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October 2007 - Strategy Magazine
Creative

Mall gets mileage out of traffic woes

by Annette Bourdeau
page 13

Sometimes, keeping it simple just makes sense.

The latest campaign for the Richmond Centre mall in Richmond, B.C., doesn't promise anything fancy, thanks to a practical directive from Leslie Matheson, Richmond Centre's director of marketing. It just tells you how to get there amid ongoing major road work, and plays on construction icons to alleviate the annoyance factor. For example, one bright orange sign outside the mall reads: "Be prepared to shop."

"Leslie knew that a new transit line would be coming right by the shopping centre, and that it would hit in the fall, when it would be chaotic," explains Alan Russell, CD at DDB Vancouver. "We knew we'd be doing a tactical campaign this year as opposed to a traditional fall branding campaign."

The campaign is very tongue-in-cheek, and even includes a "women shopping" sign to accompany the innocuous "men working" notice. Other on-site executions include a giant shopping bag hanging from a crane and orange "construction" signs with a silhouette of legs wearing heels.

"We used the icons of construction to remind people in a fun way that they can still shop," says Russell.

The campaign also includes straightforward transit, print and radio ads that tell consumers which routes to take to access the mall during construction.

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