Westfield reveals long-term fashion strategy
Just weeks after launching the second installment of its quarterly glossy magazine promoting the offerings at its upmarket Bondi Junction site, Westfield has announced plans to launch its own television show.
Details surrounding the proposed show are sketchy, however it is understood the brand has formed an alliance with the Seven Network after pairing with it for its Shop for your School community promotion and sponsoring several programs - including Home and Away and Sunrise - on the free-to-air station.
Westfield director of shopping centre management and marketing Gary Williams would not confirm when the program was set to launch, nor its cost, but admitted the program would be seen "sooner rather than later".
The announcement coincides with the introduction earlier this month of a major marketing campaign aimed to position Westfield as a leading provider of up-to-the-minute fashion.
Williams said the campaign, developed by the brand's long-term advertising agency McMann & Tate, was Westfield's biggest to date with a series of commercials cut to both 90 and 30-second executions supported by in-centre, out-of-home and press advertising.
Airing on both free to air and pay TV, five of the commercials feature Paris-based model Laura Goran and New York-based Alex Elliot highlighting major seasonal trends - stripes, the little black dress, metallics, electric colours and spring racing. The remaining five feature Westfield's in-house stylist Fiona Milne, a former fashion director at Elle, highlighting the hottest pieces of the season, describing in detail how they work together and where to get them.
Funded by the malls 12,000 retailers, each of who is required to pay an annual marketing levy dependent on size, the campaign is supported by the launch of Westfield's own branded content website - whatswhat.com.au.
Williams said the site was not set up to compete with other fashion media but has instead been developed to give users the inside word on "what's in, who's got it" and where it can be found.
Williams said the campaign would be bought to life across Westfield's 43 centres over the next 12 months via a range of fashion initiatives including style sessions, seasonal style guides, hot lists, style centres, parades, workshops and VIP customer events.
"430 million punters come to our malls and our fashion tenants account for about 40 percent of our total retailers. With a national platform of centres we can have a national platform of communication with TV or press. But the internet also plays an important part because it can localise what's happening in - where shoppers, retailers and market share expectations are all different."