For Brands wanting to engage with their customer in the run up to Christmas you need to consider the environments that your customers will be in. There is a growing trend in the UK for shopping centre shopping! Fairly obviously, the background to this has got to do with the weather, proximity of shops and parking! So shopping centres are a great place for you to be connecting with your customers in the run up to Christmas!
There are however, a number of considerations in running any shopping centre promotional activity – availability, promotional stands, promotional staff, shopping centre shopper profile and cost. Availability is one of the main problems, as these promotional areas within shopping centres are limited and there only tend to be a selection of three or four promotional stand areas per shopping centre with a finite number of shopping centres in the UK. The key to selecting the shopping centres that best suit your brand is to research shopper profiles and the retail outlets in each shopping centre, then ensure the footfall (number of shoppers using the mall) is adequate – or even easier, get your brand experience agency to do it for you!
Once you have a short list of shopping centres that you would like to attend, check on availability of the site space. This is easily done by your agency and the better agencies would normally do this for free as part of the proposal. Decisions on the duration of your promotion will depend on your budget, but remember erecting and dismantling a stand can be fairly costly so to make it economical, it would be better to increase the number of live days that your promotional staff are working the stand.
Cost of site space normally doubles in November and December, so be prepared to pay a premium when capitalising on Christmas shoppers. You will also need to ensure that you have an engaging stand which not only helps to communicate your brand message and image, but also adheres to shopping centre rules no matter where you go. To illustrate this point, if you were looking to visit a premium shopping centre in London, you would definitely want to attend Westfield Shopping Centre, who have restriction on the height of your stand so that shoppers still maintain a line of sight from one store to the next. London promotional staff are also very important to the image of your brand as well as the image of the shopping centre, so ensure your agency selects promotional staff that are a credit to your brand and the shopping centre.
Ensure your stand is inviting and engaging, that your products are ‘demonstrable’ and the key benefits of your product are communicated in a professional manner by providing comprehensive training to the promotional staff. Don’t forget to make all elements relevant to your objectives. To sum up, my recommendation is to “BOOK NOW” and plan for the winter months!
For more information please contact the office on 02036750640, we would be happy to give advice Free of charge!