Marketing Trendz Volume 23 Spring 2018 Abridged Edition | Page 6

community relations ON DOUBLE DUTY Kildonan Place spends a minimal amount and still has an impact on two community causes With its Shop Happy tagline, Kildonan Place (Winnipeg, Canada) brings a smile to all visitors, even those leaving without a bag in hand. Currently in the process of hosting a series of monthly Happy Day events, the shopping center is working to increase the number of visits and reward loyal customers. Described as a quirky holiday, each Happy Day event is designed to encourage one more visit per month from core customers and consists of both a charitable and a retailer promotion component. This past March, Kildonan Place organized “Dress in Blue Day” and collected gently used blue jeans on behalf of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Winnipeg’s Big Smiles Collection Crew. This time around, with the team in even more of a generous mood, the event included a second charitable partnership. In addition to the blue crew, the mall partnered with the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation to connect past to present. Since “Dress in Blue Day” was founded to raise awareness of the fight against colorectal cancer, the mall offered a spot in Center Court for members of the foundation to share information about cancer screenings, treatments, and ways to support CancerCare Manitoba. ...both a charitable and retailer promotion... “Every person who came to guest services dressed in blue was given a contest ballot to win a mall gift card and, for every person in blue, the mall pledged to donate C$2 (US$1.55) to CancerCare Manitoba Foundation, specifically [for] colorectal cancer programs,” noted marketing manager, Corey Quintaine. As an added bonus, every person who donated a pair of blue jeans received a C$5 (US$3.89) gift card to The Children’s Place store. PAGE : 12