The South African Council of Shopping Centres (SACSC) Footprint Marketing Awards were announced at the SACSC Congress in Cape Town last week and Cavendish Square scooped the coveted top award, The Spectrum Award.
The SACSC Footprint Marketing Awards recognise exceptional shopping centre marketing, innovation and creative achievements, with economic success.
Amanda Stops, SACSC CEO, says: “We received a strong pack of enthusiastic entries, which reflects the esteem in which the awards are held by the industry. This year our international judges commended the entrants on the particularly high standard of entries. It is an excellent mark of retail marketing innovation and talent in South Africa.”
Cavendish Square earned the coveted Spectrum Award for ‘The Exchange’, an initiative for the Organ Donor Foundation of SA. The Exchange at Cavendish Square was the world’s first pop-up fashion boutique at which money was not accepted, but fashion from SA’s top designers was exchanged by registering as an organ donor.
Cavendish Square is marketed by Primedia Lifestyle which was certainly the stand-out winner at the awards. Malls marketed by Primedia Lifestyle also earned a glittering dozen of the 14 Gold Footprint Marketing Awards presented. Five of these gold awards were for Cavendish Square’s marketing campaigns.
In addition to The Spectrum Award, Cavendish Square’s The Exchange won a gold in the advertising category, it also received two gold awards for its Taste of Winter in the sales promotion and events category as well as the public relations category, its advertising of Guilt & Ganache dazzled judges, while its ‘Introducing New Tenants’ shone in the leasing support category.
Menlyn Park Shopping Centre took a terrific trio of gold awards for Colour Your Wardrobe in the sales promotion and events category, The Beach 2013 for category integration and the public relations for its drive-in closure.
Gateway Theatre of Shopping and Brooklyn Mall each won a duo of gold awards. Gateway took golds for its digital marketing strategy and Gateway to the Lost World in the advertising category. Brooklyn Mall, which is marketed by Bespoke Marketing, won golds for its Little Black campaign in the sales promotion and events category and its SAFW Face or Fashion and SAFW Pup-up Shop for category integration.
The final pair of gold awards went to Vincent Park for its Go Shop advertising campaign and the Musgrave Centre Flower Show for community relations.
All these gold awards had to achieve over 85% by a power line-up of local and international judges. Exciting news is that for the first time this year, all SACSC Footprint Marketing Award Gold winners are automatically entered into the International Council of Shopping Centres’ Solal Awards. This global awards campaign is set to be judged in March/April 2015.
“Strategy and objectives, creativity, implementation, cost-effectiveness and impact were all considered in the results. This year’s winners were again judged to a global standard and can stand proud with top shopping campaigns worldwide,” says Stops.
“Marketing remains a fundamental element of any successful shopping centre,” says Stops. “Through these awards we acknowledge the contribution made by malls and marketers to our dynamic retailing industry.”
