2018 Brand Experience & Activation

LIVING IN A MALL

TitleLIVING IN A MALL
BrandFRÖLUNDA TORG
Product/ServiceFRÖLUNDA TORG
Category C05. Customer Retail / In-Store Experience
Entrant DEAR FRIENDS Gothenburg, SWEDEN
Idea Creation DEAR FRIENDS Gothenburg, SWEDEN
Credits
Name Company Position
Agnes Edin Dear Friends Copywriter
Sandra Bohlin Dear Friends Art director
Calle Österberg Dear Friends Creative director
Anders Kåpe Dear Friends Key account director
Mia Forsberg Dear Friends Account manager
Karl Isaksson Dear Friends Art director
Simon Wilms Dear Friends Motion graphic designer
Therés Samuelsson Dear Friends Final art

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation ?

Frölunda Torg is the biggest shopping center in Gothenburg. By letting 24-year-old Alonnika live in a cottage right in the middle of the mall, we managed to showcase their wide range of stores and restaurants without being boring and pushy. For two weeks one could follow Alonnikas adventure, both at the mall and on social media. Visitors became a natural part of the experiment. Alonnika was present all the way through their shopping experience – before, during and after the visit at the mall. The great engagement, both online and offline, resulted in the highest sales figure in 51 years!

Background

Frölunda Torg is the biggest shopping center in Gothenburg, but with people doing more and more of their shopping online and with other malls opening in the area, the competition is getting harder. Our brief was to create a campaign that was engaging and drove traffic to both stores and to social media. Christmas is Frölunda Torg’s most important sales period. Last year they wanted to highlight their offer: over 200 stores, 25 restaurants and different types of services including a gym, a health center and several hairdressers. But how do you talk about stores and products without being boring and pushy? Objectives: – Keep sales figures from 2016 (a year when Frölunda Torg celebrated 50 years and had a bigger marketing budget). – Increase the followers on Facebook and Instagram with 3%. – Increase the engagement on Facebook and Instagram with 30% compared to the same period last year.

Describe the creative idea

With 200 stores and 25 restaurants Frölunda Torg has everything you need for Christmas. So many gifts, so much food and such a cozy atmosphere that you could easily do all your Christmas shopping here. In fact, there’s no need to leave the mall. You could practically live there... Or could you? Instead of talking about the wide range of stores and restaurants, we let Alonnika, a 24-year-old girl, experience it. For two weeks she lived in a cottage right in the middle of the mall. She went shopping, ate, tried out different products, participated in events and met with customers. And she documented everything! The target audience became a natural part of the experiment. They met with Alonnika at the mall and followed her adventure 24/7 on social media. Alonnika was present all the way through their shopping experience – before, during and after the visit at the mall.

Describe the strategy

The target audience was residents in the city of Gothenburg – people with different backgrounds, nationalities, economy and interests. To appeal to such a diverse audience we focused on one thing that everyone likes, no matter background, age or economy – good storytelling. What would it be like to live in a mall? Think about it. The stores would be your closet and the restaurants your kitchen. To some this sounds like a dream. To many it’s an exciting experiment. But most of all, it’s a great story. We knew that our target audience wouldn’t be interested in Frölunda Torg themselves talking about their stores and restaurants. To avoid bias and to make the campaign transparent and genuine we let an ordinary girl speak for Frölunda Torg. To engage the target audience and get their help with spreading our message them we let them influence and participate in the campaign.

Describe the execution

The campaign was live for three weeks. Week 1 we raised interest through teasers, both online and at the mall, about Alonnika's arrival. Week 2–3, when Alonnika lived at Frölunda Torg, we followed a carefully planned content calendar to make sure that we showcased the best mix of the wide range of stores, restaurants and services. We also let the target audience be a natural part of the campaign. At the mall they could meet with Alonnika and even have dinner in her cottage or watch a movie with her. Through posts, stories and live broadcasts on social media they followed the everyday life at the mall, got inspiration on things to do, see and shop, participated in contests and influenced the campaign by commenting and voting. Media: ads on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube banner ads locally bought OOH communication at the mall (signs, digital screens and the cottage itself)

List the results

Objectives: – Keep sales figures from 2016 (a year when Frölunda Torg celebrated 50 years and had a much bigger marketing budget). – Increase the followers on Facebook and Instagram with 3%. – Increase the interaction on Facebook and Instagram with 30% compared to the same period last year. Results: – Record monthly sales (an increase with +5 800 000 SEK, corresponding to +1.6%). The highest sales figure in 51 years! – The followers on Facebook and Instagram increased with 7.5% in only two weeks (+ 250% over set goals). – The engagement on Facebook and Instagram increased with 335% compared to the same period last year (+1120% over set goals). – ROI of the campaign was 230%.