Is it a SHOPPING CENTRE or a MULTI MEDIA EXPERIENCE?

As a long term proponent of the changing role of the shopping centre, even I was taken aback recently by the media facilities provided by one of the worlds top retail developers and owners.

In a major regional shopping centre I saw a multi media facility which looked like something you would find in a state of the art theatre or TV station! Basically the flight deck of the Starship Enterprise! Gone are the days when the only monitor screens you will find are for security cameras.

So if you as a property owner have been wondering just what can be involved when embracing the quest for achieving real customer experience this may well be one of the cornerstones of the new world as it is today. And if you don’t have it or aren’t already building it then you are late to the party but probably not too late at this stage as I guess what I saw is state of the art and not yet that common.

I am talking about a central control and directing room that regards the entire shopping environment as the stage, where the sound, lighting, projecting, screen walls, fountains and in some places raisable floors are coordinated. It operates within a very flexible built environment which facilitates the rapid changing in form of some spaces to move easily from piazza to live theatre. Pop-Up theatre! It synchronizes multi media screens for entertainment, marketing or public service messaging and can integrate everything into social media at a click, real time. If you can imagine it, they can probably create it! Roll on the holograms!

This is set to create a whole new order of complexity in centre positioning and competition as not every centre will easily lend itself to such transition. As a result, there will need to be some very careful evaluations of positioning and segmentation because the investments needed could be substantial. Centre architecture will undoubtedly have to be changed or adjusted if these opportunities are to be maximized.

Whilst volume sales inexorably continue to switch to alternative, convenient channels, the built environments can still hold the trump card for Brand building and positioning and creating the experiences......something which your smartphone, iPad or keyboard will battle to compete with.......and consumers are increasingly more readily prepared to pay for experiences............................