Hawthorne Plaza

The Challenge:

Hawthorne Plaza faced challenges and set specific goals, all during a major center-wide renovation.

Hawthorne Plaza, located at the corner of 119th and Roe in Overland Park, is one of a few truly unique shopping destinations in the Kansas City metro. In fact, some store owners, who call KC home, find their merchandise either while traveling the world or sourcing from local artisans. Not only does Hawthorne Plaza have boutique merchants and stores found nowhere else in the area, but also national retailers, such as The Container Store, chose Hawthorne Plaza as their only KC location.

Be that as it may, it was up to EAG Advertising & Marketing to keep merchants and shoppers happy before, during and after a center-wide renovation. This was going to require wearing both thinking caps and hard hats.

CBRE, the world’s largest commercial real estate services company manages Hawthorne Plaza. CBRE representatives set specific goals to achieve during the renovation:

Increase foot traffic
Increase merchants’ sales
Reach 100% occupancy rate

The Solutions:

As construction crews renovated Hawthorne Plaza’s exterior, EAG’s crew broke ground on new campaigns with loud and clear messages to be heard over the sound of jackhammers. Campaigns included:

Digital display advertising via the Google Ad Network made 100,000+ impressions.

Variable print data used merchants’ mail lists to send personalized direct mail at a fraction of what it would cost merchants to do it individually.

A television ad co-op program let merchants participate in advertising that’s usually out of their budget to reach a city-wide audience.

Merchants included offers in a Hawthorne Plaza-branded direct mail piece mailed to 15,000 targeted local residents. Results were measured by collecting the mailer in exchange for the sale incentive.

E-newsletters let merchants benefit individually and allowed them to add subscribers to the mailing list. Merchants could use our creative design for their own emails or send in their own materiasl.

Dealing with Construction Delays

Keeping shoppers on top of the renovation progress required creativity. Street signage, direct mail and digital marketing provided updates, maps, parking information, sales, offers and even apologies when needed.

EAG hired parking lot attendants to direct traffic and shoppers to parking spaces, as well as helped carry bags to cars with a smile. In the end, smiling was the best part of this strategy.

A Reopening with a Bang

Events

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
2 Radio Station Remote Broadcasts

Media

Pandora & Local Radio Spots
Digital Ads
Facebook Ads

Other Tactics

E-news, Posters, Bag Stuffers, Public Relations

The Results:

Continuous, consistent messaging before, during and after the renovation, along with compelling leasing graphics led to a 100% occupancy rate at Hawthorne Plaza. And, when space opens up, it’s quickly off the market.

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