Engaging with the retailers and getting them involved with a centre's marketing campaign is important to attract consumer interest.

Toolbox Marketing understands the importance of its retail partners. The company has developed a retailer relations programme at each of its centres in order to develop stronger partnerships and to motivate retailers.

Managing director Michelle Buxton says: "By engaging retailers and encouraging them to become an integral part of your promotional campaigns, you can maximise your marketing budget. Campaigns can be run on any budget, and provide both immediate and ongoing benefits for the retailers and shopping centres."

As a result of the retailer relations programme, Toolbox Marketing's centres can now expect to add an additional 10 per cent to their marketing budget through offers, discounts and retailer freebies.

Toolbox Marketing points out that promotions have to attract the right customers and in order to identify the shoppers that are motivated to spend money, the centre must create a comprehensive marketing plan that identifies the unique selling point.

ING's Haymarket shopping centre in Leicester needed to capitalise on its unique selling point of being the only scheme in the area offering value fashion clothing. Thanks to a great selection of reasonably-priced stores, such as TK Maxx, Primark, H&M and Bonmarché, the centre maximised on the current 'throwaway fashion' trend.

'The Look for Less' campaign prompted people to realise there is no need to spend a fortune on the latest fashions when they can get the same look for a fraction of the price.

Run every three months shoppers aged between 25 and 45 were encouraged with free fashion shows, fashion advice and styling sessions. In the first two days alone there was a 25 per cent increase in footfall and a significant increase in sales for all fashion retailers.

HomeLIVE offers a fresh spin on the concept of fashion shows and comes on the back of the ever-popular home makeover programmes on television.

The live event, which took place this summer at The Whitgift Centre in Croydon, consists of several action-packed back-to-back presentations, demonstrating the latest looks, best buys, expert tips and advice, and is designed to drive business straight back to the retailers as all items used are available and credited to the retailers in the centre. There are also competitions, audience participation, celebrities and giveaways to create the buzz that a live event demands.

And it gets even more creative than this. Marketing agency PMW Communications understands how to maximise each scheme's potential.

Some community-based strategies include 'Random Acts of Kindness', where £250 of the marketing budget is given to the centre manager to give away to shoppers randomly - a concept that never fails to go unnoticed by local press and TV.

Not being one to shy away, PMW has often approached marketing in an innovative and unique manner. Managing director Peter Sutton says: "The Bargate in Southampton had undergone an extensive realignment of its retail offer that appealed directly towards a youth market so we needed a strategy that would clearly communicate this new tenant mix."

It was from this point that PMW banned old people from Bargate. "The tongue-in-cheek campaign was a huge success and even made the front page of The Times," adds Sutton. "We had people coming from near and far to see if banning old people could possibly be true."

At the Plaza in Oxford Street, PMW has hosted two nights of naked shopping and held a 'ginger day' that gave 25 per cent off all ginger-headed shoppers. They also used the scheme to launch 'Bellyvision' whereby models had their tummies painted with branding and then wandered up and down Oxford Street catching people's attention. The response was amazing, even hitting the headlines in Israel and Japan.

Bellyvision has since been used in Birmingham to promote a new website at The Pallasades. Again there was great success with more than 10,000 hits after the promotion.

Primal PR is also known for its innovative marketing approach. When the Hatfield Galleria, the only seller of branded clothes at 60 per cent less than high street within easy reach of London, needed to draw attention to its cut-price goods and increase footfall and sales at the centre, as well as sign up names for data capture and direct sale purposes, Primal PR came up with the solution.

A spoof protest group made up of actors - the Bargain Liberation Front - drew up a manifesto demanding better deals from mainstream retailers. The campaign was also supported by a website, initially used for collecting name and address data.

The manifesto was timed to coincide with the political campaigning of the general election and a photocall was held outside the Houses of Parliament and 10 Downing Street. The campaign then moved to the Galleria's Hertfordshire catchment, where protestors handed out leaflets and encouraged Hatfield shoppers to sign their petition.

The BLF was initially positioned as an independent to the Galleria, but after two weeks the retailer ran a radio promotion on Chiltern FM 'backing' the group and listing the outlet's daily offers.

As a result of the campaign, footfall increased by five per cent, translating into a five per cent increase in sales. More than 1,000 shoppers joined the BLF, while many more visited the website and supported the protestors on the streets.

The Mall at Cribbs Causeway, together with Mobile Promotions, delivered a 7.5 per cent increase in footfall compared to the same weekend in 2005, with its inaugural four-day Motorshow in July. The major regional event featured over 20 industry brands and associated automotive brands, interactive zones and promotional stunts.

Commenting on the increase in footfall duing the four-day event, marketing manager Sue Boor says: "This was quite an achievement given the exceptionally hot weather and when set against the 5.5 per cent decrease in footfall across the south-west in the same week."

Destination branding

Small Back Room believes that branding a shopping centre as the place to be is not just about creating a logo or slogan but about destination branding.

The London-based agency says it is about capturing the distinct elements of the destination in a brand and communicating these elements through its story - particularly focusing on its identity, essence, values, personality and culture.

Tim Lewis, the company's head of marketing and new business, explains: "Our thinking begins at the very beginning. If anyone is going to go to a shopping centre we have to have a clear proposition for it, for example, best fashion in the country or best choice of shops. But also, you have to define what experience the customer will get there. People want to picture themselves in a destination."

The development of interactive and digital communication is key to this and while many shopping centres use their websites as a directional tool, giving opening times and listing the shops available, Small Back Room goes a step further, using a venue's website to build a relationship with the consumer by delivering messages and information about events and offers etc.

Regent Street Online, for example, has a full-time journalist who updates the site with reports and interviews with retailers in the shopping district. Two years ago it was a directory, now the site is used frequently by consumers who rely on it for providing up-to-date information, and as such, the customer is building a relationship with the brand. The functionality even allows readers to forward articles to friends, thus building more relationships with potential shoppers, who get sent back into the site again, so instead of being reactive, it is proactive.

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