community relations
Understanding the powerful effect that in-center participation and wordof-mouth recommendation can have on a relatively low-cost event such as “ Dress in Blue Day ,” Kildonan Place created a two-tier marketing goal . In addition to reaching out to its core customers , the mall aimed to engage retailers and staff to further its impact . To create a sense of unity , retailers were encouraged to highlight blue merchandise in their windows and storefronts , while staff was prompted to dress in blue on the day of the event . As an extra incentive , staff members who joined the cause could enter to win
tickets to see the local professional hockey team in action . Tying together the two tiers and similar to the customer-based promotion , the mall pledged to donate C $ 2 to the foundation for every employee sporting the color .
“ What was most surprising was the high level of tenant participation in this event . It was great to walk through the mall and see everyone dressed in blue . One store manager , dressed in blue , also had his hair dyed to match . If tenants are excited about an event , they ’ ll pass that message onto their customers ; it ’ s a win all around ,” Quintaine added .
The color blue was de rigueur for the campaign that supported the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation .
THE MARKETING TACTICS AND REACH
• Partnered with a strong charitable organization to increase visibility on social media and online platforms ( e . g ., CancerCare Manitoba Foundation )
• Marketing support and media vehicles : in-mall signage , website event postings ( including homepage banners and Wi-Fi landing page ), posts on Facebook and Instagram , organic posts on Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter , and an e-blast to more than 4,500 subscribers
• On-site promotion : All advertising efforts were directed at the center ’ s loyal customer base
• Social media reach : 61,815 ( Twitter : 44,625 • Facebook : 14,198 • Instagram : 2,992 )
• E-blast had an open rate of 25.4 percent , or 8.5 percent higher than the industry average . Nearly two-thirds of unique opens occurred in the first four hours of the campaign launch
THE PUBLIC RESPONSE
• Dressed in blue , 131 customers visited the mall specifically for the event , including 33 who had signed up for the mall ’ s e-newsletter through its contest ballot . That ’ s an engagement rate of 25 percent
• Some 109 staff members representing 41 different retailers ( including contract cleaning staff ) dressed up for the event
• Every member of the Primaris team at Kildonan Place during the event dressed in blue , including maintenance , management , and guest services staff
• Uniformed cleaning staff wore blue center-branded bandannas to work
• A total of 43 customers came to the mall on the day of the event to donate blue jeans and each of them received a C $ 5 gift card
THE IMPACT
• Traffic in the mall was steady throughout the day and the featured retailer , The Children ’ s Place , reported increased business
• With minimal spending , the center engaged 283 people in a physical way , not including those who were drawn to with the charity display and interacted with the organization ' s on-site volunteers
THE BOTTOM LINE
Here is a breakdown of the campaign-specific costs *:
Giveaways : C $ 659 Signage / Collateral : C $ 640 Donation to CancerCare Manitoba Foundation : C $ 510 Giveaway Gift Cards : C $ 215 ( repurposed from a previous promotion ) Advertising costs for Facebook and Instagram posts : C $ 70 Contest Prize : C $ 50 Total cost of the event : C $ 2,144 ( US $ 1,668 ), or less than one percent of Kildonan Place ’ s annual marketing budget
(*): The list does not include agency fees from Circus Strategic Communications or those paid to social media agency , engageQ digital .
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