tHE SQUARE SHOPPING CNEtRE

JULy 13TSQ

#01

tsq jULy 13

//02CenTremanagerS welCome

Welcome to the latest issue of The Square’s retailer newletter - now re-named TSQ. I am delighted to take on the role of Centre Manager and would like to thank you all for the warm welcome I have received.

I am very pleased to be given the opportunity to manage such a community focused shopping environment and with a busy summer of events ahead of us, I’m expecting to welcome more visitors than ever to The Square.

Footfall at the centre continues to steadily grow and we are continuing to focus on increasing both numbers and dwell time. With free Wi-Fi, new bike parking and even more seating, The Square is a great place to shop and relax.

Supported by a dedicated team of staff, I will continue to work to draw in greater visitor numbers and make The Square an ever-more welcoming place to visit.

If you have any comments or suggestion please feel free to contact me.

With kind regards

Paul WatkinsCentre Manager

Any IdeAS For An evenT?

Contact our Marketing executive leigh.brown@eur@cushwake.com

Are you FolloWIng uS?

@TheSquare_Brum

/TheSquareShoppingCentreBirmingham

tHE SQUARE SHOPPING CNEtRE

Shopping Centre WiFi is becoming an increasingly valuable asset as customers seek free public WiFi as part of their overall shopping experience.

research by o2 has shown some rather insightful finin in that;

nearly 3 in 5 people connect online when out shopping, one in ten have changed venue because of lack of internet access and 20% feel frustrated when business doesn’t offer free WiFi. But what does that mean to us?It means we have a real pull factor on our

hands that we have the opportunity to exploit! over the summer, we will be running a short capaingn to get our shoppers online an we need you to help us! It’s early doors yet, but if you think you’ve had a light bulb moment, please get in touch.

//03ConneCTingTo ourShopperS

tsq jULy 13

last month we commissioned Sarah, a photographer to come and take some pictures of The Square in all its glory for use on the website, social media etc. It was a task well overdue – the centre had not been professionally photographed in almost 30 years and of course, a lot has changed since then. With the weather being so unpredictable, the shoot was called to an end earlier than we’d have liked so Sarah will be back very soon to visit those of you she missed out last time.

In the meantime, here are a few of our favourite photos from last time!

//04Say CheeSe!

tHE SQUARE SHOPPING CNEtRE

tsq jULy 13

The big1107hiT

A new national campaign aimed at getting more people active is coming to The Square! The Big Hit will open a temporary ‘high street’ squash court in The Pop-up Shop between Thursday 11 and Saturday 13 July giving our shoppers the opportunity to try their hand at squash and racketball in the centre.

//06SummerevenTS aTThe SQuare

Now a peranent fixture, Bert & Gert’s Monthly Urban & Vimntage Market visits The Squre on the first Saturday of every month with handmade crafts, vintage delights and of course cupcakes. The markets will continue as usual throughout the summer, but keep an eye out for a few new stalls!

berT & gerTS monThlymarkeT

It’s that time of year again when The Square is alive with activity! We already have a few events planned but the more the merrier! If you have any ideas for an event or promotion, please get in touch.

tHE SQUARE SHOPPING CNEtRE

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If you go do down to The Square today you’re sure of a big surprise...

yep! our pop-up park. Whilst we have noticed a few regulars visiting the centre over the lunchtime period specifically to come and buy and eat lunch, a lot of people in the city are still unaware the park exists. now, we are all for keeping secrets – but this one doesn’t count! We want to raise awareness of the park and that’s why this year’s ‘big’ campaign is an urban Picnic In The Park.

The 4 week campaign will begin in late august and will be supported by radio,

print and digital advertising. We will hold two event Thursdays with a little extra something going on – but we are keeping tight lipped for now! As you may have already guessed, the creative theme for the campaign is based on the Teddy Bear’s Picnic Song which opens the doors for lots of quirky fun ideas. Teddy Bear suit anyone?

Although we will focus on the food offer, we want you all to be involved so if you have any ideas you’d like to put forward, we’d be happy to hear them. Just get in touch with Paul or email leigh.brown@eur.cushwake.com.

tsq jULy 13

//08

how To geT The moST from SoCial media

user generated content (reTweets or post sharing) is a gift! Customers love to see their content reposted and it makes them feel appreciated!

Be mindful that you don’t over-do it though - you don’t want your page to become a second hand source of information.

The customer’s profile extends to far beyond what you as a retailer can offer. But this isn’t a negative, it’s an opportunity!

you can enrich your brand by something as simple as association. By occasionally including content from outside of your brand or product area that is of interest to the customer, you are positioning yourself to have things in common with them. you’ll appear to be on their wavelength.

did you know that research has shown 90% of Facebook users don’t return to a fan page once they click the like button?

That means they only see and interact with content in their news feed. The problem with this is that on average only about 3-5%of fans will have your post appear in their news feed. This is because Facebook essentially limits the publicisation of posts in relation to the engagement (likes, clicks, comments, shares) it initially receives. only when a post gets a substantial amount of engagement will it be more widely exposed in fan feeds. This means the quality of posts must improve in order to increase the initial engagement figures and in turn manipulate the ‘limit’ to become somewhat viral.

IMProve your ConTenT enrICH your ConTenT

leArn To SHAre FAn PoSTS

Sounds like an obvious one but customer service is just as important online as it is in real life. don’t leave your profile unattened for days on end - even if you don’t post content, check for messages and comments and respond as appropriate.

Serve your CuSToMerS

tHE SQUARE SHOPPING CNEtRE

how To geT The moST from SoCial media

you get out what you put in. Successful social media profiles don’t just build themselves, it takes effort and perseverence so keep at it!Fan growth rate is a fairly simple way of

establishing how the public are reacting to you and your brand. It is not neccessarily the best measure of Facebook success though. In order to gage real success, you need to increase, track and measure how ‘active’ your fans are.

do they like, share and comment on your posts?

This will determine how much content your fans are actually consuming.Think of it like friends - It’s a lot more valuable to have a small number that are interested in you than a large number who ignore you and have forgotten you even exist!

look Beyond FAn FIgureS

And MoST IMPorTAnTly...

CHooSe THe rIgHT PlATForM

It’s tempting to sign up to every social media platform there is going, but it isn’t neccesary. But which one to choose? knowing how and why you want to use social media is really important in deciding this as each platform serves best for certain taks.

do you want something simple? do you prefer image over text? do you want a simple way to showcase your proucts? do you want to avoid being swamped with stats?

use Instagram

do you want something simple? do you want to send out short, sweet messages like service updates? do you plan on putting out a high volume of content? do you want to network? do you want to get people talking?

use Twitter

do you want the ability to post in many different formats (text, photo, video)? do you want in-depth usage stats? do you want to advertise and campaign?

use Facebook

tsq jULy 13

//10

When building a brand it’s really important to maintain a consistent tone of voice and visuals - it helps us our shoppers understand what we are about and do so with ease. They recognise us.

This is why we have decided to refresh some of our branding and create a set of creative guidelines. We will soon be unveiling new marketing collateral in the centre with phase one consisting of generic banners and posters and phase two consisting of an updated WiFi poster and hanging signage. given that a lot of the public don’t realise that the shops that the shops that face out

onto the street are part of the Square too – this signage will be placed on the perimeter of the Square.

AlSo...

• The Cat’s Protection Charity will be sprucing up some of our vacant unit windows with some vinyls.

• The bunting will be reinstated around the park.

• The beanbags will now be bought out into the park on sunny days to get people to dwell

SpruCing up

Sneak peek! The new branding will be unveiled shortly