Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/803877
32 S C T / A P R I L 2 0 1 7 maker Enplug now markets such systems in all 50 states and across 42 countries. "Retail brands are replacing their marketing messag- es with authentic, user-generated content," said Enplug co-founder Nanxi Liu. "This forms a stronger connection with customers." Displaying real-time posts al- lows retailers to market their prod- ucts with greater authenticity than was ever possible through the older, in-mall promotion strategies, she says. Enplug has lately added sports, business, technology and financial news applications to its systems. Among the U.S. shopping centers employing Enplug systems are The Outlet Shoppes, near Atlanta, and Janss Marketplace, in Thousand Oaks, Calif. "Malls need to keep up with the social technologies that are enhancing and promoting that online experience," said Kilian. "And they have to integrate the online social expe- rience with the in-person social experience of shopping." When tenant coupons and ads are integrated with frequently updated and relevant information, retention of those promo- tional messages increases, Kilian says. Much of the industry is rolling out digital signage. In February Mississauga, Ontario–based Morguard announced that it had invested in 175 digital displays created by Lon- don, Ontario–based Cineplex Digital Media. These will be in- stalled at 21 Morguard-managed shopping centers through- out Canada, including Bramalea City Centre, in Brampton, Ontario, and East York Town Centre, in Toronto. The screens, to be put up in concourses and similar high-traffic areas, will double as digital way-finding stations and media networks in support of store openings, promotions and other events and functions, according to Ed Lincz, Morguard's vice president of retail operations. Simon, too, is boosting digital screens and signage at its shopping centers. "With every redevelopment, renovation or ground-up development, we are weaving a variety of new digital screens into the design-and-build process," said Patrick Flanagan, the firm's vice president of digital marketing. "We continue to add large-format media options, in- cluding high-impact and large-for- mat LED boards and interactive directories, plus we are adding integrated digital signage in our newest Simon Guest Services booth designs." Retrofitting older centers with the latest digital media can be a test, says Kilian. "The biggest chal- lenge is with spaces that were not built with [digital audio- visual] in mind," he said. "It takes creative thinking to inte- grate equipment into existing structural conditions that are not optimized for that." Content, especially for large-format mall displays, can be a challenge too, graphically and sub- stantively, Kilian says. "Malls and brands need to be careful to design content that balances text and graphics," he said. "And they need content that has stopping power and is quickly interpretable. Even though dwell times in malls are high, attention spans are even lower with so many retail channels competing for the customer's attention." Going forward, shopping centers are likely to digitally en- gage visitors more and more to boost foot traffic and profits, says Kilian. This may include signage and stations offering movie and event listings, local fuel prices, road traffic in- formation, air-travel status, local weather reports and such, he says. Refinements in data-performance analytics could result from these way-finding kiosks as well. If kiosk-collect- ed data show that a particular mall tenant is being searched frequently, a strategy can be formed to boost its visibility accordingly. "The data collected there," he summarized, "will play a greater role help in determining the communications, branding and marketing strategies of malls and brands." n Retrofitting older centers with the latest digital media can be a test. "It takes creative thinking to integrate equipment into existing structural conditions that were not built with digital audiovisual in mind"