Shopping, leisure and sponsorship

Jens Tangen, head of sales, intu Properties brings together the mindset approach to marketing and sponsorship opprotunities at shopping centres

Mindset marketing is an important consideration, and the ability for live and experiential marketing to connect with people when they are in the right mood to be approached is unparalleled by any other media.

For consumer brands, getting the timing right is about reaching out to consumers when they are at leisure, with the time and inclination to try something new or absorb a new brand strategy.

Shoppers see their local centre fulfilling not only their retail need but as a place to meet friends and spend leisure time. That’s why here at intu we’re investing over £1.2 billion as part of our promise to provide  a great experience that goes beyond pure shopping.  Shoppers can go to the cinema, eat out, snowboard, be surrounded by fantastic sea creatures, be part of a UK wide summer party, and so much more. That’s what makes our centres regular destinations for over a million people every day.

So what does this mean for sponsors? Well combine this with intu’s local and nationwide reach we can offer brands regular activation opportunities and privileged connections as well as many active touch points and benefits.

Imagine for instance, that the make of car you drive is your ticket to a privileged parking space at any intu centre. For an automotive brand this privilege could be just the start of a deep connection with customers at intu centres. The successful use of shopping centres to showcase new cars and generate test drive requests at local dealerships is well documented. By hot spotting dealer locations next to our locations it’s easy to show why shopping centre automotive promotions are so effective in delivering accountable results. Now imagine accessing this on an exclusive basis via sponsorship and cutting out competitor brands – the client gains category exclusive dialogue with our 31m regular shoppers throughout the digital and physical customer journey.

Of course it’s not just automotive brands that can benefit from deeper partnerships – it can be applied to almost any sector from tech companies to energy providers.

intu promises ‘events with a difference’ to our customers which drive footfall and dwell time and there are also opportunities to sponsor these. Christmas, Fashion Weeks, Student Lock-Ins, Food Festivals, cultural events such as everyone’s Invited and Elephant Parade. Opportunities abound – naming rights, tie ins with associated press and media, pop up retail support and brand activation at customer attractions such as Christmas grottos and light switch ons.

But it’s not all about experiential space. We offer brands bespoke packages that tailor exclusive promotions across multiple platforms, whether using OOH and digital displays in centre or reaching out to our online following of over 2 million monthly visitors at intu.co.uk.

Bold and creative are two of our values. Combine these with the key watchword of flexibility, and imagine the possibilities for a brand looking for engaging activity that will help it create a deeper connection with their customers at our centres.