Primedia Lifestyle Group MD Doug Mayne says, "Our win of one of the most prestigious awards in South African shopping centre marketing circles validates our position as a shopping centre marketing consultancy in the country.
"This is borne out by the fact that this year has seen us win five international Solal awards, 16 Footprint Awards, six of ten Gold Footprint awards and now the coveted Spectrum award."
The winning Right Royal Affair campaign was based on the need of Gateway to take its annual Vodacom Durban July campaign and grow it from a typical fashion show into a day and night entertainment extravaganza, supported by an integrated six week build up campaign and massive entertainment offering. As a result 'A Right Royal Affair' was born.
The campaign encompassed a number of innovative elements, most noteworthy of which were: 5fm and its flagship Fresh Drive broadcasting live at Gateway, the Fashion Preview Show that showcased top local designers and a free local music concert.
Gateway marketing manager, Penny Barlow, explains that the ability of the campaign to secure cash sponsorship hinges off a strategy of developing campaigns into brands that were developed by Primedia Lifestyle Marketing Services four years ago. "This is now starting to secure interest from top brands and reinforcing malls as high effective, return on investment sponsorship and activation platforms.
"In this particular case, the campaign leveraged off the Vodacom Durban July as one of the biggest events in Durban to attract local and national visitors. It therefore makes sense for us to take advantage of this highly publicised platform, with an annual campaign that represents great brand-event affiliation."
Key partners that allowed this to happen include the City of Durban/EThekwini Municipality and national radio station 5fm.
Overall, Mayne adds that one of the most pleasing aspects of the group's achievements at this year's various award events was clear evidence of the benefits derived from the synergy of the various businesses within the group. For example, the fact that creative agency Red Pixel worked on all but four of the winning campaigns and CRM/digital specialist Source produced an app and Facebook tab for the campaign. This involvement stems from the close partnership between this creatively aligned business and the other units within the Primedia Lifestyle Group.
