With 25 years of experience in the retail business (and a 3 year jump to CPG), Simon Property Group’s chief marketing officer Lee Sterling gets up every day excited about connecting shoppers with the best brands in the world through Simon’s portfolio of over 200 shopping centers.
“Our portfolio includes some of the country’s most iconic malls and outlet shopping centers, although each has a unique story to tell. With leading-edge fashion, dining and entertainment offerings, and many now with mixed-use, my team is charged with connecting our value proposition to various audiences – ranging from Gen Z and mom, to luxury shoppers and tourists, in each local market, while also creating compelling customer experiences and driving loyalty and sales for our retailers.”
While “online versus in-person shopping” has become a familiar narrative over the past several years, Sterling rebuts that saying “the marketplace is telling us something entirely different. Instead of choosing one or the other, today’s customers are using online and in-person shopping together.”
For example, Simon recently expanded and rebranded its online digital marketplace to ShopSimon, as the next phase in its journey to create the ultimate omnichannel experience. ShopSimon adds on-sale and discounted merchandise, while continuing to offer outlet products from leading brands, and is a comprehensive single source of premium and luxury sale-priced products from more than 360 retailers, including adidas, American Eagle, Cole Haan, Hugo Boss and Steve Madden.
“At Simon, we are committed to innovation and are constantly evolving to meet what our customers want. That includes everything from strategic new development and redevelopment projects at our in-person shopping experiences, to our industry-leading omnichannel strategy – which integrates those in-person experiences with the ease and portability of our digital and e-commerce channels.”
Simon also launched the Meet Me @themall campaign in September and is running through the end of the year. The campaign is based on data that despite their affinity with digital, Gen Z likes to shop in person and craves emotional connections. About 97% of Gen Z survey respondents said they shop at brick-and-mortar stores, according to a 2023 report by the ICSC.
“The connection between Gen Z and the mall is very strong – so strong, in fact, that we made it the focus of our new campaign, “Meet Me @themall.” says Sterling. “Despite the widely held perception that Gen Z is always online, it turns out that they can’t get enough of shopping – and connecting – in person.”
Prior to joining Simon for the first time in 2013, Sterling spent fifteen years at Westfield. Brand Innovators caught up with Sterling from her office in New York to talk about the mall experience, Gen Z and how November and December are the Super Bowl of retail. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
What is your approach to marketing at Simon?
With a diverse portfolio of assets, the key to our marketing is storytelling and amplifying our story to drive traffic and sales to our properties and our retailers. As a company, we are always aiming to be best-in-class through our new and exciting retail, dining and entertainment offerings, omnichannel innovation, and exceptional customer experiences.
Can you talk about the Meet Me @themall campaign and how you’re bringing different audiences to the mall?
The campaign is part of a comprehensive strategy to celebrate mall culture, strengthen connections with customers and invite even more people in to be a part of the mall experience.
Aimed at Gen Z and their parents, the campaign includes a recreation of the Simple Minds song “Don’t You Forget About Me” featured in the iconic film “The Breakfast Club” that asks won’t you meet me at the mall?
With this campaign, we are capturing Gen Z’s love for the mall with its appreciation for retro fashion, music and movies, which were the cultural landmarks of their parents’ youth. It’s a simple invitation for our shoppers to meet up at the mall and enjoy everything that is special about the IRL experience – the shopping, the dining and the entertainment. In a time when people across generations are craving genuine connections more than ever, this is a call to bring your friends and family to experience joy through making connections, enjoying exceptional experiences and creating lasting memories.
We originally launched with our rally cry spot in the Fall and now revisioned for holidays, the commercials are live on premium streaming services such as Netflix, Peacock, Hulu and Disney +, as well as on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Simon’s owned channels and in our shopping centers throughout the country. In addition, we’re supporting our brands and localizing the campaign through 250 social media influencers. The creators are using the song as the music bed to showcase their own mall experience.
We’ve also launched @themall channels on TikTok and Instagram to showcase our diverse experiences and offerings at our malls across the country. The content, through partnerships with Gen Z and mom creators, highlights how the mall is a dynamic third place for spending time with family & friends.
What does the new ShopSimon mean for consumers?
It means the mall never closes! The new ShopSimon offers the brands they love, on sale, 24-7. We have always been that house of brands and have the trust of both consumers and retailers.
And we offer an exceptional customer experience on ShopSimon. The technology behind the platform is advanced with the ability to search by image or color, and by items recommended from your search history. We also offer hyper-personalization to guide customers through the thousands of choices that are available on the site.
Can you talk about how you’re connecting the mall experience to the broader culture?
The mall is the touchstone of the American cultural experience and it has been for generations. Almost everyone can cite a core memory that they’ve had at the mall, whether it’s hanging with friends after school, a first date or your first job. The mall holds a special place in our hearts and minds, and our “Meet Me @themall” campaign celebrates that and invites people to experience joy through making connections, enjoying exceptional experiences and creating lasting memories.
Can you talk about the different ways that you are working with the retailers and brands that you partner with?
We support our 3,000 retailers in various categories through our always-on owned, earned and paid media efforts, and inclusion in our campaigns such as Meet Me @themall. Additionally, they are offered an opportunity to take advantage of our various omnichannel initiatives, including ShopSimon and Simon Search, our in-store product search tool.
Further, retailers and brands reach Simon’s vast and diverse audiences by partnering with Simon on their OOH and digital advertising and in other innovative ways including experiential activations, such as pop-up events or interactive installations, that create memorable brand moments. Collaborations extend to community programming, including events, activations and promotions, hosted at Simon centers.
Can you tell me about trends you expect to see in retail in the coming year?
You’re going to see companies continue to invest in the overall customer experience and focus on reaching consumers where they are with the right product, the right message, in the right location at the right time. At Simon, this means adding to our retail, dining and entertainment offering, continuing to evolve our properties to be the live, work, play and shop destinations for their local communities, and then sharing each property’s unique story via our owned, earned and paid media efforts. At the same time, you will see us continue to innovate in the omnichannel space to ensure the 360-shopping experience is as seamless and as convenient as possible for consumers and driving sales and loyalty for our retailers.
