Centre: Menlyn Park Shopping Centre | Campaign: Destination Winter | Period: 31 March to 28 May 2025

Situation and Insights

As one of South Africa’s largest malls, Menlyn Park is home to multiple premium brands. Market research, however, showed low loyalty and support from higher-income shoppers in its primary node.

Leading up to 2025, rising living costs made consumers cautious, which meant lower sales in discretionary categories such as fashion and apparel as the year progressed. Winter tends to deepen this. Demand exists for specific items like jackets and boots, but overall apparel sales underperform compared to other seasons as consumers shift to essentials.

The Challenge

Menlyn Park already had low support from its immediate, affluent catchment, and it was competing for that segment’s discretionary fashion spend against super regional giants Sandton City and Mall of Africa. The marketing team needed to elevate Menlyn Park’s position as a leading, fashion-forward shopping destination. The goal was to guide shoppers toward seasonal fashion trends and drive foot traffic and sales, while ensuring visitors felt relaxed, amazed and spoilt in the centre.

Objectives

• Brand positioning: Empower shoppers with clear, actionable guidance on interpreting key winter fashion trends.
• Brand visibility: Generate significant reach and PR value to put Menlyn on top of the “what to do and where to go” lists for Gauteng.
• Enhance experience and engagement: Create novel, interactive and informative experiences through in-centre activations and digital content.
• Drive foot traffic and sales: Convert trend inspiration into direct footfall and measurable apparel spend during the traditional winter slump.

Strategy

The core insight was to position Menlyn Park as the ultimate destination for winter, reflecting the season’s mood through a cosy, introspective atmosphere. The Destination Winter theme was inspired by South Africa’s magical, moody winter settings:

• Fireplaces at cosy Western Cape wine farms
• The silent vistas of the Karoo
• Glistening snow peaks in the Eastern Cape
• The quaint art-towns of Barrydale and Clarens
• Lowveld bush, dusty safaris, rainy forests, drenched beaches and grey inner-city streets

The campaign also played on upcoming winter fashion trends, drawing on moody colours and shades. The inspiration was Pantone’s colour of the year, Mocha Mousse, and the LFW Autumn/Winter 2025 colour grouping, where palette colours like Pinecone, Evening Blue, Storm Front and Sheepskin set the stage for a moody fashion drama.

Tactics and Implementation

Aiming to evoke escapism, adventure and exploration, the team used a multi-faceted approach that leveraged existing activation infrastructure to create a visually exquisite, immersive, trend-focused environment. Aligning physical in-centre displays with a digital trend guide created a seamless omni-channel journey from inspiration to purchase.

In-centre fashion pods. Eight fashion pods were installed throughout the centre, styled as winter destinations to tell the story of the beauty and diversity of South Africa. They acted as backdrops to introduce the latest winter style trends. Carefully selected macro and micro influencers curated the pods, which showcased specific trends featuring tenant products. The installations included influencer quotes for ambiance, guidance on product location, and QR codes to download the digital trend guide.

Digital trend guide. The Winter Edit digital magazine showcased a wide range of tenant products aligned with the trends, moods and influencers presented in the pods.

Editorial collaborations. To launch the campaign, partnerships and added value were secured with Via, GQ and Glamour. These included fashion shoots and an interactive styling workshop hosted by fashion editors and celebrity fashion influencers, which drew high public interest and attendance while driving strong PR and media reach.

Campaign amplification. Communication ran as a through-the-line approach:

• OOH: Digital OOH and billboards on highways and main roads leading to Menlyn Park created anticipation and excitement.
• Digital: A targeted campaign aimed at the immediate catchment audience used social media channels, programmatic, online and D6 schools advertising.
• PR: A comprehensive strategy leveraged broadcast and editorial channels to amplify the message and create word-of-mouth awareness.
• In-centre: Digital and printed signage closed the communications loop with compelling calls to action.

Social content. Social media reels covered West Coast, Garden Route, Durban and Winelands styles. Influencer reels featured Grant Kekana, Madeline Rossouw, Little Alico and Simoné Pretorius, and postcards covered Jozi and Drakensberg styles, with Molife Kumona.

Results

Brand positioning and visibility

• Campaign exposure: 24 million total reach
• Digital advertising: 342,906 programmatic impressions, 2,595 tracked store visits and 280,010 D6 advertising impressions
• Advertising performance: 9.3 million campaign reach
• Social and influencer performance: 8.36 million paid social reach, 660,000 influencer video views and 744,280 social engagements
• Trend guide: 723,007 engagements, 26,725 link clicks and 12,050 downloads, a 969% increase compared to previous trend guide performance
• PR value generated: R19.8 million

Foot traffic and sales

• Retail impact: 113 participating tenants and 1,150 products featured, valued at R1.4 million
• Foot traffic: +3% in April and +5% in May
• Car traffic: +2% in April and +18% in May
• Dwell time: +20 minutes on average
• Retailer sentiment: 75% of retailers reported increased sales
• Turnover growth: Fashion category turnover rose 5% year-on-year in April, against 5.2% SA retail growth, and 7% in May, against 4.2% SA retail growth. This averaged 6% year-on-year.
• Added value from strategic partner collaborations: R976.6K

Budget and ROI

• Annual marketing budget: R9,833,869
• Campaign budget: R2,997,055
• Added value: R21 million, made up of R19,881,243 in PR value and R976,600 in sponsorships, partnerships and discounts
• ROI: 600% uplift, a 1:7 ratio

Conclusion

The Destination Winter campaign successfully redefined the winter shopping experience at Menlyn Park. By combining high-impact in-centre installations with strategic influencer and editorial partnerships, it drove brand visibility, increased foot traffic and provided a measurable boost to tenant sales.