Related Programs

Certification Programs The CDP, CSM, CMD, and CLS designations serve to recognize professionalism, raise standards and improve shopping center industry practices.

Related Information

		Member: Non-Member:

SCT: Who's hiring in the industry?

1998 MAXI Awards

Wings Over Our Neighborhood

Village Green Mall
Vernon, British Columbia, Canada

Rapid population growth was beginning to jeopardize the environment in Village Green Mall's region, whose natural beauty and recreational amenities had drawn most of the people who had settled there. When the federal government put a nine-acre parcel of land up for sale, a local environmental group, the Allan Brooks Nature Society, hoped to acquire it as a haven for indigenous plants and wildlife. The society planned to build a nature center and trails, but had been unsuccessful communicating its message to the public or raising funds to purchase the property.

Village Green Mall, which markets itself as "good neighbors," recognized the value of the proposal to the community and knew it could help the cause. Village Green set out to host an event to support the nature society's efforts, coinciding with Earth Week, in April 1998.

OBJECTIVES

1) To generate positive publicity and reinforce the mall's position as a "good neighbor." 2) To help raise public awareness of the campaign to acquire land for a nature center. 3) To develop a program that would enable the mall and the community to contribute to the nature center project. 4) To increase center sales 5%.

IMPLEMENTATION

The team transformed the shopping center into a facsimile of a bird habitat. Each wing of the center became a nature trail that replicated the environment of a different kind of indigenous bird, with landscaping drawn from the wild -- from an eagle's nest to tall grasses. Local students and nature society members constructed educational exhibits and displays on bird life; a central display provided information about the intended land purchase and proposed nature center. The woodland theme was carried throughout the mall by rustic-looking signage and retailers' window displays, which were created as part of a decor contest.

The community was invited to participate in a birdhouse competition. The birdhouses were displayed in center court amid a forest of lush greenery, bark, tree trunks and rocks created by members of the Ministry of Forestry, greenhouse owners and visual merchandisers. A recording of birdsong completed the setting. Shoppers would vote on the best birdhouses, and a birdhouse auction would raise money for the nature society.

Local schoolchildren were invited to tour the nature trails and participate in birdhouse-building workshops led by society volunteers. Supplies for the workshops were donated by local lumber mills; a local high school's shop teacher and his students volunteered their time to acquire and cut the wood. Finally, a gift-with-purchase offer was designed to suit the theme: Receipts of at least $50 of purchases from center stores would garner a free hummingbird feeder.

An aggressive PR campaign began two months before the event, with a series of media releases packaged in miniature birdhouses. The PR effort was complemented by newspaper and radio ads the week of the event.

RESULTS

Within a month of the event's conclusion, the city announced that it would commit $100,000 to $150,000 to purchase the land for the nature center. The auction of 46 birdhouses raised $2,000 for the nature center. The birdhouse-packaged press releases grabbed the media's attention and generated 2,300 lines of print publicity, a 5-minute radio interview (plus 18 minutes of radio public service announcements) and 14 minutes of TV coverage. Shoppers flocked to the center to attend the event and to shop. Sales increased by 12%, and the nature center finally took flight!

CREDIT

Owned by: Oxford Properties Group, Omers Realty Corp., Aquest.

Managed by: Oxford S/C Group.
Professional recognition to: Heather Rawsthorne, CMD, marketing manager; Barrie Hunt, CSM, center manager; Pamela Setzke, manager, national marketing; Don Burton, vice president, operations.

Expenses

Newspaper ads $2,665

Radio ads 2,973

TV segment 210

Signage 992

Visual merchandising 1,680

Ballots/activity books 142

Prizes 1,400

Birdfeeders 1,400

Total $11,462