Not everyone has a screaming eagle tattooed across their back, courtesy of a night out on the town in their younger, wilder days. And not everyone would think about having it removed while cruising the mall.
Nonetheless, one Los Angeles businessman who specializes in laser tattoo removal managed to boost his business by advertising on Mall Radio, a music and advertising system in place in 48 malls nationwide. The medium has proven so successful, it’s scheduled to launch in another 50 malls by early 2006.
James Morel, also known as "Dr. Tattoff," did not have a prior presence at Culver City's Westfield Shoppingtown Fox Hills. But the ads for his services that aired over the in-mall network drove traffic to an in-mall table that Mall Radio set up for him, where within two weeks he booked at least 30 appointments for tattoo removals at about $1,000 each, well surpassing his setup cost of a few thousand dollars. Dr. Tattoff did not track how many people inquired about laser removal.
"Dr. Tattoff came to us and said he wanted to reach people who were in the mall, and we thought Fox Hill, which has more of an urban demographic, was a good fit," says Ken Levine, CEO of three-year-old Mall Radio. "Nobody would have known to look for a laser tattoo-removal service in a mall, but with the messages we were able to drive traffic."
Levine says Mall Radio will use up to 400 speakers in a mall to allow its messages to reach at least 90% of common areas. Microphones are also installed throughout the mall to ensure that the message is "louder than mall noise, but not too loud that customers cannot carry on a conversation." The advertisements are played three decibels louder than the music, which Levine said is "not so loud that it will blow the customers away."
Though the company's mission was to drive mall traffic to in-center stores, Levine says the Dr. Tattoff campaign in November not only will help his company sell the service to more malls but will also help outside businesses understand that they can attract mall traffic without having a mall store.
Mall Radio, taking advantage of reports that mall holiday traffic has been down compared to last year, also send an e-mail blast to clients such as Radio Shack, Zales, and Clinique, letting their ad buyers know it wasn't too late to advertise for the holidays. Levine says many of his clients replied within 24 hours saying they wanted to partake.
Mall Radio isn’t the only new tactic brands are trying in order to reach consumers at the shopping malls. For example:
- In November, Simon Property Group installed interactive, digital signage in and around two malls in Atlanta and Westminster, CA. The signs, managed by Smart Sign Media, pick up FM radio signals in passing cars and tailor the signs’ messages to the demographics of the radio stations playing in the cars; they also give passersby text codes to request more information via cell phone. (To read more, go to “Simon Malls Tailor Ads to Passersby.”
- Cadillac put an upscale spin on the old cars-parked-in-the-mall idea by displaying vehicles in Atlanta's Phipps Plaza. The sponsorship and branding campaign, which began in July, includes brand ambassadors educating shoppers on the weekends and free valet parking for Cadillac owners at a branded garage, and is being rolled out to the Town Center at Boca Raton. Click here for more details.
