Debrand, rebrand
Debranding and rebranding the Bride Hall centres within three months proved to be an extraordinary challenge - though one that MADISONSOHO embraced with our usual passion and commitment.
Following an audacious £283million takeover of the three
centres, in Epsom, Chester and Edgware, property firm Bride Hall
tasked us with refreshing and reinvigorating what had become tired
and problematic retail destinations.
Historic difficulties with local councils, disinterest among local
consumers and some very strong competition all meant our £560,000
budget to reinvigorate these centres would have to be pushed
a very long way.
Not least because the rebrand budget had to include all signage,
branding, research, advertising and PR campaigns. Not to mention
the rigid three month deadline to be met.
From Bride Hall's perspective the goal was to see MADISONSOHO's
creativity enhance the overall proposition of the centres and help
promote them as landlords with a progressive, marketing-focused
perspective.
The measure for this would come over the following months in
hopefully winning over the local councils and attracting new
tenants to each centre.
Thorough research of relevant shoppers attitudes and our own
instinct told us we needed to reject the former owner's corporate
marketing of the group and instead reestablish each centre with its
own identity.
We repositioned each centre, strategically promoting and maximising
each on its greatest merits and representing each within the heart
of their respective shopping communities.
In Epsom, we organised a 25th anniversary event for the centre to
help reconnect with the local community and re-introducing The
Ashley Centre as an integral part of life in the locale.
In Edgware we ran a campaign to find the "Face of Broadwalk" to
involve as many local people as possible. This personalising of
Boardwalk stretched to another event involving a TV chef and a
cooking demo linked to the centre's supermarkets and names were
data captured before personalised recipes were sent via
email.
A number plate recognition system also branded opt-in messages to
be delivered to shoppers as they entered the scheme.
And in Chester a local press-linked wordsearch ran for over two
months, drawing attention to existing tenant retailers, giving
shoppers the chance to win a car.
So, although each centre reclaimed its own identity and enjoyed its
own promotion, MADISONSOHO did manage to use many common print and
production materials and the centres shared much of the same
photographic production.
The entire long, detailed campaigns for each centre proved a huge
success. Data capture for the Chester word search generated 7000
names and Edgware's SMA a further 2400.
New signage was universally approved by the relevant council
planners, empty units have been let across the group and
MADISONSOHO's professionalism and community awareness has
established unprecedented levels of cooperation with local
authorities, resulting in newly streamlined expansion plans.
Yet perhaps the greatest achievement of all is that MADISONSOHO not
only achieved each and every one of our goals with aplomb, but also
managed to bring the project in with a whopping budget saving of
some £179,000.
Proof if any were ever required that great things can be achieved
by hiring the correct agency.