Primedia Lifestyle and Menlyn Park walked away with a Silver Footprint Award for the launch of the ‘Beach has landed’ in 2009 and the initiative continues to deliver results.

Each year the company transforms the Menlyn events arena into the ‘Beach Zone’, jam-packed with daily entertainment activities for shoppers. Taking 130 tons of beach sand to transform the Menlyn Events Arena into a beach, the Primedia Lifestyle team partnered with CANSA, Huggies, Ushaka, Stuttafords, Woolworths, Nivea, ABI and Crocs to mention a few, to assist in making the beach bigger and better this year.

Doug Mayne, Primedia Lifestyle’s MD says, “This is the third year in a row that the team have featured the Beach at Menlyn, based on its outright popularity. With Menlyn attracting three million shoppers over its busiest months, our marketing activities are designed to provide fun family activities and unique entertainment elements.

Our biggest challenge with this year’s campaign was to top the activities we hosted last year. However due to our insights into the Menlyn shopper and international retail entertainment trends, I believe that we, together with the team at Menlyn has developed a winning strategy that will leave shoppers delighted.”

The Beach at Menlyn and supporting in-centre campaigns ensured that Menlyn shoppers not only enjoyed an exciting retail experience, but could relax on the ‘beach’ with family and friends, soak up the sun and cool down in the surf.

In terms of Primedia Lifestyle’s 2011 Beach campaign results, Sleeping Beauty Ballet event yielded 10% increase in foot count, its Beach Parties attracted 1 151 children over three days, while its local beach holidays and Bazaruto competition encouraged an 11% increase in spend per head compared to 2010. The children’s Fashion and Talent Extravaganza Auditions were attended by 200 shoppers, with 100 children selected to participate in the Fashion and Talent Extravaganza, while the Fashiontainment Show was attended by 557 children including 97 participants.

From a broader perspective, the campaign yielded increases across the board including beach attendance up by 66%, publicity up 65%, overall foot count 40% and sponsorships up by 61%.

“In the shopping centre management mix, the marketing discipline should provide tenants and consumers with experiences they can’t get from any other advertising medium, but more importantly, they should deliver positive, quantifiable return on investment for the property owner. In other words, looking at the value add of the marketing campaign, relative to the investment from the property owner,” adds Mayne.

“It’s about knowing your centre’s objectives, its tenants and the changing needs and media consumption habits of shoppers. Before starting with any marketing campaign, confirm quantifiable objectives to support your accountability to the property owners. Combine this with great creativity and targeted media strategy, and as with the Beach at Menlyn campaign, the results will speak for themselves.”

The Primedia Lifestyle Menlyn marketing team also embarked on an intensive above-the-line campaign to promote its Menlyn Beach campaign, spanning television, radio, community newspapers, magazines and out of home.

For further information visit www.primelife.co.za.