The centre has a five-strong commercialisation team, headed by commercial and events manager Jackie Tracey, and between them they book the majority of product launches, road shows, mall promotions, product sampling and large scale events and exhibitions that go on in the malls and the unique area of Middleton Hall. A small percentage of events are also initiated by Space and People, and this enables the centre to bring in brands that only work directly with commercialisation specialists.

"We have a very large exhibition space with passing footfall of 500,000 every week," says Tracey. "Events come to us because before they establish financial viability they have a head start, because they know there's passing traffic before they even advertise. It's also about matching the audience. Two thirds of our audience is ABC1, so it's a very affluent area and is more family oriented than the average mall.

"We also want to ensure that the events fulfil our marketing strategy and enable us to penetrate into a broader catchment, attract people to the centre more frequently and encourage them to stay longer when they visit."

Involving celebrities in events at the centre or holding competitions to win attractive top prizes, often donated by brands through a contra-deal, certainly helps to attract the crowds. An example would be a luxury cruise worth around £5,000 from Thomas Cook that's being given away as part of the centre's Dream Wedding event.

And the various events are very popular with brands. Throughout the year Middleton Hall has a remarkable 80 per cent occupancy. During the week the hall is used to fulfil the centre's corporate social responsibility by putting on events such as tea dances, a volunteers' fair and charity occasions such as MacMillan's biggest coffee morning, but at the weekend it's used to host motor shows, fashion shows, job fairs, collectors' fairs and home and garden shows.

"We average 35 events each year," says Tracey, "plus school holiday activities and the Christmas show."

Mall promotions are also very successful and with a full occupancy of 45 sites there's plenty of scope. During December 2007 the centre had every site filled with either a temporary promotion or an RMU.

Brands also often use thecentre:mk as a test ground for their promotional activities. Robert Taynton, the centre's commercialisation coordinator, says: "Barclays Bank wanted to test a new promotion in a shopping centre. The bank wanted to engage with shoppers and give them an opportunity to arrange a date to visit a branch.

"They wanted to trial the idea and chose thecentre:mk. Due to its success - which was well above expectations - they will be test modelling it throughout the UK before launching the concept worldwide."

The in-house team at thecentre:mk is also well positioned to change the location of mall promotions depending on what they're promoting. For example, L'Oreal Paris was promoting its products outside Boots, but the display was subsequently moved to outside Superdrug.

Jo Spencer, consultant for L'Oreal Paris, says: "Working so closely with thecentre:mk proved enormously beneficial. Not only did L'Oreal Paris surpass its target for the promotion, it also significantly increased sales for one of its key stockists.

"Due to the excellent collaboration we're planning on using thecentre:mk again and are discussing having a series of hanging banners throughout the mall as additional support on that occasion."

Events coordinator at thecentre:mk, Beverley Lumsdon, adds: "It doesn't always follow that if a well-known brand is coming in they'll notify the stores. So we make sure relevant stores are aware, so that they can capitalise on the opportunity."

It's also about creating synergy for the customer. Tom Oakley, promotions co-ordinator, says: "The Sony PS3 promotion was here in November for several weeks, and retailers were able to link in with the promotion. As a result, the people on the stand were wearing the same uniform as those in the store."

"We're also very approachable compared to other shopping centres," says Taynton. "We're very proactive. We go out and ask customers what promotions and activities they would like to see in the centre and we attended the Venue Show at the NEC last year.

"We want to make it as easy as we possibly can. The result of that is a lot of our business is repeat business."

The team also has its finger on the pulse when it comes to trends and seasonal products for the centre's RMUs. As a result they have managed to double the centre's income from such units.

Flexibility is also a major factor for the RMU operators. "We move them around all the time so that people don't get tired of seeing them in the same place," comments Tracey. "For example, an RMU trader selling wooden children's toys was on the same site for many years. We suggested that they change their location to the other side of the mall, close to Giraffe, which is a very popular family-oriented restaurant. Their sales increased dramatically."

Looking ahead to the future, centre director Robert Goodman wants to raise the standard of the RMUs at thecentre:mk, because some of the units are looking rather old and tired. He also wants to introduce plasma screens to the mall.

"I see a great opportunity to introduce cutting edge technology in the centre, by using advertising screens," he says. "Currently the income we earn from advertising is low and we're developing our strategies for that."

Make your own music video with Dance Heads

thecentre:mk is giving its customers the opportunity to experience life as a rock star by becoming home to first UK installation of Dance Heads - an interactive machine capable of transposing people's heads onto professional dancers' bodies as they dance to original recordings from classic artists such as The Beach Boys, The Jackson 5 and Elvis.

Dance Heads started life in 2004 as an interactive entertainment system, letting party-goers lip-synch songs while superimposing their heads on dancers' bodies. The new Dance Heads recording booth from Photo-Me International combines the original concept with the privacy and ease-of-use of a traditional, arcade photo booth.

A further 10 machines are planned at shopping centres around the country from May.

Steve Merrikin, national commercial manager of Photo-Me, says: "The idea behind Dance Heads is to give members of the public the thrill of becoming a pop star in their own music video. Milton Keynes is a fantastic city in which to launch our product to the UK; it's seen as a city of firsts and the population are used to adopting new ideas."

The machine is already proving popular: within two days of its being installed visitors from Finland witnessed the operation and contacted Photo-Me with the intention of importing it.

"Here at thecentre:mk we're proud of our ability to promote innovation," says Robert Goodman, centre director. "We have the largest permanent exhibition space of any shopping centre in the UK set aside for a whole range of events running 52 weeks a year, and we've recently launched our own personal shopping service. The combination of this element with the broad range of brands we stock means that thecentre:mk is more than a place to shop, it's a destination."

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