HTC Takes TV Ad Gamble

Technology Lab, Technology News

British actor Gary Oldman wants you to stop paying attention to slick ad copy and celebrity endorsements, and start listening to the Internet to form your own opinions about tech products.

Technology company HTC has imposed a gagging order of sorts on its star spokesperson, Gary Oldman. Most of what the famous British actor says in a TV commercial series that promotes the new HTC One (M8) smartphone is literally, “Blah, blah, bl[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...

Mall Fashion Curation

Advertising Creative Design, Design Studio

Bayview Village blended original artworks into its spring/summer campaign creative to bridge the gap between mass retailing and couture-style fashion design.

The barrier between the art of fashion and mass retailing has always been a tough one for marketers to overcome, but they’re making progress. Some focus on transforming stores and shopping centers into gallery-style showrooms, while others, li[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...

MEC & Grévin: The Name-Dropping Campaign

Advertising Creative Design, Design Studio

Recording artist Céline Dion, hockey star Sydney Crosby among famous people captured in life-sized wax sculptures unveiled in $13 million Grévin satellite museum in Montreal.

Political figures, Hollywood stars and other famous people are now permanent fixtures at Canada’s Montreal Eaton Centre (MEC). From former Quebec Premier René Lévesque to astronaut Julie Payette—they’ve all got a pied-a-terre of sorts at[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...

Westfield Labs Incubating New Retail Concepts

Apps, Technology Lab

Digital storefronts for Sony, Rebecca Minkoff and TOMS pop up on Westfield San Francisco walls, while Dine on Time food-ordering app debuts on iTunes.

OFF THE WALL… If you’re looking to increase tenant revenue in a fully occupied shopping center, start leasing the walls. We aren’t talking about funky advertising placements, but operating stores. A year ago that would have seemed like [...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...

The Circus Comes to Town

Catwalk Shows, Style Lounge

Sandton City and Audi had made an impression a while back with their “big top” show during SA Fashion Week. The South African mall brought back the theme for the holidays, this time with Zip Zap Circus, to help get kids off the streets.

Catwalk shows worthy of Fashion Week status don’t come cheap. But when Audi is there to back them up, you’ve got a few more options. Sandton City in South Africa began experimenting with the idea of generating alternative revenue by mashing [...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...

A Special Hatch

Sales Promotions, Sales Promotions & More

Stockland Merrylands features professional, amateur and student artists this Easter in eclectic Eggshibition.

Easter celebrations took on big proportions at Stockland Merrylands in Australia. They came in the form of an Eggshibition of nine giant eggs that commissioned Sydney artist Mike Trebert took four weeks to create. The artworks were meant to r[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...

Clarke Quay Promotes Friends with Benefits

Sales Promotions, Sales Promotions & More

Singapore shopping center plays numbers game to boost traffic, increase loyalty club membership.

Here’s one way to build traffic: reward customers for shopping in packs. It’s the concept that Singapore’s Clarke Quay Central used for its “Friends with Benefits” March sales promotion. The larger the groups were, the deeper the eligi[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...

Schoolyard Fashion Rules

Catwalk Shows, Style Lounge

Don’t be fooled: Kids have a strong fashion sense and they’re confident enough to express it. Even Fashion Guy John Chwyl learned a thing or two.

John Chwyl is Kingsway Mall’s go-to Fashion Guy, but even he turned to little stylists for back-to-school shopping advice. The Canadian mall calls them its Style Talking Kids, a group of youngsters who aren’t shy about expressing their opini[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...

Entertainment on the Side

Sales Promotions, Sales Promotions & More

Belmont Forum hosts celebrity chefs to launch Forum Fresh food precinct, runs Camp Cuisine program for school children to discover a variety of foods and learn the benefits of eating fresh produce in season.

It’s no secret that shopping centers face an uphill battle in the foodie wars. The practicality of the one-stop shop is no longer enough to consistently produce queues in food courts, especially with the rising popularity of food trucks and ni[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...

Millennials: The Challenge of Understanding a New Generation of Consumers

Technology Lab, Technology News

The attitudes and habits of the generation that has grown up accustomed to technology and the digital world demand new communication strategies from corporations.

The attitudes and habits of the generation that has grown up accustomed to technology and the digital world demand new communication strategies from corporations. They are the hyper-connected, avid consumers of digital content, as well as its[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...