Menos Mal Que Esta Plaza (Thank
Goodness for Plaza)
Plaza Las Americas
San Juan, P.R.
With $585 in per-square-foot non-department-store sales in 1996, Plaza
Las Americas is Puerto Rico's dominant shopping center. However, those
sales were flat for most of 1995, thanks to the market entry of
discounters and category killers. The center needed an aggressive new
consumer ad campaign to help it recapture retail dollars in an
increasingly competitive market.
Research throughout the last eight years consistently found that
consumers give Plaza Las Americas high marks for its variety and
selection of stores; in the last study done before the new campaign's
launch, shoppers rated the center 3.6 (on a scale of 1 to 4, 4 being
excellent) for its variety and selection of stores. With 190 stores,
including 24 eateries, that selection was clearly the center's marketing
advantage. It would be the focus of its new positioning campaign.
OBJECTIVES
1. To improve comparable store sales by 3%.
2. To achieve market and media dominance with high reach and frequency,
resulting in 14,000 gross rating points over 12 months.
3. To maintain shopper survey ratings on the variety and selection of
stores at 3.6.
IMPLEMENTATION
The center's marketing team identified the primary target audience as
adults, especially women, ages 20 to 54, with average to upper-average
income and living within the trade area of 600,000 people.
Television was selected as the primary medium. On average, TV reaches
92.1% of the target audience 17.9 times over a three-week period.
Dedicating the marketing budget to a television campaign would reap 27
weeks of advertising within a year.
The overall campaign theme played on shoppers' attitude that they can
count on Plaza Las Americas for great shopping--"Menos Mal Que Esta
Plaza" (Thank Goodness for Plaza) was the tagline. To highlight Plaza Las
Americas' large variety of stores, the plan was to feature a single
target audience or product category in each of 13 TV spots. The spots
were aired in rotation throughout the campaign.
RESULTS
During the first month of the campaign (November 1995), sales increased
7.16%, and through April 1997 comparable non-department store sales rose
3.6%--exceeding the goal by 20%.
From June 1996 through May 1997, Plaza ran 27 weeks of television
advertising, achieving 16,477 gross rating poings--17.6% above the goal.
Research has not yet been conducted to evaluate consumers' ratings of
the center's variety and selection of stores.
CREDIT
Owned by: Empresas Fonalledas
Managed by: Plaza Las Americas
Professional recognition to: Vanessa E. Cordero, marketing
director; Janine Fonalledas de Grau, corporate marketing director; Hall &
Co. Marketing Partners, marketing consultant; Marti Flores Prieto &
Wachtel, advertising agency.
EXPENSES
| TV placement | $610,600 |
| TV production | 221,959 |
| Total | $832,559 |
|
