Recent research conducted by AMP Capital Shopping Centres (AMPCSC) found that three quarters of Kiwis prefer shopping in-store to online. Desiree Clark, senior marketing manager for AMPCSC saw the results as a chance for retailers to focus on the in-store experience and aim to provide exceptional service. Idealog online posted an article about the research and its implications for the retail sector in its March-April 2012 newsletter. The full article can be found here.

Campaign Overview

In May 2011, in honour of Mother’s Day, East Auckland’s Botany Town Centre gave mothers in the community the permission to think about themselves. By way of tribute to deserving mums, the centre turned each of the 31 days of May into Mother’s Day, and hosted a high tea for some amazing women.

Throughout the month, the centre accepted nominations for its search for Auckland’s best mums. The 10 finalists were invited to enjoy a high tea with a special guest, Nestle New Zealand’s Hottest Home Baker winner Paula Midgley. All guests were treated to a decadent Robert Harris afternoon tea, Morton Estate Mimi Methode Traditionnelle and a goodie bag filled with gifts from Nestle, Lush and Simply You Living.

The winner of the overall prize for best mum, mother of five Melany Adams, was presented with a pamper pack containing a $500 Botany Town centre gift card, an Image Oasis treatment voucher valued at $300, and a Hoyts La Premiere gift card valued at $200.

As part of the month-long the Mother’s Day celebrations, lucky mums spotted shopping at Botany Town Centre found themselves on the receiving end of random acts of kindness. More than $5,000 in gift cards was given away to reward mums and encourage them to take time out of their busy schedule and treat themselves.

Results

The Permission to Think About You campaign achieved excellent results in the media, community buzz and the strengthening of new and existing relationships.

The campaign provided good media opportunities across a number of channels, including local community, online and industry media, and social media avenues such as YouTube and Facebook.

Media releases were generated in accordance with the centre’s activities during the campaign, and achieved over $50,000 worth of public relations value for Botany Town Centre.

Prominent local newspapers Howick and Botany Times, Howick and Pakuranga Times and Eastern Courier published stories regarding the search to find the community’s best mums. The Eastern Courier article included the YouTube link to the Botany Town Centre video produced for the campaign.

There was strong online media pick-up from news sites Infonews.co.nz, Scoop.co.nz and Stuff.co.nz, and engagement on Facebook, YouTube and online event diaries. Industry publications Shopping Centre Weekly and NZ Retail also published stories about the Permission To Think About You campaign featuring overall best mum Melany Adams.

Botany Town Centre recently featured in a front page article in the New Zealand Herald, Business Herald section, which talks about the relationship between promotional sales and consumer spending.

According to research conducted by BRW and AMP Capital Shopping Centres (owner of Botany Town Centre) in Australia, retailers across the Tasman are facing an uncertain future as shoppers increasingly become immune to promotional sales and discounts offered by retailers. However, unlike their Australian counterparts, there is no sign of New Zealand shoppers getting ‘sales fatigue’. Barry Hellberg, the New Zealand Retailers Association spokesperson, says that despite the challenging retail environment in New Zealand, discounts and promotions are still an effective revenue-driving tool for retail companies.

Botany Town Centre Senior Marketing Manager Desiree Clark agrees that New Zealand retail is slightly more optimistic. “New Zealand hasn’t suffered from the massive discounting and sales culture of the United States and Australia.

“Unlike the Aussies, we have the Rugby World Cup 2011 to look forward to which will give our retail environment a much needed boost.”

Click here to read the full article.

Botany Town Centre featured on the front page of the Howick and Pakuranga Times this week regarding its $6.5million revamp project.

The renovations, which started on May 23^rd are targeted towards developing the Fountain Lane North precinct of the shopping centre. Approximately 280 square metres of retail space will be added, allowing the centre to further expand its diverse offer over time. The revamp has been developed to respond to the needs of the community and structured to ensure there’s minimal disruption to the centre while it’s being completed.

The project has attracted leading fashion retailers, including Witchery and County Road and is scheduled to be finished on October 20 2011.

Click here to read the full article

UK e-newsletter “Trendwatching” have featured Botany Town Centre in their March 2011 edition.

The e-newsletter dedicated their March copy to the rising phenomenon of “Random Acts of Kindness” – selfless acts performed by an individual or company wishing to either assist or cheer up another individual.

Botany Town Centre’s “Snapped” campaign – where shoppers could win what they were photographed holding – was acknowledged in the e-newsletter as a successful and effective example of a Random Act of Kindness.

Click here to read the full article.

Head Judge Gray Bartlett assisted Desiree Clark, Linh Luong and Jeff Harns from 4DG to discover the talent in the Botany Town Centre & LynnMall Shopping Centre 2010 Best Buskers Competition. Make-A-Wish buckets were handed around on both days in support of this worthy cause. 

While Michael Murray won the spot on Grays new CD out early 2011, every busker was a winner as you can see in the segment interviewed by Tom McRae of ONE NEWS. The shoppers were extremely generous to the buskers who made the effort.

Check out this link to see the report on TVNZ’s 6PM One news and also the visuals that appeared on the news

If you like that, you will also like the full buskers competition official video which was filmed by Borderless Productions and can be found on YouTube and also on Facebook and Twitter.

The Botany Town Centre & LynnMall Shopping Centre 2010 Best Buskers Competition was well covered by the relevant local comunity newspapers, online media and also TV.

Fifty nine talented buskers from across Auckland and even as far as Hamilton descended on LynnMall Shopping Centre and Botany Town Centre over the weekend for a chance to win a special busking licence to perform during the Christmas shopping period. Renowned talent scout and music producer Gray Bartlett was the lead judge of the competition and awarded busking licences to 42 outstanding performers.

One lucky busker in particular stood out from the rest. When Michael Murray heard about the busking competition at his local mall, he knew he had to be there for his chance to be discovered. The talented individual was second off the block at the audition and captured the audience as he stepped off stage to serenade the seated guests. His pitch-perfect vocals and guitar work also impressed lead judge Gray Bartlett, who has offered Michael the chance to record a track on his new CD, to be released next year.

“From the moment Michael stepped onto the stage, I knew he was going to deliver an excellent performance,” says Mr Bartlett. “His personality shone through and vocals were strong – he was the whole package.”

Gray Bartlett’s CD will be a collaboration of some of New Zealand’s top artists, with proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

A special mention was also given to the talented duo Mike & Shay, who wowed Mr Bartlett with their seamless acoustic guitar performance. Their tenacity on stage and raw talent impressed Gray so much that he has kindly offered one of his own valuable guitars to one of the duo, whose talent is sure to soar with the use of a quality instrument.

“It is great to see the top prize go to someone from West Auckland,” says LynnMall Marketing Manager Linh Luong. “Not only did the spotlight shine on Michael and Mike & Shay, but it did on all of the other participants at the Lynnmall audition. We were so impressed with the West Auckland talent, that we awarded all our participants a busking license.”

Botany Town Centre Marketing Manager Desiree Clark says the competition showcased some amazing talent from the local community and beyond. “The number of registrations received and the calibre of talent was overwhelming. We look forward to sharing the amazing busking talent with our shoppers during the festive season.”

Michael Murray and Mike & Shay will join 20 other performers selected to busk at LynnMall over the Christmas shopping period, from 16 to 24 December. Twenty buskers have also been selected to perform at Botany Town Centre from 15 to 24 December. 

Click here to view the LynnMall Shopping Centre and Botany Town Centre Best Buskers video highights posted on Youtube.com.

Botany Town Centre enlisted the help of Alexander Communications to assist with a secret campaign designed to surprise unsuspecting shoppers and get them talking.

Botany Town Centre hosted South Seas Film and Television school student Stijn Van de Velde and a group of dancers who created a flash-mob scene on 27 October 2010, wowing shoppers and drawing crowds of onlookers.

On Sunday afternoon, over 120 strategically-placed students shopped and sipped coffee in the town square before springing into action and getting their jive on to ‘Greased Lightning’ from the film Grease.

Video cameras were set up in advance to capture the event and the reactions of shoppers. A few key media received a tip-off the day before. 

The Flash Mob campaign highlighted Botany Town Centre’s support of the local community’s creative projects. As a first-to-market New Zealand retail initiative, it reaffirmed Botany Town Centre’s position as an innovative retail centre.

Results

The news of the Botany Town Centre Flash Mob spread quickly. It was well-received by local media and made headlines nationwide. The story featured in the Howick & Botany Times and the New Zealand Herald, and was nominated as picture of the week by the Weekend Herald.

 The Flash Mob news spread as far as the Bay of Plenty Times, Hawkes Bay Today, Wanganui Chronicle, Wairarapa Times Age, Daily Post, Northern Advocate and Oamaru Mail.

TVNZ’s Breakfast show mentioned the event and South Sea Film school’s initiative and organization of the ‘Greased Lightning’ dance. 

A video of the Flash Mob in action was uploaded to Youtube.com, receiving over 3,900 views and numerous positive messages. Following the Youtube.com posting, the footage appeared on several other blogs, including retail-blogbiz, fastnews.in and viralvideochart.unruly.media.com.

New Idea magazine ran a double-page spread, ‘I’m a flash mob fanatic’, featuring an interview with Stijn Van de Velde in which he discussed his inspiration and vision of creating a flash mob. 

Heart disease is the single biggest cause of death for women in New Zealand. It takes four times as many lives as breast cancer, yet most women do not know they are at risk.

Sue Cremer was unaware of the risk. Despite having a family history of heart disease, she never saw herself being affected. A year after her brother had heart surgery, she finally underwent a series of heart health checks. The results were alarming. Even with a healthy lifestyle and zest for life, the tests showed significant blockages in her arteries and a high cholesterol level. Although she was fit and active, Sue was very close to needing a bypass.

“I got such a shock. I thought I was invincible,” says Sue. “It wasn’t as if I was given a death sentence, because I had a choice. But if I had not taken heed of what my doctor said, death may have been looming. 

“It has been two years since I had my checks and the turn around has been amazing. I have changed my diet and exercise more regularly, often walking 14 to 15 kilometres a week. At Christmas, I had an angiogram and the results were astounding. I now have unblocked arteries, which is a direct result of my diet and exercise.

“Now all my friends are rushing off to their doctor and I’d encourage any woman to do likewise. I’m like a little evangelist. I’m spreading the word and it has really got my friends thinking about their health.”

Like Sue, Botany Town Centre will be helping to raise awareness about the risk of heart disease in Kiwi women, while supporting the Heart Foundation. On Thursday 6 May between 6pm and 10pm, Botany Town Centre will be hosting a ‘Splash of Red’ VIP night, offering a great night out for all, including a live charity auction with proceeds going to the Heart Foundation, live entertainment and free giveaways.

A not-for-profit organisation, the Heart Foundation funds research and promotes heart health in order to help stop New Zealanders dying prematurely from heart disease. The Foundation is hosting a series of ‘Go Red for Women’ breakfast events from 1 to 6 May, and with the ‘Splash of Red’ VIP night aims to empower women to take charge of their own health, know their heart health numbers and enjoy life. 

A heart disease survivor and patron to the Go Red for Women programme, former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley says if women took the time to visit to their GP, find out their numbers (blood pressure and cholesterol) and use the Heart Foundation’s new Know Your Numbers website, they would know what lifestyle, dietary and health changes to make to ensure they are doing everything possible for their heart health.

“It is a fact that heart disease is responsible for four times as many deaths as breast cancer. And while breast cancer is an important health issue, my hope is that these events will encourage women to treat themselves this Mother’s Day and get a handle on their heart health by having a heart health check. No one wants to die early.

“By using the Know Your Numbers website, a person can calculate their current and future heart risk using two of the most important numbers they’ll ever need to know – blood pressure and cholesterol ratio. These numbers, in conjunction with a person’s heart story – including age, ethnicity, smoking and family history – can offer a striking insight into a person’s health and the effect lifestyle choices are having on their body.”

Botany Town Centre Senior Marketing Manager Desiree Clark said, “It is a pleasure to be supporting the Heart Foundation and the great work that it does for New Zealanders.

“It is important that women take some time out to look after their own health and wellbeing and with the ‘Splash of Red’ event we hope to encourage those women to do so by having a heart health check.”

For more information on the ‘Splash of Red’ VIP Night at Botany Town Centre visit www.botanytowncentre.co.nz

‘A Splash of Red’ VIP Night – Botany Town Centre Thursday 6 May

• A live charity auction in support of the Heart Foundation will take place at 7.30pm.
• Heart Foundation volunteers will be in-centre to speak to guests and provide information regarding the Foundation and heart disease.
• A great line-up of entertainment including, The Peter Koopman Jazz Duo, keyboard jazz musician Mike Walker, fire dancers, and Ceroc performers.
• Roaming characters Austin Powers, the Queen of Hearts and Spiderman will be handing out free giveaways and vouchers.
• Every customer who makes a purchase on the night is eligible to receive an entry into the draw to win a $2,000 shopping spree at Botany Town Centre. The winner will be drawn live at 9.40pm.

 ends