| For Irene, the General Manager of Retail and Marketing, Sino Estates Management Limited, the term "FMCG" – or Fast Moving Consumer Goods – means more than just products on a supermarket shelf. The acronym is actually used to describe a key sector applied to shopping malls; using gigantic outdoor TV screens, avant-garde art exhibitions, mingled with local and international celebrities and even World Cup extravaganza with TV broadcast for marketing promotion to raise the competitiveness of the mall. All these are part of a dynamic and ever-changing environment in Irene's role as the General Manager of Retail and Marketing, where she is expected to transform large real estate properties such as shopping malls into a huge consumer success with FMCG.
Success of Olympian Proportions
"Tenant mix is the soul of any retail shopping mall", said Irene, as she explains how important it is for any mall to attract more and different tenants for better diversity. Heavy traffic and a professional level of services can attract more shops to be part of a mall and help build up an optimal tenant mix. To increase consumer traffic, Irene thinks the trick is to design the right promotional tactics that attract the right kind of audience.
Irene understands Hong Kong people are often influenced by publicity. Over the years since Olympian City's opening, she tried to bring in a lot creative ideas to the mall, with the gradual introduction of celebrities and activities. Every month there would be something new – popular Asian celebrities, shows and events made their way through the mall, drawing ever increasing numbers of people to investigate what all the fuss was about. TVB's wildly popular "The Super Show" and events around the 2002 and 2006 World Cup were also held.
One trend that has become popular of late is the encouragement of the local community to develop art and display them so that more people come to appreciate the creative talent Hong Kong people have. "We experimented with art festivals, encouraging local talent to display their creativity in a designated exhibition area with a different theme every month," said Irene.
Through her team's efforts, the mall's traffic had increased eight percent in just the last year. And during the World Cup promotion, Olympian City's turnover increased a whopping 28 percent compared to the same period last year. Real estate has also appreciated in the neighbourhood, with about 28,000 households now, and a variety of upscale developments.
Customer relationship management is a major team motto for any estate management company. "To continually drive return customers to a venue, you need to work virtually round-the-clock sometimes, for example, during this year's World Cup, my team set up the VIP room at Olympian City in just three days. We actually slept in tents inside the mall during this project."
"Although creativity is important, not all ideas work well in Hong Kong," said Irene. "The thematic mall concept might work in other countries, but it probably won't work here. While Hong Kong residents love new things, we need to be smart how we go about attracting their attention." Irene felt any theme mall wouldn't really work for Hong Kong. "As long as something is new and interesting, Hong Kong residents will pay attention."
Irene says many of her best ideas have come from observing promotions in places like Las Vegas. "I love Vegas. I love taking ideas from the West and figuring out how to blend them with ideas from the East to make them even better ideas." For example, on one of her trips to Vegas, she was inspired by the use of Greek mythology in a venue setting. Irene then incorporated this idea into a Christmas theme for the mall, placing a Greek goddess alongside Santa Claus and playing a Christmas song to create something new for Hong Kong residents. In addition to her travels, Irene finds ideas through other sources, such as media, to further boost her creative thinking. She reads daily newspapers, property publications, entertainment magazines and watches television and movies. She also draws from the diverse talents of her team members who come from different backgrounds, including public relations, film production, event management, and even the fashion business.
Future of Retail Shopping
So what's in store for the future? "I think we need to communicate better with people, especially the younger generation," she said. "We are investigating areas where we can attract the younger crowd, such as adding more interactive features into our website when we discovered that our home page attracts quite a high visitor rate."
"I love what I do," concluded Irene. "Although there's been a lot of competition in recent years, we know we are on the right track. There will always be competition, in any industry. If you don't have competition, it probably means you are not in an attractive business. So welcoming new challenges and learning to overcome them can only make you better and more successful."
(Last updated: 28th July, 2006)
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