Experts see an increased interest in traditionally Russian holidays such as Orthodox Christmas and Easter.
“The marketing of a mall depends on particular aims set for the marketing specialists. For example, if a mall is 100% occupied and all the spaces are leased, it would not make much sense to spend the marketing budget on B2B, yet it is always necessary to bring more people in, to increase the loyalty level of the current customers or to attract the new ones.
Arena Plaza Shopping Centre is moving towards the shopping of impressions where the work of the management and the marketing is aimed at the comfort and the participation of the customers. We pay a lot of attention to this area by organizing weekly charity events, theme celebrations, autograph sessions with famous athletes and actors, offline and online prize draws.
We are actively working on B2B promotion. So, we have tried various channels, but the most effective source of hot leads is Instagram advertising. A systematic approach works very well: ads on themed platforms together with content ads. Besides, we take part in awards, seminars and conferences.
Speaking of B2C promotion, advertising can only do one job, that is to increase the recognition ratio, which we did successfully last year. The recognition of Arena Plaza Mall for the residents of the neighboring neighbourhoods reached 97% as per the results of a survey in November 2021 and is still at a 94% high this year, based on the results of a recent survey. We use a mix of B2C channels, such as advertising in the metro, bus stops, navigation signs, online content advertising, social media accounts in VK and Telegram, besides, we found it quite interesting to advertise on Yandex. Navigator.”
While working with the retailers, the team of Arena Plaza Shopping Centre pays a lot of attention to the partnership. Together with the active large scale marketing campaign on promoting the brand of Arena Plaza, we are also focusing on active promotion of our retailers. We offer good conditions for small and middle size businesses which include a lease vacation and a beautiful welcome backage of advertising. This work has started paying off. Thanks to the support, our mall managed to save 80% of our tenants during the lockdown and the following restrictions.
Our tenants have access to one of the biggest media screens in Moscow, which is added to the cupola of VTB Arena and located right at the entrance to the mall. This screen is seen by about 320, 000 cars and about 50, 000 pedestrians passing by the mall a day. If that is not enough, our team is always ready to support your brand by multiple screens of the complex and marketing activities.
Every three months, our tenants receive a news digest on planned actions and events they can participate, together with the statistics on the visits, the plan of marketing events and a lot of other information."
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The malls also help their tenants make and submit announcements, share their useful links to public groups and the media for the retailers to localize their marketing.
While doing a large-scale update of the tenants’ pool, a marketing specialist faces two main tasks:
1) introduce the shoppers to the new brands and talk about their cutting edge,
2) provide the new tenants with comfortable conditions at the settling stage and the beginning of their operations in the shopping centre.
The malls also help their retailers to organize the launch of a shop, offer them welcome packages of advertising bonusses and the retailers support promotions and events accordingly.
Brosko Mall organizes business breakfasts for the tenants once every three months. This is when they discuss the marketing plan in detail, introduce necessary updates and corrections, etc. The mall also holds a job fair to help their tenants find staff. “We provide a full spectrum of services to the business. If the business does not do well, neither do we,” explains Rudenko.
He also stresses the fact that many tenants have started introducing cross marketing. For instance, a restaurant works with a movie house to create a set of dishes for a new film. And a food hypermarket gives away coupons for the children’s playground, organizes prize draws, etc.
Cooperation between a shopping mall and tenants does prove to be beneficial, but probably not so fast. One must keep in mind that when the going gets tough any barter activity between a tenant and a shopping centre brings the costs of the event down and increases the net operating income of the owner.
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МНЕНИЕ ЭКСПЕРТА
Head of Marketing and Development with VTB Arena, Ekaterina Sinyatynskaya:
76 I SHOPPING CENTERS RUSSIA I ноябрь 2022