Marketing Trendz Volum 23 September/October 2018 Abridged | Page 4

community relations BOOKMARK THIS With a rise in temperature, Quinte Mall talks titles Last year, Quinte Mall (Belleville, Canada) started Cub Club, a children’s reading program, to support the cause and strengthen community relations. Combined with the success of the club, the shopping center’s positive working relationship with tenants Chapters and Starbucks led to the natural evolution of the initiative and the addition of an adult program. Originally designed to run a full calendar year, in January the team decided to span the program over three months (June, July, and August). Described as long enough to engage current customers and attract new ones without imposing a long-term commitment, the QM Summer Book Club aimed to gain the interest of seasonal readers. “There are thankfully billions of people in the world [who] still love the feel of a book in their hands for reading. Summer is a great time [to read] as many people plan vacations or downtime to indulge in scratching some book titles off their reading wish list. We asked Chapters to choose the titles based on current store goals and promotions, and touch on multiple genres to reach a broad range of customers,” noted Erin Graham, marketing manager for Quinte Mall. As a plus, the mall invited readers to participate in monthly discussions over coffee and cookies. Here’s a closer look at the strategy behind the book club program and its expansion: THE RUNDOWN • After meeting with Chapters about the program early on, the marketing team touched base with the retailer’s team throughout the year to decide on club meeting timing PAGE : 16 • Once Chapters chose the title of the book (one per month), the shopping mall promoted it via social media and other digital platforms •  At the point of sale, shoppers received a bookmark as a tracking card (with space for each of the three titles) and a Starbucks voucher redeemable for a free pastry • By strategically making the tracking card a bookmark, the team expected that readers would use it and keep the program in mind • For tracking purposes, the Starbucks vouchers were color coded each month • Reward levels for the QM Summer Book Club: ∙ Buy three books: Earn one C$5 Chapters gift card (US$3.85) and two C$5 Quinte Mall gift cards ∙ Buy two books: Earn two C$5 Quinte Mall gift cards ∙ Buy one book: Earn one C$5 Quinte Mall gift card • To receive their gift card(s), shoppers were required to show their bookmark to guest services any time after the release of the third title • Since Chapters doesn’t have an interior mall entrance, the promotion helped to increase retail sales and shared traffic REACHING OUT TO READERS • Social: Periodic social media contests to boost the program ∙ To kick off the club, ten copies of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood were given away ∙  To promote the final month, a prize package of all the titles was given away • Digital: Mall website with club details, book titles, and discussion dates