Division A - Public Relations Programs
Category 7 - Promotional/Marketing
Silver Sands Factory Stores Autumn Tides Promotion
Silver Sands Factory Stores

Judges' Award


Research/Situation Analysis: As the nation's largest designer outlet center, Silver Sands Factory Stores sees over six million shoppers each year. Due to Silver Sands' unique location between Destin, Fla. and the Beaches of South Walton area, seventy percent of these shoppers are tourists visiting these popular vacation destinations. Labor Day weekend marks the end of another summer season and with it, traffic and sales slow down considerably. In an effort to increase traffic during the slower season, Silver Sands partnered with Beaches of South Walton's Tourist Development Council for their Autumn Tides program. Autumn Tides is a series of fall events created to attract visitors to the Emerald Coast area during the beautiful fall season. In past years, Silver Sands participated by hosting a Heritage Festival and offering local artist Donna Burgess' official Autumn Tides watercolor print as a gift-with-purchase for a ten-day period. Post-event evaluations showed that shoppers visiting the center were more interested in spending their day shopping the 100 plus stores than attending a festival. As a result, Silver Sands' marketing team decided to discontinue the festival and focus solely on the widely popular gift-with-purchase promotion.

Objectives: To maximize the 2006 Silver Sands Autumn Tides Event by achieving the following by October 31, 2006:

• A 300% increase in gift-with-purchase redemptions.
• A 300% increase in total sales of receipts redeemed.
• A minimum of 700,000 impressions collectively of print, television and internet media.

Implementation:

 

• To maximize the event, Silver Sands' marketing team extended the gift-with-purchase promotion for the entire month of October.
• Silver Sands attended Autumn Tides Media Day to unveil Donna Burgess' 2006 Autumn Tides print and distribute press kits to local and regional media. An interview on the local ABC affiliate's morning show also took place.
• The Silver Sands marketing team personally visited over 100 hospitality, community and media partners to give them gift bags and prints to display. Each print had a sticker across the top that detailed the promotion at Silver Sands. (reference enclosed snipe)
• A tenant kick-off meeting was held the week before the promotion to give each store promotional items including a print to display in their store, counter cards and brochures. 
• Two artist signing receptions were held at Off 5th, Saks Fifth Avenue Outlet on Saturday, October 14 and Saturday, October 28 from 1 ¡V 4 p.m. Shoppers had the opportunity to enjoy refreshments and have their prints autographed by Donna Burgess. 
• Both the promotion and signing receptions were promoted by heavy marketing and public relations efforts, including press releases and calendar listings to all local print, television and Internet media, print and radio advertisements and on-site marketing, including sidewalk signs and posters.

Evaluation:

•  While only 740 prints were distributed in 2005 during the ten-day period, 3,065 prints were distributed during the 2006 Autumn Tides month long promotion, a 314% increase over the previous year. When comparing the same time period between 2005 and 2006, the number of prints given away during the ten-day period for 2006 still increased by 96%.
• Based on data provided by Silver Sands Shopper Services, the sum of all receipts redeemed for the gift-with-purchase totaled over $1.1 million in 2006, a 323% increase over the previous year. When comparing the same time period between 2005 and 2006, sales still increased for 2006 by 108%.
• Silver Sands' public relations team took a proactive approach to present all local media with a print and personally explain the promotion. With the addition of that and the two artist signing receptions, the public relations team generated 1,313,910 print, television and Internet media impressions.

Budget: The total budget for the Silver Sands Autumn Tides promotion was $11, 450, allotted to the following: $7,600 for Autumn Tides prints, $3,500 for advertising, $150 for community visits and $200 for the signing receptions. Based solely upon the sum of all receipts redeemed ($1,123.379.46), extending the duration of the Autumn Tides promotion resulted in a ROI of $1,111,929.