The ICSC Solal Awards bring together the very best of retail marketing across Europe and Southern Africa. The Zone @ Rosebank and the Magnum Pleasure Pop-up Store was the only gold award to make it back onto African shores in the Brand Awareness and (Re) Positioning category, which rewards entrants who successfully and creatively change or consolidate the customer perception of their centre.

Unilever developed the experiential pop-up concept to globally celebrate the 25th birthday of the world-renowned luxury ice-cream brand Magnum. The store, which was brought to life by local agency Mbongiworks, invited ice-cream lovers to visit a beautifully designed pop-up store sited within The Zone @ Rosebank, and create their own favourite Magnum ice-cream by choosing from different dippings and toppings.

The travelling Magnum Pleasure Store concept had already made appearances in top fashionable cities around the world, including New York, Paris, London and Amsterdam. The Johannesburg leg of the global campaign outperformed its English predecessor at Selfridges in London, with an average of 1000 “Make My Magnum” experiences sold daily in South Africa.

In total, more than 48 500 ice creams were sold during the eight-week period in November and December last year, with shoppers creating a storm online via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Over R20-million worth of exposure was solicited, across a broad range of media, with 90% of exposure secured through top lifestyle TV shows, including Top Billing.

“We received massive celebrity, media and public interest in the campaign, and the feet-through-the-centre figures spoke volumes,” Wesley Scott, marketing manager for The Zone @ Rosebank, who describes the reaction to the pop-up store as “unprecedented”. He estimates that an additional 111 000 customers visited the centre during Magnum’s stay. “Shoppers travelled from across the country, creating long queues at the store, which had a positive impact on dwell time and sales in surrounding stores.”

Scott says that the store was testament to not only the allure of a world-class brand like Magnum, but also the very accessible and attractive fashion, food and entertainment hub that The Zone @ Rosebank has become. “It celebrates the start of exciting new facilities, stores and services we are about to open this year,” he adds.

The mixed-use centre kicked off a R500-million revamp last year, with the first significant milestone about to open to the public: a sprawling 2000m2 Food Court – the first of its kind for subregional shopping malls in the catchment area of Rosebank, Killarney, Melrose, Norwood and Hyde Park.

For more information, visit The Zone @ Rosebank website.