As Westfield prepares to unveil its $1.2 billion Sydney redevelopment in October, CBD shopping centres are upping their game. Assia Benmedjdoub looks behind the recent rebrand of The Galeries Victoria – and gets the verdict from retailers.
Brian and Vincent Wu spent close to two years preparing their seduction of UK retail giant Topshop. The two brothers own and operate Incu, a premium streetwear chain which receives quarterly drops from edgy designer labels such as Alexander Wang, Filippa K, Dion Lee, Goot and Acne.
Key to their bait was a distribution strategy which would allow them to process larger, monthly deliveries from Topshop through a specially branded concept store in Paddington, Sydney. Their persistence paid off in November 2009, when an exclusive ‘Incu Presents Topshop’ site launched both the men’s and women’s wear offer into Australia.
It wasn’t just a well-oiled supply chain which secured them the contract, however – it was a strong aversion to ‘cookie cutter’ marketing, something the two companies avoid as youth-oriented retailers.
In-store art installations, live music sessions, film screenings and designer collaborations are just some of the concepts Incu has pioneered across its five national stores.
It is also these concepts which have, until now, prevented the company from taking part in marketing campaigns at The Galeries Victoria (TGV), the site of their first Incu store.
“We’ve been in The Galeries for eight years now and it holds a special place in our heart because that’s where we started Incu,” explains Incu marketing head Doug Low.
“But we hadn’t been involved in too many marketing initiatives in the past because we didn’t feel comfortable with the marketing direction The Galeries was targeted towards.
However, with the rebrand, we’re really excited to get involved in any future activities.”
Launched over 10 years ago under retail development group Ipoh – which also operates The Strand Arcade, The Queen Victoria Building and Chifley Plaza – the $100 million TGV complex is located in the heart of George Street, Sydney.
It has seen many stores come and go since its inception, with Incu, Superdry, Brent Wilson, Mooks and Nu + Nan among those making up its current fashion offer.
A sobering retail study conducted earlier this year revealed why other retailers may have slipped through the cracks: there was a low awareness of the TGV brand, a challenging floor plan, a lack of ambience and at the heart of it all, a marketing direction which failed to harness its point of difference and engage its target audience.
Marketing manager Kelly Berriman spent the first half of the year working with newly appointed creative agency The Shop to rectify this.
“Every way we looked at this campaign, there seemed to be a disconnect between the existing TGV brand and the centre’s desired ‘boutique’ positioning,” The Shop creative director Dave Mardon says.
“We naturally wanted to evolve the brand in order to create a more intimate synergy between the centre itself and the highly credible ‘boutique’ brands that could be found within it.”
One of the first steps was to rebrand the centre as The Galeries, and push this through an intentionally understated advertising campaign, headed up by Mardon and shot by Chris Searl.
Launched in time for the first set of spring/summer product drops, the creative was loosely based on the ‘street style’ photography of bloggers like The Sartorialist and Facehunter. Youth titles such as Frankie, Yen, Monster Children and Oyster were selected as the right avenues to publicise the change to its target market.
But it is the online strategy, which includes social media platforms and a revamped website, which has Nu + Nan founder Cleo Chow most excited.
“Our customers are young, edgy and rely on web content to keep up with trends and information put out by fashion brands,” she says. “We need to continually increase our online presence and not lag behind, especially as we have now launched an online store.”
A new blog-based lifestyle website, thegaleries.com, is at the core of this revamp with regular content about fashion, music, design and art. In the opening five days of the campaign, the website received over 3200 unique visitors and 1200 fans in its integrated Facebook page.
For Incu, it is The Galeries’ new focus on live cultural events and installations that’s most in-line with its business. Fixed Up @ The Galeries gave consumers a taste of what they could expect, with a six-week exhibition of fixed gear bike culture taking place during July/August.
Curated by The Shop and sponsored by The Galeries’ retailers Incu, Carhartt and Graniph, it featured photography, artworks and bike installations.
“It was delivered in an authentic way,” Low says. “We’ve found shoppers at The Galeries can often see through fabricated marketing buzz and react negatively to it. The Galeries managed to get riders from Sydney Sunday Sessions to curate the project which translated into a successful exhibition. I think going forward authenticity will be the key in creating any strong marketing initiatives, rather than looking at what other more traditional centres are doing.”
Menswear designer Brent Wilson, whose flagship site is located in the centre, agrees the multichannel approach is an effective strategy for the long term.
“I think it all works so well because it is across so many mediums, meaning it caters to a broader audience,” he says. “I am looking forward to this being a continual campaign and hope that it does not lose momentum once the name change is not so fresh and the rebranding exercise is cemented in.”
But has the campaign generated additional sales or foot traffic since its launch? Several key retailers approached by Ragtrader claim that while it has reinvigorated and “energised” the centre, it is still too early to see any tangible results. Nu + Nan is among those recording a “consistent” performance.
“The centre’s strong fashion appeal had not declined as far as Nu + Nan is concerned and our usual trading has not changed noticeably,” Chow says. “We have a mix of regular and new customers that seems to remain fairly consistent.”
Incu is equally cautious in its response. “The timing of the rebrand was undertaken in an unfortunate time in the retail landscape, so foot traffic and sales have been relatively flat,” Low says. “That said, a rebrand is always a long-term initiative and it’s rare to see results instantly in changing a consumers perception.
“We’re confident that The Galeries’ unique offering will allow it to differentiate itself from other shopping centres in the city.”