Find Us on Facebook at ICSC Fusion

March 10, 2010

“There was tremendous call to action for brand ambassadors and the effectiveness of social media at the ICSC Fusion 2010 conference last week,” reports David O’Niones, VP, Retail at PLAYTIME. “Our experienceplaytime.com web stats are proving this to be true as we are getting increasing web traffic from social media and shopping center sites like Facebook, YouTube, ShopRiverPark.com and Daddytypes.com.”

ISCS Fusion 2010 presented new social media marketing tactics with success stories and advice from experienced industry leaders. They recommended shopping centers engage their customers as their ‘Head of Social Media’ and to get them talking to each other about the benefits of visiting their shopping centers.

PLAYTIME has discovered that these online brand ambassadors are encouraging fellow parents to visit shopping center play areas for family outings.

One blogger on Blogspot reports: “I came across this interesting item while surfing the net….a children's play area in the Woodfield Mall, Schaumberg, IL. It looks pretty cool...kids can play on and around statues of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Pepe Le Pew, Sylvester, Yosemite Sam, and more favorite characters.”

People are sharing the Woodfield Mall play area experience, as one parent did in posting “Sofia at Woodfield Mall” on YouTube.

This social networking translates directly into shopping center traffic, as attendees at the ICSC Fusion Educational Study Tour of the Woodfield Mall saw on Monday morning, March 1, 2010.

“The play area was crawling like ants on a sandwich,” said PLAYTIME’s O’Niones, who proudly reported that over 60 people – parents and children – were playing at the Woodfield Mall during the ISCS Fusion’s Educational Study Tour visit.

A 2009 PLAYTIME survey of shopping center executives reveals creative approaches to online marketing. "If we have a program or an event targeting moms, we can announce what we're doing on Facebook or Twitter," explains Jones Lang LaSalle's Carol O'Grady, Vice President and Regional Marketing Manager. O’Grady moderated a very informative General Session at ICSC Fusion entitled, “The Business Justification for Using Social Media.”

“Word of mouth has always been a great marketing tool and blogging seems to take normal word-of-mouth to the next level," says Keily Potter, Marketing Manager with University Mall in Tampa, FL. "When we began planning our grand opening, we worked with local mom blog sites, including 'Whoa Momma'.”

In response, a "Whoa Momma" blogger wrote: "Free and cheap family fun this week! Some of our Mommas here have already checked out the new pirate-themed children's soft play area and say it's a hit with the tots."

From on-site amenities like play areas and food courts to retail shopping events, panelists at ICSC Fusion advised industry professionals to make their 2010 social media initiatives content-driven.

“The future looks quite bright for retailers in 2010,” said Michael Kercheval, ICSC President and CEO, in his 2010 ICSC Fusion closing comments.