TIME FOR A COOL CHANGE
Tauranga’s Bayfair Shopping Centre wanted to launch a new winter fashion campaign that would engage both its retailers and customers, driving extra foot-traffic and sales. It engaged local advertising agency Family to create the campaign – and the results
With a bold and collaborative approach, Family created a fashion-focused campaign with broad consumer appeal that was purposefully relevant to local shoppers. Its multi-layered approach united stakeholders and took retailer participation to somewhere it had never been before.
THE CHALLENGE
Bayfair, a 90+ store shopping centre at the heart of the community in Mount Maunganui, wanted to increase its fashion profile. And it wanted to do that by promoting the latest winter trends in a way that would reach multiple audiences and engage with customers more effectively at a local level. “We wanted to launch a campaign that gave our customers and community a sense of inclusion and ownership. To arm them with confidence and the know how to create looks that were on trend yet accessible. Ultimately creating a perception of Bayfair as a fashion expert and enabler” says Louise Chapman, Bayfair’s marketing manager.
THE CONCEPT
“To elevate the Bayfair brand in the mind of the consumer our creative needed to have a wow factor that was previously lacking,” says Family’s creative director Trent Sunderland. Family’s campaign incorporated seasonal and natural elements to inject personality and visual cohesiveness to the campaign. Illustrative backgrounds and colour palettes, photography, expressive typographic headlines and overall composition were all created to evoke a contemporary feeling of winter. Playing to the multiple audiences of Bayfair’s customers, Family enlisted models from a cross-section of ages and genders to showcase the wide variety of styles available from Bayfair’s stores. And the campaign encouraged consumers to shop for those latest styles exclusively at Bayfair. Key messaging – including ‘It’s time for a cool change’ and ‘Wrap up and venture out’ – embraced the new season and excitement of up-andcoming trends, and were consistent across all executions.
THE CAMPAIGN
To increase foot-traffic and drive recognition Family developed a strategic multi-channel approach integrating outdoor media, press, radio and social media with a wide range of in-store touch points. “We focused on creating a retail experience that brought the centre to life, giving shoppers the aspiration and opportunity to change their style and wardrobe,” says Barbara Sunderland, Family’s client director. Facebook became a platform for promoting the latest trends online, encouraging conversation and engagement with local customers. In the centre, posters, large ceiling banners, light-boxes, counter top displays, postcards and flyers blanketed the mall. To bring through tactile elements from the creative, Family created an ambient installation complete with vintage winter wardrobe, picket fences, living
SAYS CHAPMAN. plants, leaves, deer antlers, rabbits and grass. Every week the Bayfair stylist collected garments, accessories and shoes from participating retailers to dress the display and keep the look fresh. Not only did the installation tell the campaign story beyond the traditional, it created a destination in-centre where shoppers were free to explore, play, and purchase. “This positive consumercentric environment influenced buying decisions, gave consumers confidence, converted sales and supported retailers by profiling their products” says Barbara.
THE COMPETITION
To up the ante and measure the response to media and advertising, weekly fashion giveaways and participation were driven by social media and drawn from the winter wardrobe installation. Garments from the collection were posted to Facebook for fans to vote on followed by call to actions for participants to visit in-centre with a chance to win giveaways on those items. There were also four lucky weekly makeover winners drawn throughout the promotion, which ran from 1-28 April. Shoppers were encouraged to enter with every $50 spent, and entry forms were located at in-store points of purchase. At the end of April two major prize winners were drawn, each winning $1000 to spend on a new winter wardrobe.
THE CONCLUSION
The quantifiable success of this campaign saw a significant lift from the previous year’s performance. Overall increase in sales from fashion specialties were up by 7.4 percent with a 9.3 percent rise in foot traffic. This equated to a whopping total return on investment of 336 percent. “The success of this campaign was a result of strong retailer participation, the feeling of a truly local campaign that showcased our own retailer’s products, and a whole new level of social media engagement,” says Chapman. “To see the conversion of a Facebook call-to-action to immediate visitation in-centre proves just how effective this permissible media platform can be in smaller communities like Tauranga.” Family is a leading Taurangabased design and advertising practice. Family’s clients around New Zealand and Australia utilise its strengths in retail to increase brand performance and sales results. To find out more visit www.wearefamily.co.nz or get in touch with client director Barbara Sunderland on 07 579-5947.
BAYFAIR SHOPPING CENTRE
More than 90 of the Bay of Plenty’s best stores conveniently located under one roof, with seven-day opening and two late nights to accommodate busy lifestyles. Large-format stores include Farmers, K-Mart, Countdown, Woolworths and JB HiFi. Bayfair provides a full range of services for customers, including a parent’s room, wheelchairs, strollers and kiddy karts. Bayfair has free interior and exterior parking for over 1600 vehicles. For more details visit www.bayfair.co.nz