In a bid to connect with teen shoppers, the Halifax Shopping Centre has launched a contest campaign that offers consumers the chance to become the mall’s official video blogger for a year.
The “Start fall with a haul” contest is based on the concept of the “haul video”–a practice wherein consumers, primarily teens and young adults, record the results of their shopping excursions on camera and post the videos to sites such as YouTube.
Halifax Shopping Centre is inviting local consumers to submit their own two-minute haul videos to a web application accessed through the mall’s Facebook page. The videos are then subject to online voting.
The two top-voted entrants from each three-week phase of the contest each receive $260 in mall gift cards. These four contestants will also face off on Oct. 2 in a real-life competition for the grand prize.
In this final phase, a panel of local fashion personalities will judge the contestants as they complete a series of live-action tasks.
The winner will become Halifax Shopping Centre’s video blogger, a position that requires the posting of a new haul video every two weeks. The winner also receives $100 in mall gift cards on a bi-weekly basis over this time period.
The contest is supported by print, radio, online, mall poster and point-of-sale advertising. Both the contest and the associated creative were developed by Halifax agency Trampoline Branding.
Brad Dykema, creative director at Trampoline, said the contest represents a new twist on typical back-to-school campaigns.
“Halifax Shopping Centre wants and needs a presence at back-to-school time, but they wanted to do something a little more unique than just say ‘back-to-school,’ ” Dykema said. “We wanted to get something out there that would talk to this student demographic on their level.”
Linda Townsend, marketing director for Halifax Shopping Centre, also expects the campaign to resonate with its young target audience.
“We’re really hoping it goes viral,” said Townsend. “It’s something [contestants] can share with their friends and have fun with, and at the same time we’re getting our message across.”
Halifax alt-weekly The Coast and local radio station 101.3 The Bounce are the primary media partners for the campaign, with a Bounce DJ scheduled to conduct regular on-air reviews of submitted videos.
