As the luxury retail war continues to heat up in Canada, Square One Shopping Centre is preparing for battle with a spring/summer marketing campaign that speaks to “every woman.”
Launching next week, the effort from the Mississauga, Ont. mall is anchored by high-fashion photography from renowned artist David Drebin and will live across social media, print, out-of-home and on its website.
Shot in Miami over 10 hours, the campaign features model and director Drena DeNiro (Robert DeNiro’s daughter) wearing designer duds in fun and flirty settings. One image captures DeNiro splashing in a large puddle.
“What’s so great about this campaign is there are moments of playfulness, drama, there’s sexiness… every woman goes through that,” said Toni Holley, marketing director for Square One.
Holley said it was a calculated decision to take an artistic approach with this campaign because it “made sense for the luxury customer and women 25-54.”
“It wasn’t a traditional a photo shoot and it’s creating that drama and emotion and evoking that emotion,” she told Marketing. “I don’t think that existed before in our campaigns like it does in this one.”
The campaign launches as the Oxford Properties-owned mall puts the finishing touches on its multi-million dollar expansion, which is slated to open to the public next month.
The new wing on the mall’s south side was Designed by MMC Architechts and will house Michael Kors, Kate Spade New York, BCBGMaxazria, Stuart Weitzman, Harry Rosen and a 130,000-square-foot Holt Renfrew flagship. And, as of March 17, Square One will also be home to Ontario’s first Simon’s location. Since 2013, Square One has spent $480 million redeveloping 2.2 million square feet.
Mall owners and operators are working hard to feed the seemingly endless appetite for high-end retail. Earlier this week Cadillac Fairview launched campaigns in support of Saks Fifth Avenue opening at its CF Eaton Centre and CF Sherway Gardens locations.
Jason Anderson, senior vice-president of marketing at Cadillac Fairview told Marketing its campaign was about “about recognizing that with the arrival of Saks Fifth Avenue, we are attracting a different kind of customer.”
“The luxury category is going to explode over the next few years. [The message] is that Saks is here and you can come here and have a really great shopping experience,” he said.
With experience-based amenities and customer service being such an important differentiator in an extremely crowded up-scale marketplace, Square One plans to offer an enhanced valet service, 863 climate-controlled underground parking spaces.
“The key for us and our strategy is to do what we do best, so for us we feel that is providing exceptional customer experience, creating these innovative and unexpected marketing campaigns and working with great Canadian and international brands,” said Holley. “This recipe we hope will prevail and set us apart.”
NKPR handled public relations around the media tour and campaign launch.
