to deliver the idea in its best form? A great idea poorly executed quickly becomes a bad idea.
I is for Insight. Does the idea reflect something true about the target? There should be a “moment of knowing” when the target feels that you understand her in a special way—that you “get her.”
L is for Legs. Does the idea have legs? Is it an idea that can walk, run and jump—an idea that will work across mediums including social media? Integrated ideas typically have a greater chance at creating momentum and impact over a longer period of time. Use RETAIL to evaluate ideas and provide feedback; it will help you make decisions and provide feedback to your team with greater confidence.
17
18
How to harness the power of brainstorms. Do you dread brainstorms? Welcome to the club—most marketers do. Too often, they involve an unstructured dialogue (and in some cases monologue) with no actionable outcome of value. There is a better way. We’ve worked with many shopping centres to help them generate more ideas, better ideas and to focus their ideas. Based on our experience, there are
19
A trained facilitator will help structure, manage and guide the meeting to ensure your objectives are met. He or she will be well versed in the best practices of running a brainstorm, and will also handle transcribing the meeting for future use and reference.
Working with the facilitator, you need to set the stage for the session in terms of situation or context (the why), goals, process, roles and responsibilities and desired outcome. You cannot be too clear with the group—you absolutely must know what your goal is and what a successful meeting will look like and deliver.
It sounds simple, and it is—and isn’t. What are you trying to brainstorm against? You will need to carefully craft either a problem or an opportunity statement. The language used to craft the statement will affect both the participants’ understanding of what the brainstorm will be about and how to contribute. For instance, announcing that you are “looking for out-of-the-box ideas for a back to school campaign” will elicit a very different response (and possibly no response) from a group compared to “In what ways could we develop a back to school campaign that makes the target think about our centre first for back to school fashion?”
20
As part of your goal planning, you must know how far you want to go. This will affect the structure, length and process for the meeting. For instance, some sessions are only about idea generation; others are longer and involve generating, focusing, evaluating, selecting and even strengthening a chosen idea.
There are many tools and tricks to help groups generate and focus their ideas. The real skill is in having a process and knowing when to use what tool. The tools selected will depend on the goal of the session—do you want many “loose� ideas that are new and unexpected, or do you want a few developmental ideas that take an existing idea and make it better?
Consider these five factors when planning your next brainstorm, and the results will speak for themselves. 21
CAREER
CHARACTERISTICS OUTSTANDING MARKETING DIRECTORS SHARE Outstanding shopping centre Marketing Directors share some inspiring characteristics. In the past few decades, we have worked with some of the most creative, dynamic and effective Marketing Directors in the shopping centre category. Repeatedly, they successfully develop and implement integrated programs that are fresh, relevant and meet or surpass their objectives. Each is unique and skilled in his or her own way; however, upon reflection, they share some common characteristics.
24
25
energy Outstanding Marketing Directors have an energy that is infectious—they’re upbeat, optimistic and tireless. They make everyone want to do more.
mileage
They put in the miles. They work really hard—usually the hardest on their team, immerse themselves completely in the business and give their role everything they have. They know one can be good with a little effort, but that it requires extraordinary effort to be fantastic.
leverage
They seem skilled at leveraging campaigns and initiatives for maximum impact, often in fresh and surprising ways. They know how to make the most out of every opportunity, and make every dollar work hard.
team
They surround themselves with strong staff and partners, and build a team culture that strives to meet and surpass objectives. They invite dialogue, debate and collaboration—you don’t work for them, you work with them.
details
They know that success is in the smallest of details and never forget about the importance of all the pieces that must come together. Many have previously held the roles of their staff which make their understanding of and appreciation for the details even stronger. They don’t take things for granted!
26
vision Just as they embrace detail, they are skilled at thinking big picture and know where they want to go, and where they want to end up—professionally and personally.
accountable
They embrace responsibility and accountability. Rather than point fingers, they proactively seek out new solutions and better ways to do things. Continuous improvement is their mantra.
conflict
They deal with it quickly, bravely. They seek to understand facts, nuances, and different perspectives before deciding on a course of action.
open
They speak directly and candidly—you know what’s on their mind. There’s no BS and they rarely close their door.
gratitude
They are remarkably gracious—they openly and genuinely express appreciation on a daily basis for the expected and unexpected things that make up the fabric of their days.
There’s lots to learn from this group—we are always inspired, humbled and thankful! 27
The Next Big Job in Shopping Centre Marketing: Fashion & Lifestyle Editor
28
29
R
edefining how Marketing Directors look at their
role will be key to maximizing the effectiveness of shopping centre marketing. It’s a time of tremendous change in the world of shopping centre marketing, and one of the biggest changes that we see is in the role of Marketing Directors. In the past, a key part of this role involved developing and implementing seasonal campaigns using a mix of traditional media, public relations and event marketing to help meet objectives. For many, the process was predictable and included a standard mix of spring, back to school, fall and Christmas campaigns, supported with smaller seasonal promotions and sales.
30
31
H
owever, the world of digital has forced this role and approach to change dramatically.
Marketing Directors need to think more and more like fashion and lifestyle editors! Shopping centre marketing is increasingly about publishing great content—content that is relevant, valuable, credible and ultimately, inspiring. After all, at the end of the day, every Marketing Director wants to attract more shoppers, more often—particularly from those that are most valued. We highly recommend reading Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman’s book, Content Rules. While everyone has heard that content is king, very few Marketing Directors are sure where to start. This book is rich with ideas and explores what we think are key considerations: start with a content audit, develop a content strategy and then strive to differentiate your content. Here are some key points.
32
ONE
TWO
Establish clear content objectives.
Understand your target including demographics, psychographics, technographics, and their wants and needs.
THREE
F O UR
Establish a desired action from the target after engaging with your content.
Identify messages and themes that are most likely to help make that action happen.
F IV E
SIX
Determine what can be “re-imagined” from existing content and/or broken into smaller snack-like pieces. Breaking things apart is key.
Identify the “gaps” of information or stories that are needed.
SEV E N
EI G H T
Determine the ideal digital channel to communicate information: i.e. Tweet, blog, video, podcast, Facebook, Pinterest, apps and so on.
Weave things together with a master “editorial calendar.”
N IN E
T EN
Create a publishing schedule taking into account what you will do daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly.
Consider what metrics you will evaluate—the authors provide many ideas including online mentions, views, subscribers, likes, degree of engagement, downloads—the list goes on.
As you begin to embrace this thinking, your creativity and confidence will flourish. Shopping centre marketing plans everywhere will soon be rewritten as content strategies, and a new generation of editors will emerge.
33
HOW TO WRITE AN
AWARD WINNING ICSC AWARD ENTRY
34
MANY MARKETING DIRECTORS WONDER ABOUT THE SECRET TO WRITING AN AWARD WINNING ISCS ENTRY. WE’VE WRITTEN MANY ENTRIES, JUDGED FOR YEARS, AND HELPED OUR CLIENTS CONSISTENTLY WIN AWARDS. HERE ARE SOME KEY INSIGHTS TO CONSIDER AS YOU PREPARE YOUR AWARD SUBMISSION(S).
1 START EARLY We can’t emphasize this point enough. Preparing an entry is time consuming and can be overwhelming. It takes focus and attention to detail to present your program in a way that showcases its strategy, unique qualities and results. By starting early, you can edit and refine each section of your submission until you are truly satisfied.
35
2 TELL A STORY Keep in mind that the judges were not present to experience your program. And in many cases, they have never visited your centre. Your entry needs to be presented in a manner that tells a rich, emotive story from start to finish. The “situation” introduces the story with insight based on your latest research and clearly identifies the problem or opportunity your program was strategically designed to address. The “objectives” must address the situation and be quantifiable and time-based. The “action” relates the story in detail, and the “results” bring the story to an end by demonstrating the program’s success. Today, it is not unusual to hire a professional writer to create a compelling story—consider this option if writing your entry is too onerous, your writing skills are not strong and/or if you are strapped for time.
3 TAKE PHOTOS It is critical that you have high quality photos to support your submission. These photos will bring the written portion of the entry to life for the judges. Unless you’re an exceptional photographer, consider hiring a professional and request that lots of photos to be taken. It’s better to have too many than not enough when you are making your selections.
36
37
4 START A PR FILE If you feel that your program has award potential, it is important to collect all the publicity generated by your program. Clip news articles, contact TV and radio outlets immediately for broadcast files and screen save online blogs. Collecting publicity long after your program has been completed will be virtually impossible as media outlets do not always archive their news stories.
5 DOCUMENT YOUR PROGRAM Use your 15 pages of documentation to tell your story visually. Follow the same order in which your entry was written and use your final page to end on a high note by reinforcing the results achieved. Work with your advertising agency to design and typeset truly outstanding pages that reinforce your story.
6 DOUBLE CHECK Once your entry is uploaded to the entry site, double check everything to ensure that you have not missed any elements and that all files download properly. Do not leave this until the last minute!
38
7 GO SHOPPING Your entry has been submitted on time and you’ve put your best effort forward. It’s time to relax and go shopping for a new outfit or shoes to wear to the Awards Evening!
39
STRATEGY
42
WHAT‘S YOUR POSITIONING? 4 steps to better strategy. Positioning is one of the most important business strategy decisions shopping centre Marketing Directors face. What is positioning? It’s not a tagline, jingle or campaign. It’s a business strategy—a decision you make as to how you want your shopping centre positioned in the minds of your most important target relative to your competitors. Where to begin? We recommend these four steps.
43
1 2 44
Identify a primary target. The primary target is the segment that you want to attract first and foremost. Perhaps it’s your most loyal and valuable shoppers—you may want to protect and increase this segment; alternatively, you may want to attract an underperforming segment with great potential. Clearly describing your primary target will help you focus, and it will help to give your shopping centre a personality. It’s not enough to say that your best shopper is a “female between 25 and 49 years.” Instead, something like “women committed to style, that are brand conscious, will pay extra, and that want to look good at home, work and play” begins to paint a clearer picture. Your shopping centre’s personality should be a reflection of that primary target; it doesn’t mean other types of women won’t visit your shopping centre— they will. Remember, the “market is everyone who wants to feel like the target!”
Determine a battlefield. Effective positioning creates a spatial relationship between you and your competition— it helps to show where your shopping centre “fits” relative to competitors. A key part of establishing a positioning is to establish a battlefield on which you stand a good chance of winning. Remember to ask yourself, “Where can we win?” For instance, are you really competing against all shopping centres in your trading area or are you competing against those with a fashion focus, a convenience orientation, or a best for “moms and families” foundation?
3 4
Determine your promise. A promise takes what makes your shopping centre special, filters it, and communicates the main benefit to your target. It helps to answer the question: “Why should a shopper visit your centre instead of another centre?” Or, “what do you offer that no other centre can offer?” A strong, enduring promise is one that is relevant, distinct, believable and singular in its focus. It should reflect something that your shopping centre is uniquely positioned to deliver.
Putting it together. Putting it together involves linking your decisions from points one through three above into a clear positioning statement. It could go something like this: To (the primary target), shopping centre X is the (battlefield), that (promise) because of (support). For instance, “To busy, budget-conscious moms with young children, Wheatfield Mall is the most convenient place to shop when it comes to fulfilling her family’s needs, including fashion, recreation, grocery, home décor and services.” With a positioning strategy in place, you are ready to work on your brand strategy, creative concept and communications plan. Don’t skip the positioning strategy exercise—it’s the foundation that will help ensure success in all other communications areas.
45
EFFECTIVE
TAGLINES T H E
B O T T O M
L I N E
There are a number of factors to consider when developing a shopping centre tagline that is unique, relevant and compelling.
46
FIRST WHAT IS A TAGLINE?
In simplest terms, a tagline, sometimes referred to as a slogan or motto, is shorthand for your brand promise. Its purpose is to crystallize the one thing that distinguishes your shopping centre from its competitors and that your shopping centre consistently delivers at a high standard. Consider Yorkdale, a premier Canadian fashion destination centre that brings together highly coveted brands such as Holt Renfrew, Aritzia, J. Crew and Coach. Its tagline? “Be Inspired.�
47
SECOND THERE ARE DIFFERENT WAYS TO COMMUNICATE YOUR SHOPPING CENTRE’S BRAND PROMISE IN A TAGLINE. You may want to consider a descriptive approach such as Midtown Plaza’s “Fashion First,” or Simon Malls’ “More Choices.” Alternatively, you may want to employ a strong consumer benefit, such as Toronto Eaton Centre’s “In To You,” or an emotive state of mind benefit such as Upper Canada Mall’s “Gorgeous.” Shopping centres that are the hub of their community often use a pride-of-place tagline such as Woodgrove Centre’s “Island Living, Island Style.” Other approaches include a strong call to action, or emphasizing some aspect of your centre’s personality that is integral to its promise.
48
THIRD ONCE YOU HAVE A TAGLINE IN MIND, OR SEVERAL TO CHOOSE FROM, YOU WILL NEED TO ESTABLISH SOME EVALUATION CRITERIA. We recommend that shopping centre marketers consider the following: : •
Is the tagline available?
•
Does it reflect your personality?
•
Does it crystallize your brand promise?
•
Is it positive?
•
Is it unique and ownable?
•
Does it work with the logo?
•
Is it succinct?
•
Does it sound good?
Finally, it’s worth learning from the great taglines of our time such as “Think Different” and “Just Do It.” These taglines connect to a higher purpose and invite us to rise up and realize that purpose—to push beyond ordinary, and to strive to fulfill our potential. The shopping centre marketer that can tap into this space in a credible manner will be able to connect with its target in a way that truly sets the shopping centre apart and strengthens shopper loyalty.
49
ARE YOU
READY FOR A REBRAND? H E R E ’ S O U R C H EC KL IST. Given that most shopping centre rebranding initiatives require a significant resource commitment, shopping centre marketers should ask themselves and their team members the following questions to help evaluate their situation and make an informed decision.
1. Has the vision of the shopping centre changed in such a way that it is disconnected from the branding?
2. Has or will a redevelopment initiative significantly affect the centre’s current positioning, branding strategy and targets?
50
51
3. Has or will the replacement of some existing stores with newer, more popular brands significantly affect who shops at your shopping centre?
4.
Does the leasing team find the current brand strategy effective in helping to secure
desired retailers to the shopping centre?
5. Do you have a brand strategy in place that is understood and supported by all employees of the shopping centre?
6. Does your current brand strategy differentiate your shopping centre from the competitive set? 7. Is the point of difference in your shopping centre’s brand strategy relevant or important to your key target—will they care?
8. Is your shopping centre’s brand strategy expressed in a way that is fresh and compelling— will it get noticed for the right reasons?
9. Is your current brand strategy credible and believable among your shopping centre’s leadership, employees and, of course, your target? Does your shopping centre truly deliver upon its brand promise?
10. Does your shopping centre’s brand strategy lead to communications, promotions and initiatives that meet your objectives? Your answers to these questions will provide clues as to whether you need a new branding strategy and creative approach, or whether your current brand strategy is on target, but needs to be re-expressed to strengthen its relevance to the market. Either way, there is no doubt that in an increasingly competitive retail landscape, shopping centre marketers will need to do everything possible to help distinguish their shopping centre and strengthen its relevance to shoppers.
52
53
For more insight on how to increase sales and t r aff ic t o y o u r shopping centre, and for a little inspiration, we invite you to visit Shoppertunity.com 55
VICTORIA OFFICE Mary-Lynn Bellamy-Willms CEO & Creative Director 590 Beaver Lake Road RR3 Victoria, BC, Canada V9E 2J7 T
250.744.1231 EXT 228
F
250.744.1232
marylynn@suburbiastudios.com
VANCOUVER OFFICE Virginia Boggie Partner, Director of Client Services 1633 3rd Avenue West Vancouver BC V6J 1K1 T
604.428.6414
virginia@suburbiastudios.com
BLOG Shoppertunity.com
Hello, We’re Suburbia Studios, a leading Canadian marketing and communications firm with a specialty in working with shopping centres. Simply, we “get shoppers.” Over the years, we’ve worked with many centres, helping them to brand, rebrand, expand, launch and promote their centres. We’ve helped them exceed sales and traffic goals, and we’ve helped them generate hundreds of ideas in our retail Creative Idea Camps! As you may have guessed, we love working with shopping centres. To share some of our passion, we’ve created this little book as a gift for you, and we hope you’ll find it engaging, interesting and inspiring! It’s a compilation of some of our most popular blog posts from Shoppertunity.com, and it’s filled with ideas when it comes to Strategy, Creative and Career. For even more ideas, we invite you to visit Shoppertunity.com. Also, we’d love to learn more about your needs, and will reach out in the future to see if we might help you “get shoppers!” Sincerely,
Mary-Lynn Bellamy-Willms CEO, Creative Director Suburbia Studios