In short
Malls always see peak numbers for back-to-school shopping. But they’re also competing against everyone else in that timeframe—including online retailers. They need something to set themselves apart to become the premier, standout stop for back-to-school shopping. They need to offer the best experience.
Luckily, Outlet Collection Winnipeg (OC Winnipeg) already has many first-to-market brands, great deals and one of the best atmospheres for browsing. So, as their agency partner, all we had to do was remind guests of all the unique and best-in-class options available to them there.
Methodology
Our relationship with Outlet Collection Winnipeg covers social media strategy and execution, influencer campaign management as well as quarterly in-mall campaigns and activations. These various tactics roll into one another well, giving purpose to our content and helping promote experiences through our influencers.
For the back-to-school concept, our first in the series, we wanted to make sure we focused on the goals: generating sales activity across each of the mall’s vendors, as well as offering real value and enhancing the experience for our back-to-school shoppers. The audience for OC Winnipeg appreciates value for their dollar and a feeling of luxury, so we wanted any brand touchpoint to enhance this feeling.
Enter: Next Stop: School, a school bus-themed activation that culminated in an interactive bus station photo backdrop. Paired with a complimentary bus pass with “stops” to complete as shoppers journeyed through the mall, a completed pass brought guests one step closer to a free custom tote.
Stops like grabbing refreshments for two, purchasing a fresh pair of sneakers or picking out a new backpack helped guests fill their passes. A full bus pass that met a $250 minimum spend (easily attainable on a single back-to-school trip) meant guests could redeem a voucher for a custom tote bag fulfilled by The Locals (an in-mall retailer), bringing yet another value-add to their experience.
Challenges
Before landing on this concept, we knew we wanted to create an experience that responded to a practical or emotional insight about this time of year. We knew school items need to be labelled for kids, and we wanted a customization opportunity to take centre stage.
But, we also wanted high school and college students to find the activation equally appealing. The bus theme allowed us to find a unifying element to the student experience—and to create a “selfie station” worthy of teens’ and younger adults’ grids—plus, the bus pass and tote bag could apply to and appeal to guests of all ages and their experience.
Execution
Once the concept was approved, we were hard at work with our fabrication partners to build a bus station near guest services, giving folks a stunning backdrop to mark their next chapter and providing helpful directional signage to point out where they could redeem their prize or pick up their pass.
In partnership with Deskwork Studio, we created a campaign brand anchored by classic back-to-school aesthetics: looseleaf paper, bright vinyl binders and composition journals personalized with stickers and hand-drawn artwork. This visual style extended perfectly across campaign assets like the bus pass, environmental signage and digital ads.
UpHouse teamed up with three influencers to promote the activation (and one local influencer opted to attend of their own accord!), showing the value inherent in this immersive experience and allowing influencers to deliver the calibre of content expected by their audiences.
Outcome
The results of Next Stop: School were immediate. Guests loved engaging with the bus station and eagerly participated in the guided experience through the mall. The campaign saw over $102,000 in receipts submitted for redemption, helping OC Winnipeg post strong sales in just a four-week window.
Of this, 250 vouchers were collected and tote bags redeemed, benefitting a local vendor directly with hundreds of orders and walk-in traffic. Leveraging influencer content and carousel ads, our media campaign reached 1.46 million impressions, generated 145,400 post engagements and 17,383 clicks. The campaign cost-per-click of $0.34 was well under industry benchmarks.
OC Winnipeg was thrilled with the response and the look of the activation, repeatedly mentioning it exceeded their expectations.
Lessons Learned
While we knew we had to account for safety above all at the activation site, even drilling our “looser” items into the floor left room for people to vandalize or manipulate our hard work.
We learned what mall mischief to account for in the future while also balancing what we won’t compromise on when it comes to an elevated look and feel.
We created our own benchmark for adding real benefit to mall vendors—as well as enhancing the guest’s experience—and we’ll apply this with the same vigour to our upcoming holiday activation (hot take: there won’t be Santa!).
