Tag: Shopping mall

Manila, Philippines – The Philippines was inundated with reports that the well-famed ‘Globe’ located at the SM Mall of Asia (MOA) has been ‘stolen’, to which the management has responded with a statement that it has been ‘working’ with authorities regarding the incident.

Adding to the saga fuel was a video uploaded by netizen Chester Allan Tangonan on Facebook, in which his dashboard attached to his motorcycle captured the ‘moment’ that the Globe had been taken away by a helicopter.

The MOA Globe has been a well-known landmark in Metro Manila that has greeted SM MOA customers since its opening in 2006. In 2009, the ‘Globe’ was equipped with LED lights, and therefore called ‘Globamaze’. The Globe is Asia’s first and only fully global video display installation.

SM MOA Globe
The SM MOA Globe. Photo Courtesy of Charles Gaisano/Flickr

The ‘accidental’ blame on IKEA Philippines

Netizens have speculated at first that the latest ‘stolen MOA Globe’ saga was a marketing stunt by the Philippine arm of multinational furniture giant IKEA. It should be noted that IKEA Philippines, known to be the largest IKEA store globally, is set to open in November 25 this year after delays.

As the ‘stolen MOA Globe’ saga continued, IKEA Philippines recently posted a statement across their social media channels that clarified that their local brand mascot, Tito Ball, was not to be blamed for the incident. They also added that while their mascot was last seen at the vicinity during November 11 this year, they ‘asked’ the public to await ‘investigation’ results.

https://twitter.com/IKEAPHP/status/1459753960886378496

It was Netflix’s ‘Red Notice’ stunt after all

Hours after the ‘incident’ was made public, Netflix Philippines announced across their social media platforms that the Globe is ‘back’, and it was all part of a marketing ploy to promote the platform’s newest film ‘Red Notice’.

The film follows the story of an FBI agent John Hartley, played by Dwayne Johnson, who reluctantly teams up with an international art thief Nolan Booth (played by Ryan Reynolds) to capture Sarah Black, played by Gal Gadot.

Industry insiders have estimated that the film has made US$1.25m to US$1.5m from 750 theaters in the United States before its streaming debut on 12 November.

So, who stole the ‘stunt’? Netizens react

Netizens were quick to assume in the first few hours of the ‘stolen MOA Globe’ incident that IKEA Philippines was the brand behind the stunt due to the nearing opening date of IKEA’s first-ever store in the country. Furthermore, netizens also joked that the Globe might be stolen, only to be replaced by Tito Ball, which takes the personification of a meatball, a known food staple served across IKEA franchises globally.

After the revelation of the marketing stunt by Netflix Philippines, netizens were disappointed with the execution, with many saying that the stunt lacked a ‘surprise element’, a huge contrast to Netflix Philippines’ widespread stunt for the Filipino occult series ‘Trese’, which ranged from ‘slashed’ billboards to taking over the facade of media conglomerate ABS-CBN.

Netizens were also quick to point out that IKEA Philippines got free publicity out of this ‘saga’, due to the lack of information prior to the true nature of the marketing stunt.

Apart from the brand stunts, the ‘incident’ made it to the top trending topics in Twitter Philippines. According to aggregate results from BrandMentions, the hashtag ‘#MOA_GLOBE’ has been shared 26.5k times, with a total reach of 209.5k across the platform.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Retail data platform Aimazing and customer engagement and loyalty super-app HyperQB have integrated their solutions to provide a complete mall intelligence and first-of-its-kind loyalty solution in the form of a mall super-app for Malaysia and the region.

Through the partnership, Aimazing will deliver a mobile solution that is easily accessible, allowing retail malls to achieve more omnichannel personalization to power their marketing and loyalty efforts. This in turn allows malls to look forward to having the infrastructure that allows them to have the same data-driven ability similar to e-commerce marketplaces, where every consumer’s purchasing journey is taken into context when crafting marketing campaigns.

Retailers will be able to use the dashboard to see foot traffic data and customise new retail strategies in real-time according to their customers’ journey. This was previously impossible, if not extremely costly and time-consuming, due to the fragmentation that exists in the current point of sale (POS) market.

“The strategic partnership provides a singular, unified view for mall managers to deliver experiences that are powered by modern technology platforms. In a post-pandemic world, it is increasingly important for malls to adapt and understand the importance of an insights-driven omnichannel approach. The partnership between Aimazing and HyperQB helps to give mall managers the infrastructure they need in order to enable this,” said Jun Ting, chief executive officer at Aimazing.

In addition, the mall super-app improves loyalty programs for customers by allowing mall management teams to understand shopping patterns and consumer habits, presenting the opportunity to offer various rewards in the form of discounts and perks to incentivize shoppers to conduct repeat purchases. 

HyperQB believes that customer loyalty programs are key assets that can be leveraged by mall managers on Aimazing’s mall super-app to run campaigns, understand which merchants they should work with and have data of shoppers preferred merchant brands allowing them to find creative ways to retain those customers, further increasing their lifetime value.

“The era of online is already here, and will continue staying with us. There is no other best answer to retail automation and transformation to use omni-channel to shape the entire customer journey So what is your strategy? Those questions should always come from the top management of the retailers and mall operators,” said Stephen Lim, co-founder and managing director at HyperQB.

Aimazing and HyperQB’s joint offerings are aimed at powering all malls in Malaysia to sustain their business by increasing foot traffic, increasing sales through effective promotions, and customer retention by providing the smartest and most seamless unified shopping and customer experience. 

Malls will be able to improve their returns on mall marketing by unlocking advertising dollars from brands and FMCG deals and forming multiple partnerships that could generate insights for the expansion of their products and services, by utilizing mall intelligence.

“Within the current retail market, malls do not have real-time sales data to inform business decisions, due to the technical difficulties involved in its collection processes. With an all-in-one integrated retail data and loyalty platform, the retail industry can look forward to infrastructure and solutions that can help supercharge their business operations and omni-channel strategies,” Aimazing said in a press statement.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Malaysia’s Ikano Centres, the IKEA-anchored shopping destination, is welcoming Malaysians back to their malls after the easing of extensive movement control orders (MCO) with a heart-warming campaign featuring a herd of charismatic and incredibly social Llama influencers.

Developed together with creative agency TBWA\Malaysia, the campaign plays off the warm phrase ‘lama tak jumpa’, a greeting commonly used when there has been a very long absence between catch-ups.

Natasha Aziz, head of customer experience and digital at Ikano Centres, said, “We have certainly missed our visitors. After such a long time, it feels so right to be welcoming them back with ‘Iama tak jumpa’. ‘Lama tak jumpa’ oozes warmth, excitement, and optimism as we move ahead. We are looking forward to safely welcoming back our communities to our shopping centres as restrictions start to ease.”

The campaign went live on 1 November, and each Llama influencer, whose personalities were made to radiate warmth and confidence, represents one of the four Malaysian Ikano Centres’ malls dotted across the country:

The fun and friendly LIPPIE represents the IPC Shopping Centre, while the always on-trend and stylish LLAMY is the llama of MyTOWN Shopping Centre.

Meanwhile, TIA, the active skateboard-riding llama represents Toppen Shopping Centre, with the artsy graffiti-spraying BEEKA llama is for Ikano Centre’s offering in Batu Kawan, Penang.

The campaign draws on experiences visitors had forgotten they were missing at Ikano Centres’ shopping centres such as the thrill of trying on new clothes, playing with gadgets to the smell and taste of cinema popcorn, and the general overall buzz of an environment filled with people once again. 

Social media content from the campaign

In addition to an animated music video, eye-catching social media content was developed to capture these memories and sensory experiences. As the malls open, shoppers will have the opportunity to collect the herd of vibrant Llama influencers during their shopping visits.

Yee Hui Tsin, TBWA\Malaysia’s CEO, said, “Our partnership with the Ikano Centre’s portfolio of malls in Malaysia is an exciting challenge as we work to ensure efforts are capturing a sense of freedom of movement and excitement, while also helping Malaysia’s assimilate into a ‘normal’ endemic lifestyle.”

Yee Hui Tsin adds, “The changing face of retail and shifts in consumer behavior has been extraordinary. However, retail remains the anchor of the Malaysia economy, evidenced by a distinct parallel between the strength of the economy and how well retail is fairing.”

On awarding the business to TBWA, Aziz said, “TBWA’s insight to our re-opening was spot on; they aptly captured the emotion around everything people were missing from visiting our shopping centres; the sounds, smells and shared experiences and how together we can create endless possibilities for when people come together.”

TBWA\Malaysia said it was awarded the business after a competitive pitch in August. TBWA\Singapore manages the IKEA brand across Singapore and Malaysia.

Manila, Philippines – SM Supermalls, one of the largest shopping mall chains in the country, has launched its latest initiative for MSMEs which entails providing ‘The SM StartUp Package’ that will give support for 100 local small business owners to set up physical shops across its select prime mall locations across the country.

Through ‘The SM StartUp Package’, SMB owners will be offered with affordable rental rates and use of kiosks or carts free of charge, marketing assistance to give the brand free exposure in SM online assets and ad spaces inside malls as well as financial assistance with retail bank BDO; and mentorship from SM experts on operations and marketing.

This package will be available to the first 100 digital-based MSME owners who currently don’t have a shop inside SM or any other physical store in general.

The program, which was first announced last 15 October, coincides with the birthday of SM’s founder, the late Henry Sy, who started SM or ShoeMart as a small shoe business store in 1958. SM said that such small beginnings of the late Filipino businessman has been deeply ingrained in their DNA, understanding the potential of each Filipino to be a successful business owner.

The Start Up Markets, as they will be called, will be situated in prime mall locations within 13 regional and premier malls in major cities: SM North Edsa, SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia, SM Southmall, SM Pampanga, SM Clark, SM Grand Central, SM Sta. Rosa, SM City Cebu, SM Iloilo, SM Bacolod, SM CDO Downtown Premier, and SM Lanang Premier.

Steven Tan, the president of SM Supermalls, commented, “We created The SM StartUp Package because we saw how Filipinos persevered in the past year. Very much true to the spirit of Henry Sy, who always said he worked harder during bad times, many MSMEs did not let the pandemic stop them from providing good service and products — even from their own homes.” 

He added, “We want to give them a chance to further grow their businesses and brands, and enable them to start their own SM shops which they can one day grow into business empires, just like our founder once did.”

Interested MSMEs may visit the SM Supermalls website and SM’s social media pages to find out how to sign up for the package.

Jakarta, Indonesia – Adidas has announced the launch of two new concept stores in Indonesia, particularly in the Pondok Indah Mall in the capital Jakarta.

The new concept stores aim to provide a solid ‘on-and-off the field’ retail experience for all sports enthusiasts – from elite professional athletes to fashion-conscious streetwear fans with artistic mindsets.

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‘The Stadium Evolution’ of the adidas concept store.

The first part of the concept store is ‘The Stadium Evolution’, which transforms a 350 sqm space into a refined sports stadium. First off, the gate entrance takes customers straight into a stadium-like store, which then leads them to a supercourt format that is adapted to reflect the massive change from an analog world to a world of digitalization. 

In addition, the aesthetics are aptly complimented by digital displays along the footwear section, with athlete’s locker style fitting rooms for a brand-new experience in sport, and will house the complete lineup of adidas products, including running, sportswear, training, football, and basketball.

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The adidas’ ‘The Collection’, featuring a custom-designed carpet centerpiece.

Meanwhile, within the same concept store is the second part of the new branch called ‘The Collection’, which will serve as a go-to destination for sneakerheads, street style enthusiasts, fashion-forward millennials, and Gen-Z’s. The area built on a 340 sqm space showcases adidas’ latest collections on the adidas archive-inspired Archive Rack and a wide range of classic favorites, including premium sportswear, lifestyle segment and sports-inspired streetwear lines.

‘The Collection’ is decorated with a designer rug by Indonesian artists Tutu and Abenk Alter, and will act as a hub for adidas Originals line products.

“At adidas, we believe retail expectations have shifted from products to experiences. With our Stadium Evolution and The Collection stores, we are creating experiences that help customers amplify their personalities and fortify their true selves by empowering expression through fashion,” said Benjamin Handradjasa, president director and country manager of adidas Indonesia.

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Indonesian artists Tutu and Abenk Alter, who collaborated in designing the carpet centerpiece at ‘The Collection’

Meanwhile, Manoj Bharwani, co-founder and group managing director of Kanmo Group, commented that their partnership with adidas follows the retail group’s recovery from the pandemic, and they believe that their partnership will convince mall-goers to revisit malls.

“By opening these two stores at once and continued expansion in future, we believe strongly that the Indonesian consumers will rebound. We are excited and confident in the growth opportunities with adidas, as they have proved the strong presence in the sport, fashion, and streetwear categories.” Bharwani stated.

Jeffri S. Tanudjaja, vice president director of PT Metropolitan Kentjana said, “Creating a safe and welcoming space for self-expression is what we aim for here at PIM 3, that we believe will attract all consumers to come and feel the experiences. With open arms, we welcome adidas to join us in our plans to create Jakarta’s newest forward-thinking mall for creative minds.”