Mar 17, 2010

Area retailers utilize innovation in marketingBy Louise BrassTheBusinessLedger.com

Shopping centers and retail developers earned MAXI Awards recently for new, social media efforts as well as traditional advertising projects that are drawing more customers to their centers.

New customers are seeking out products and services they learn about through posts on the Web, through blogs, by twittering and reading Facebook fan pages.

Social media projects, designed for Inland Western Retail Real Estate Trust Inc.’s “Scene @ The Shops” program, resulted in an average 100 new Facebook fans a week after sending out a photographer to take pictures of people at a shopping center. Shoppers then had a chance to tag the photos for their friends via the Internet.

“I think social media is changing the way customers shop, so we need to embrace this new technology and make sure that we are working with our retailers to maximize sales,” said Cherylin Megill, vice president of marketing for the Oak Brook-based firm. “It is a way to dialogue with our customers. You can get a message out to your customers instantly and it’s very cost effective.”

Inland Western, which owns Gurney Town Center and Oswego Commons, won several MAXI Awards, including the aforementioned New Media category, during the 2010 Fusion Conference sponsored by International Council of Shopping Centers, held in Chicago in early March.

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