RESEARCH Strategy to Compete with the call of the mall Darryn - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

RESEARCH Strategy to Compete with the call of the mall Darryn Durno SADC Research Centre

Most of f this we all ready know … • Take care of the 4P’ s (Product, Place, Price and Promotion) • Build good relationships (other tourism attractions, media, tourism associations) • Innovate , change or adapt what you have to attract new markets and offer something new to existing markets • Educate visitors through coordinated marketing (cross marketing) • Collect and use good data about who visits you, when, where from, and what they think of your attraction • Look after the organisation including staff (how can researching your organisation can add value?) • Branding : position your attraction locally and globally • Engage prospects through all six senses (the usual 5 + social media) ... We all need endorsements and referrals Competition makes us more anxious

The call of Engagement the mall ll Friends and socializing Peer appraisal Access (convenience) Popular culture Authentic Democratic and empowering Relevance (personalised) Ownership Value for money Re-invent yourself Innovation Variety of attractions Technology Paco Underhill Customer service (Science of Shopping, Call of the Mall)

10 10 Thin ings Shopping Malls Won't 't Tell You http://www.marketwatch.com/story/10-things-shopping-malls-wont-tell-you-1308954251095 "We're a dying breed” Once a hub of suburban life, are losing ground to online shopping and off-mall locations "Thank goodness you're hungry” "Mall? More like an amusement park” I t’s less about shopping and more about entertainment. Celebrity appearances, on-site health screenings, fashion shows, auto museums, pavilions, aquariums.Extra activities = extra revenue. More time in the mall, more repeat visits, more exposure to products. "We're following your every move” Loyalty programmes, purchase data and smartphones collecting data "Size matters” The size of the mall fully impacts your experience, variety of stores and services you'll find, perceptions of popularity (build it and they will come). Larger shopping centers do a better job of keeping shoppers in the building.

10 Things Zoos Won't Tell You http://www.marketwatch.com/story/10-things-zoos-wont-tell-you-1306528026434 4. "Forget the polar bears. Ride the water slides!” While zoos still rely on gate admissions -- for many, they account for more than 50% of the budget -- they're increasingly incorporating tours, rides and animal attractions to increase profits . In 2006, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium bought a nearby water park and golf course and added souvenir and food carts to the zoo. The food carts alone increased food sales from $20 million to $50 million a year, … "When we're just a park where people come to look at the animals, the visits are not as long and the revenue not as good … ” More commonly, zoos have added attractions that let them charge more without building massive new structures. That primarily includes tours that allow you to get closer to the animals -- skyrides over an exhibit, safari-style treks, feeding stations. A behind-the-scenes rhino and giraffe tour at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park costs $120, three times the price of a $40 admission ticket. But Paul Draper, a recent visitor, said the chance to feed a giraffe and pet a rhinoceros was well worth it, especially considering he'd already paid more than $500 on travel expenses for the vacation. "It gave me an effervescent feeling," said the Las Vegas musician. "How often in life do you get to say you've touched a rhino?"

A conversation about … QUALITY UTILITY What type of data How are we going do we need? to use it?

RATIONALE Big 5, little 5

museums

Top ranking visitor attractions (WESGRO. CT, Q1 2016)

CULTURAL Top ranking visitor attractions (Standish. CT, 2014) Standish, B and White, J. 2014. Ranking tourist attractions in Cape Town . Economic Information Services.

Cultural attractions accounts for 4.9% of what tourists do for fun in in the cit ity

Top 20 attractions in Cape Town = = R8.1 .1billion income 1.4% of total revenue Cultural attractions = R111.3million (excluding the Winelands)

CULTURAL ATTRACTIONS WIT ITH BIG IGGEST REVENUE Robben Is Isla land (R76.4m) less than the Township tours (R10.9m) average daily takings than a single store in SA Museum and Gall llery ry (R10.6m) the V&A Waterfront.

… deciding what research and evidence is needed versus what’s nice to have , can be a puzzle.

Lessons fr from the CT CT Cultural Promotion Strategy • A coordinated marketing strategy : Drawing together the fragmented media and communications strategies into a coordinated effort, targeted more specifically to potential cultural consumers using channels and platforms they engage with; • Audience development : Including the development of products (supply side) and audiences (demand orientation), segmenting and targeting local, domestic and international consumers through clearly defined and monitored campaigns; • Research and learning : Informing strategy and programme development with evidence gathered through more reliable research about experiences of target markets and product and service offerings in Cape Town rather than conjecture based on patterns that might not apply to the city; sharing this information to entrepreneurs and stakeholders that can respond to market opportunities;

Lessons fr from the CT CT Cultural Promotion Strategy • Business development and training : Strengthening business and marketing strategy as well as customer service to enhance the sustainability of arts and culture business in the city; • The ‘Eventful City’ programme : Investing in arts and culture events as a means of achieving key social and economic objectives, whilst measuring the relative return on investment of different events to enhance strategic responses and identify additional opportunities; • International exposure and harnessing the potential of intellectual property : Stimulating export promotion as a foreign direct investment strategy; and • Partnership development : Actively facilitating partnerships in response to identified opportunities within the cultural industry arena.

Problem VS. method Surveys are not always the answer

Media use survey 50 Businesses Surveyed 50% in City Bowl, 50% outside R131,8m illion 5% Ave median Total Operating budget marketing spend R9,8m illlion Marketing budget

Undifferentiated strategies 35% Employ marketing Manager Ave # staff = 16; ave # marketing staff 0.6 20% measure marketing ROI 10% use a PR/marketing service

Now conducting an audience survey to understand consumption, segmentation, and identify opportunities for growth Assists large and small enterprises opportunities for collaboration Social and economic outcomes

BUT A SURVEY CANNOT … Tell us what motivates visitors, or how they felt when they visited our spaces, we need to watch them, record them, talk to them.

1. Clarify your strategic objectives. 2. What are your key research questions? keep USE RESEARCH it simple and user-friendly: Do you need a STRATEGICALLY large survey or something more targeted? Do you need to talk to, or watch your visitors? 3. Check what data you already have. Do you need to spend a lot of money or is there data available from secondary sources? 4. Keep it real, operationalise technical and fuzzy terms. What indicators and levels of measurement that management actually will use to make decisions? 5. Where possible, integrate data collection and analysis with existing Multiply the effects by working with others in complimentary industries

Contact details www.sadcresearchcentre.com research@sadcresearchcentre.com Call: +27 (0)83 273 6396 Address: 2 nd Floor, The Armoury, Buchanan Square, 160 Sir Lowry Road, WOODSTOCK 7925 South Africa