Shopping Center Marketing | PlaceWise Media

PlaceWise Media Launches Engagement Tool for Malls to Connect Shoppers and Retailers

May 21, 2013 By PlaceWise Staff

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Consumer-centric Shoptopia Leverages Online Research with Mobile and Location Technologies to Drive Offline Purchases

Visit PlaceWise Media at RECon 2013, May 19-22 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in booth C10-Union Street in the Leasing Mall

DENVER and LAS VEGAS; May 21, 2013 – PlaceWise Media today announced the availability of Shoptopia®, a location-based shopping companion that leverages online and mobile technologies to deliver highly targeted shopper marketing and consumer engagement opportunities for shopping centers, retailers and brands.

Shoptopia delivers retail deals, product and content through an online portal and mobile shopping companion app. The service filters products, retailers and promotions based on shopper preference and location to deliver personalized content and facilitate online research, shopping trip planning and in-store purchases.

A Nielsen study of PlaceWise Media’s mall network shows that 63 percent use online and mobile devices to plan or enhance their shopping mall trips ahead of time. Forty percent of those shoppers visit the mall that same day, and 94 percent visit the mall within one week.

“Reaching shoppers while they research a purchase or plan a shopping trip is a ripe opportunity for shopper marketers,” said John Dee, PlaceWise Media president. “Mobile is influencing where to buy, what to buy and even how much people are spending. It’s essential that retailers have as many integrated options for their shoppers as possible.”

Specific to mobile shopping, Google issued the results of a study earlier this month citing that 62 percent of smartphone users use their device to shop at least once a month, 17 percent use their smartphone to shop once a week, and 84 percent use their smartphones to help with shopping while in the store.

To meet the needs of today’s tech-savvy shopper, Shoptopia uses consumer preferences and location filters to deliver relevant product and retailer information from a database of millions. Every mall retailer in America has a default presence on Shoptopia with basic information such as physical address, phone numbers and hours of operation, but retailers and shopping centers can claim their Shoptopia Storefront to manage the shopper’s experience with their brand.

“Search engines like Google and social mediums such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest have all been retrofitted to facilitate some kind of shopping and shopper marketing,” added Dee. “Shoptopia is built expressly for shopping; Shoptopia members are members for one reason and one reason only: shopping. There is no better way to be present on the virtual path to purchase.”

Shoptopia offers hyper-targeted marketing options through mobile (SMS, text, app placement), social, online and email placements.

Shoptopia is available as a free download in the iTunes app store. A free download for the Android platform will be available later this year. Shoptopia can also be found at www.shoptopia.com. For more information visit www.placewise.com. For thought leadership on the growing concept of waste-free advertising, visit www.wastefreeadvertising.com.

About PlaceWise Media

PlaceWise Media leverages the latest technologies to help retailers, shopping centers and brands effectively reach their target audience with relevant and timely product information, trends and promotions. Its mall-media network provides multi-platform digital marketing services to more than 300 shopping malls in 75 markets across North America, with more than 5 million total monthly visitors. PlaceWise Media also operates the location-based digital shopping companion, Shoptopia® (www.shoptopia.com), available to consumers nationwide. PlaceWise Media is based in Denver, Colorado. For more information, visit www.placewise.com.

PlaceWise Media Grows Digitally Integrated Marketing Platform to 200+ Shopping Centers

May 20, 2013 By PlaceWise Staff

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Connecting Local Shoppers with Mall Retailers and Fashion Content Drives Online Engagement and Revenue

Visit PlaceWise Media at RECon 2013, May 19-22 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in booth C10-Union Street in the Leasing Mall

DENVER and LAS VEGAS; May 20, 2013 – PlaceWise Media today announced that more than 200 of its 328 shopping center clients have joined its digitally integrated marketing platform. The advanced marketing platform combines consumer preferences and content to create shopper engagement and monetization opportunities.

Shopping centers that leverage PlaceWise Media’s digitally integrated platform can connect their shoppers with premium lifestyle and fashion content and create additional engagement via Facebook, Twitter and mobile applications. The platform also creates an additional revenue stream through ad revenue sharing across the national PlaceWise Media mall network. All this results in more online traffic, impressions and engagement, which in turn stimulates increased foot traffic and lease rates for shopping centers.

“The growth of the digitally integrated platform indicates that there is a shift in how shopping centers are thinking about digital assets,” said John Dee, president of PlaceWise Media. “We’re also seeing a shift in the brand expectation of what an advertiser should be. The message must fit contextually in this shopping center world. The message and environment should be consistent, and the PlaceWise network ensures that is always the case. By leveraging our digitally integrated platform, shopping centers can invest in proven content and technology, and immediately begin to more effectively connect with their customers and drive traffic to their stores.”

“The additional $45,000 in digital revenue generated by PlaceWise saved our budgets last year. We wouldn’t have met our revenue projections without it,” said Gerritt Smith, senior manager, Partnership Marketing at Glimcher.

The 200 malls on PlaceWise Media’s digitally integrated platform come from more than 45 shopping center operators including Developers Diversified, Forest City, Glimcher, Madison Marquette and Urban Retail Development, among others.

About PlaceWise Media
PlaceWise Media leverages the latest technologies to help retailers, shopping centers and brands effectively reach their target audience with relevant and timely product information, trends and promotions. Its mall-media network provides multi-platform digital marketing services to more than 300 shopping malls in 75 markets across North America, with more than 5 million total monthly visitors. PlaceWise Media also operates the location-based digital shopping companion, Shoptopia® (www.shoptopia.com), available to consumers nationwide. PlaceWise Media is based in Denver, Colorado. For more information, visit www.placewise.com.

Black Friday 2012 Success

December 3, 2012 By AllyThiac

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Do you know where the term “Black Friday” actually originated from? This universally used term was coined in the 1960s to mark the kickoff to the Christmas shopping season. “Black” refers to when a store would move from the “red” to the “black,” back when accounting records were kept by hand. Red ink indicated a loss, and black a profit. Ever since the start of the modern Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the Friday after Thanksgiving has been known as the unofficial start to a bustling holiday shopping season.

Each year when Black Friday comes around we work with our network of retailers to try and come up with new and innovative ways to entice shoppers to frequent their stores over competitors. This gives the store a great opportunity to capture an audience that is already engaged by directing them towards their stores product offerings in a truly unique way. This years our stores did this by; extending the length of their sales, increasing the amount of discounts, BOGO (buy-one-get-one-free) and highlighting peak periods when certain items were marked down dramatically. One of the most known change is stores extended their stores hours to motivate shoppers by opening at non-traditional times.

The sales content and support we had was outstanding. We will continue to grow our outreach and sale content that will reach millions of shoppers.

We are already working on more efficient ways to make next year bigger and better!

Black Friday 2012 Success :

We were able to get over 200+ sales posted across our network.

We saw over 1.2 million visits across our participating socially enabled websites in just 5 days! This was a 78% increase in the numbers we saw from the year prior.

68% increase in Unique Visits from year prior.

54% of the traffic came from mobile usage where shoppers were checking out sales as they came in while waiting in line.

Back to School 2012

July 17, 2012 By JohnDee

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PlaceWise just launched its first seasonal branded promotion on the Shoptopia Network. Back to School 2012 features shopper contests, unique back to school content to help shoppers understand what this year’s must have items are, as well as a charity relationship with DonorsChoose.org. Contests include “New Year, New You Makeover”, “Back to School Haul at the Mall” and an on-premise QR Scan Jam that rewards shoppers who visit the mall and scan with an entry into a sweepstakes. Check out some of the recent applicants from a few of our malls: Antelope Valley Mall, SuperMall and Oakland Mall.

We’re most proud of our relationship with DonorsChoose.org – an online non profit that allows local school teachers to post classroom needs that donors can fulfill online. We’ve set this up so that local school needs appear in each shopping center so that donors can help out local schools. We love this! With close to 60 shopping centers participating in Back to School 2012, we are excited to engage many shoppers and put lots of charitable donations into local classrooms around the country.

Look forward to future seasonal programs this fall for Fall Into Fashion and Holiday 2012.

Project Style Is Off To A Great Start!

July 16, 2012 By VickiRousseau

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The ultimate online fashion competition, Project Style is back! This year, 15 centers are searching for their ultimate trendsetting shoppers! “Project Runway” designer, Nick Verreos and “Fashion Star” correspondent, Jeannie Mai have teamed up to search the country for the next chic stylist! Round 1 launched in May and we are seeing stellar results.

We have had almost 500 applicants vying for the chance to compete at their centers. Over 10,000 new sign-ups have been created since Project Style launched mid-April. Round 1 and 2 racked up almost 20,000 votes and almost 34,000 page views during the 2 weeks of voting!

Winners of each of the 4 rounds of competition will compete in a Live Style Off held at the center in September for a shot to win a $1,000 shopping spree and the chance to move on to the national competition. The National Style Off will bring each center’s local winner into an online competition where they will compete for the top Project Style bragging rights. Nick and Jeannie will help select the national winner.

The National Style Off winner receives a trip for 2 to New York City during the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week and will attend a fashion show with Nick Verreos! They will also go on a shopping tour of Soho with Nick where he will design a personal wardrobe sketch for them! Our final winner will be announced in October! Good luck to all our chic stylists!

Author Profile: Vicki Rousseau is PlaceWise’s Director of Promotions vicki.rousseau@placewise.com | 702.421.3973

Keep Your Shoppers Engaged With Store Claims

June 28, 2012 By Matonis Melissa

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Being a part of PlaceWise’s Shoptopia Network continues to benefit both shoppers and store managers through the use of Store Claims. The Shoptopia Network is more than the power of advertising; it’s the power of engagement. Being part of our network allows store managers at our participating shopping centers to harness the power of engagement by connecting with their shoppers. To date, over 700 retailers across our network have claimed their store. What Are Store Claims? Claiming a store enables a store manager to communicate with their local shoppers on the mall’s website. Claiming a store helps to promote the latest happenings at a store via the Store News feature. Store followers can opt-in to receive real-time notifications, which will include the most recent Store News updates from that store, helping retailers socially engage with their local target clientele. I’m in Your Network, How Can One of My Store Managers Claim Their Store? A manager of a store in our network can locate their store’s individual mall webpage by accessing the “Store Directory” on their mall website, and clicking on the button that says, “Click here to claim your store.” PlaceWise will confirm this claim within 48 hours, and after the store is successfully claimed, the store manager then has the capability and control to update Store News on their individual store’s webpage. Do you have any upcoming events? Is your store hiring? What’s the latest buzz that your customers should know about? Let your shoppers know through Store Claims. Keep them in the know with the things they want to hear about. The path to purchase starts online and ends at the shopping mall. Utilizing Store Claims provides store managers the means to edit their individual local store page, create socially enhanced notifications, and gives your shoppers a personalized kick-start to their local shopping experience. See how these mall managers have used Store Claims to engage with their customers on their store pages under “Local Store News”: MAC- Promenade Temecula, Folks for Folks- South Bay Galleria, and Gap- The Mall at Robinson. Claim it! Promote it! Engage with it!

How to Reach Shopping Center Customers Through Sponsorships

March 29, 2012 By Marisa Martin

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Advertisers are constantly looking for new and improved ways to reach and engage their target consumers. Placewise Media is very excited to be presenting advertisers with a new and effective way to reach shoppers through the Shoptopia Network.

The Shoptopia Network is the first integrated digital media network built around shopping centers, focusing on the shoppers who frequent them. Advertisers are getting very excited to utilize the online, social, and mobile elements of the network to talk to shopping center customers. Kay Jewelers, Sony Music, MTV, and WE tv have already participated in pilot programs to reach our unique audience of avid shoppers across the national footprint.

Each advertiser program is fully integrated and allows brands and retailers to interact with shoppers through every media venue that is part of the shopping experience. Advertisers can speak to shoppers across all of the Shoptopia touch points:

Online- The online touch point includes opportunities for online advertising (including static, rich media, and premium options) within the email program (with both content based and deal driven options) and branded content integration.

Mobile-The mobile touch point includes opportunities to reach shoppers through the mobile web, mobile applications, and our SMS platform. We also have location based services and geo-fencing capabilities.

Social- Through the social media touch point, shoppers can have direct conversations with brands through sponsored Facebook and Twitter posts, sponsored Facebook applications via YouTube and through social sharing and community participation programs.

On-Premise-While every program may not have an on-premise element, this touch point provides opportunities to explore pop-up retail, experiential venues and event sponsorships.

The PlaceWise sales team is having great conversations with national advertisers, and are very energized by the enthusiasm that they are receiving from the advertising community.

In addition to all of the national advertiser activity, we are in the process of rolling out Shoptopia local marketing programs, which will allow local advertisers to take advantage of all of the Shoptopia touch points. This program is tailored to on-premise marketing managers and specialty leasing teams, and will assist them in generating opportunities for local revenue while creating additional value in existing programs. If you choose to participate in the local marketing program, you will have the support of PlaceWise behind you as you sell programs to local advertisers and specialty/permanent shopping center tenants.

Author Profile: Marisa Martin is PlaceWise’s Director of Market Development marisa@placewise.com | 720.881. 6944

Successful Email Marketing: An Expert Q&A

January 10, 2012 By Todd Kreykes

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Todd Kreykes, an Account Executive at PlaceWise Media, is an expert in email engagement, and sent over 200 emails on behalf of clients in the month of December alone. We asked him for some helpful pointers on what he believed attributed to the success of an email marketing campaign and why.

Q: What Has Better Engagement From Email Subscribers: Links or Images?
A: A combination of both is best. If you can have an image that grabs the user’s attention, you can link it, but there should also be meaningful text that explains the message of the email. Links within the text make it very effective in that the user has multiple places to access the linked material.

Q: What do You Consider to be Successful Email Engagement And Why? Examples?
A: A specific example is an email that is exclusive to those on the list. It clicks through to an offer that is only accessible by inputting the user’s email address. This address must be part of existing email list to be valid. Once validated, the user has access to print a special promotion with a unique barcode. They can bring that to the mall to redeem.

Q: What’s Your Best Advice For How to Choose Your Subject Line, And How Important is it to The Success of The Campaign? Any Successful Past Headlines That Stick Out to You?
A: Avoid words like “FREE” or “WIN” words in all CAPS, and multiple explanation marks. These are all red flags for email servers that can result in your email being sent to Spam or Junk Mail.

The subject line should be an enticing snapshot of the content of the email that makes the user want to read more. Think short and sweet and to the point. Consider your subject line to be your one opportunity to prove to your reader you have something of value to say, so make it count!

Q: In an Effort to Get Higher Open Rates, What Day of The Week and Time of Day is the Best For Email Delivery?
A: Generally speaking, emails should be available to the user in the morning, on business days. The percentage of people that will read an email from their favorite Mall or Retailer on a business day in the office, is higher than those that will read it on a weekend with their mobile device. This targets users that likely have access to their email, and are checking in routinely throughout the day. The exception to this is in promotion of a specific event that is to occur on a weekend. The best target for this type of situation is to have it sent out in the morning on either a Thursday or Friday. This ensures the user will get the email with ample time to process the information prior to the event. You never want your audience to feel caught off guard, although inserting a sense of urgency is also seen as successful.

Q: What Will Make an Email Stick Out From the Inbox Competition?
A: The content should relate to the user. Hopefully the user has taken the time to put some thought into what lists they subscribe to and what they are interested and willing to receive. If the content of an email reaches the user on a personal level, such as a great sale at their favorite store, an event with a local celebrity etc., they will likely not only read the content, but get excited and attend the event or sale. Knowing your audiences and catering your content towards them will help you differentiate yourself from all the other blasts they receive. Understanding a specific segment’s demographics and preferences can also help you target material accordingly.

Author Profile: Todd Kreykes is a PlaceWise Account Executive todd.kreykes@placewise.com | 720.266.4290

Project Style Honored with an ICSC MAXI Gold Award for Marketing Excellence

April 26, 2011 By VickiRousseau

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The ultimate fashion competition, Project Style was recently honored with an ICSC MAXI Gold Award for marketing excellence in digital media from the International Council of Shopping Centers. Project Style is a five-round contest in which two (2) fashion trendsetters are selected each month at participating shopping centers to put their sense of style and fashion to the test by creating the ultimate outfit.

Selected trendsetters are given a $150 gift card and the challenge to create the most stylish outfit that represents their personal sense of style and creativity. All purchases must come from their respective shopping center’s retailers, and trendsetters may tie-in one item from their personal closet. A 60-second video and pictures of their creation will be posted on the social shopping site, Shoptopia. Shoptopia members are eligible to vote for their favorite trendsetter during the live voting segment of the online competition.

The winner with the most votes from each round will move on to the Project Style Live Style Off event at the shopping center in September. One winner from each center will be named the Top Trendsetter and receive a $1000 Grand Prize!

This year’s edition of Project Style is also refreshed with a new and improved experience for participants, including a brand new mobile platform giving shoppers the added flexibility of being able to vote from their smart phones. In addition, a new Facebook page promotes the program to thousands of followers on the centers’ Facebook pages.

Author Profile: Vicki Rousseau is Mallfinder’s Director of Promotions vicki.rousseau@mallfinder.com | 702.421.3973