1
DESCRIPTION OF ENTRY
Riverwalk Rewards is a customised smartphone App developed by Lend Lease for Sunshine Plaza
shopping centre.
With a new wave of national brands in place at the Sunshine Plaza’s unique outdoor dining and
entertainment precinct, it was time to replace the historical TV advertising approach and modernise to gain
real time, measurable results.
The team set out to maximise visitation and increase sales for retailers using a loyalty program model,
resulting in the creation of the Riverwalk Rewards App. Capitalising on devoted smartphone user
behaviours, digital trends and proven technology, the Riverwalk Rewards campaign took the centre’s
marketing scope to a new level.
Riverwalk Rewards App
2
BACKGROUND AND MARKETING OBJECTIVES
A unique precinct, a new approach
Sunshine Plaza is the biggest shopping centre on the Sunshine Coast, with over 200 specialty stores
together with Coles, Myer, Target and Kmart, and has been part of the community for over 15
years. Located in Maroochydore, 20 minutes south of popular Noosa Heads, the centre provides a
community-focused trade area where loyalty and repeat visitation can be generated.
Riverwalk is Sunshine Plaza’s unique outdoor offering on the picturesque natural waterway of Cornmeal
Creek, featuring a 12 screen Birch Carroll & Coyle Cinema, tavern, restaurants, cafes and paddle boats for
hire. By late 2013, the Riverwalk precinct had become home to Grill’d, Mad Mex, Chocolateria San Churro
and Shingle Inn. These nationally recognised brands highlighted the opportunity to market Riverwalk as the
region’s one-stop dining and entertainment precinct.
The 2013-2014 Marketing and Business Plan had a keen focus on sustaining customer support for
Riverwalk as a key category pillar of Sunshine Plaza, but with a budget reduction of $92,840.50. The
historical TV advertising approach didn’t offer a quantifiable return on investment for the filming and
additional airtime booking costs. A more personalised digital experience would re-design customer
interaction and increase social media activity. The aim was to create an innovative digital marketing initiative
for this high performing precinct to broaden Sunshine Plaza’s marketing scope.
The following strategies were set:
 Develop and deliver a campaign that leverages Sunshine Plaza’s key competitive advantage and
effectively engages target customer groups.
 Activate the Riverwalk precinct to enhance the customer experience and drive visitation.
 Boost brand awareness of the Riverwalk using digital platforms (as opposed to traditional) to engage
target audiences through rewards as well as increase awareness through viral messaging.
 Introduce a program to incentivise customers to cross-shop in-centre, increasing dwell time, converting
mission shoppers to leisure shoppers and driving average spend across numerous categories.
Six key objectives supported the strategies:
 Improve sales results for Riverwalk dining precinct by 2% on the previous year.
 Maximise opportunities for the centre by increasing traffic by 2%.
 Create a Riverwalk Rewards App to achieve 2,000 downloads.
 Increase user data and online database registrations by 1,400 for push notifications and electronic
direct marketing.
 Increase Facebook daily check-ins and activity by 50%.
 Achieve $2785.22 in contra support through retailer participation to enhance Riverwalk visitations.
Smartphone App & Interaction Rewards
New research released by Google and IPSOS Research ranked Australia second in the world for
smartphone penetration, with 37% of people owning a smartphone. Smartphone users devote over an hour
each day to their device whilst performing tasks like queuing, travelling, entertaining and socialising. With
this knowledge, Sunshine Plaza devised a cutting edge campaign to execute a customised smartphone
App (for iPhone and android) aimed at maximising visitation and increasing sales for Riverwalk retailers,
resulting in the creation of Sunshine Plaza Riverwalk Rewards.
Increased social media interaction was a key function of the App strategy which led the marketing team to
devise a rewards based loyalty program. The aim was to drive average customer spend by incorporating
incentives and implementing strategies to increase customer dwell time and convert mission shoppers to
leisure shoppers. Riverwalk Rewards enabled Sunshine Plaza customers to earn points for having and
sharing their memorable experiences using the App’s Facebook connectivity. The Facebook connectivity
features rewarded customers for checking-in, uploading photos and sharing the App with friends.
This digital interaction sent the campaign viral enabling significant data capture and facilitating push
notifications to customer mobiles, delivering up-to-the minute information and offers up-selling and crossselling the array of quality Sunshine Plaza retailers.
Riverwalk Rewards App
3
IMPLEMENTATION
Retailer value
A goal was to enable content to be received by customers in a relevant and
direct way through onsite and in-store marketing calls-to-action. This required
“Fantastic
retailer support, so consultation was undertaken through direct liaison and
initiative, we
presentations to ensure their awareness and support of the campaign. In
can’t wait to be
response, retailers provided over $6498.84 worth of contra offers to showcase
involved.”
on the App, on top of discounted cinema tickets, dining vouchers and coffee
cards to enhance Riverwalk visitations. Compelling customer offers and
Shingle Inn
Riverwalk dining and entertainment options were profiled on over 15,000 push
notifications direct to customer mobile devices, achieving a highly targeted
readership. The App also provided a valuable consumer insight for retailers through a Control Management
System (CMS), which showed the amount of points redeemed, on what day and at what time.
Digital and onsite marketing
The Lend Lease marketing material suite included retailer table top collateral, onsite demonstration events
and onsite signage. QR codes linking to the App featured heavily in the campaign to direct customers - the
devoted smartphone user - to download the App on the spot. The campaign also encouraged customers to
join Sunshine Plaza’s online loyalty club increasing website traffic. Data collected from the App was
transferred immediately to Sunshine Plaza’s new electronic direct marketing system subscribers list, also
increasing readership.
Riverwalk restaurants and movie releases were promoted on
planned Facebook broadcasts and conversational updates like:
‘Why stay at home and cook when you can dine along the Riverwalk
and be rewarded?’ in the first three months. Taking a digital
approach using Facebook, Sunshine Plaza website and push
notifications saved the marketing team time on manual intervention
and traditional campaign costs, removing the need to undertake
radio and newspaper advertising.
“The Riverwalk signage
is brilliant, very clever
use of space and
getting the word out to
the customers.” Grill’d
Apple App Top 10
An App provided Sunshine Plaza with a new way to connect and engage with customers. VenueApp was
selected for customisation and affordability, and its development was tailored to suit the distinct needs of
the Riverwalk precinct. Riverwalk Rewards displayed all precinct retailers and included information such as
special offers, their full menu and upcoming events or entertainment. This high quality, proven technology,
smartphone App display saw Riverwalk Rewards rise to #6 in the Apple App store rankings for food and
drink. A unheard of achievement for any new App, but even more so for Riverwalk Rewards considering its
focus on a regional trade area and being elevated against national brands such as Dominos, McDonalds
and Starbucks. Riverwalk Rewards secured almost 33,000 App opens and over 7,500 App shares in the
first three months.
Facebook integration
The Facebook element aimed to entice customers to return to the Riverwalk and say so on social media.
Sunshine Plaza had already experienced great success in the digital space with the centre’s Facebook
page gaining over 11,000 likes, leading the Lend Lease portfolio for rolling out initiatives such as the Great
Gift Giveaway and Celebrity Facebook Fashion. Connecting the App to customers’ Facebook accounts
encouraged photo broadcasting and viral messaging. Reward points were earned through the Facebook
check-in and upload photo functions. Resulting with daily check-ins rising by over 520%, user generated
content was three-fold in marketing benefits: reaching customers, potential customers and friends of
customers.
Riverwalk Rewards App
4
RESULTS
Remarkable results
A digital initiative offering a personalised engagement experience reshaped customer interaction and
social media marketing strategies at Sunshine Plaza achieving the campaign objectives. In its first three
months, from September 2013 to November 2013, the App achieved the following results against the
campaign objectives:
Objective
Result
Improve sales results for Riverwalk dining precinct
by 2% previous year.
Sales +40% for licence restaurants.
Maximise opportunities for the centre by
increasing traffic by 2%.
Traffic +3%.
Create a Riverwalk Rewards App to achieve
2,000 downloads.
Ranked #6 Apple App store for food and drink.
32,624 total App opens.
4,026 App downloads were achieved.
320 App opens per day - approximately one App
opened every two minutes on an average trading
day.
7.5 x average opens per user.
40.5% users opened the App more than three
times.
7,579 App shares to friends.
Increase user data and online database
registrations by 1,400 for push notifications and
direct marketing.
2,935 registered users.
72% female and 28% male users.
Over 15,000 push notifications directly to
customer devices.
Increase Facebook daily check-ins and activity by
50%.
Up 524%, daily check-ins rose from 24 to 126.
10,844 total check-ins.
1,973 friends tagged.
5,231 photos shared.
Achieve $2785.22 in contra support through
retailer participation to enhance Riverwalk
visitations.
$6498.84 worth of contra support was achieved
and showcased in the App.
Over 250,000 points earned through the App.
The results show Riverwalk Rewards was the ideal digital initiative to showcase Sunshine Plaza’s drawcard
precinct. The vision of a personalised experience through digital marketing has enhanced customer
interaction and increased social media activity at Sunshine Plaza. The digital initiative has been so powerful
that it provided opportunities to grow the marketing budget by 42%, making the marketing dollar work harder
and more effectively. As changes in technology occur, Lend Lease will further enhance interactions with
customers by continuing to implement targeted digital marketing activities to capitalise on sales, traffic,
retailer participation and data capture benefits.
The Riverwalk Rewards App remains a key element of the Sunshine Plaza Marketing and Business Plan.
The App remains live and utilised by customers. Development is underway for the next campaign to cross
promote the Riverwalk precinct with Sunshine Plaza’s superior fashion offering, utilising the App function
to reward further spend in centre.
Riverwalk Rewards App
5
BUDGET
Significant savings
The launch budget was $65595.53 which included initial set up
costs for the App to be customised to the Lend Lease centre’s
branding. As well as saving on agency brief and concept design
costs, the real cost savings of using a tried and tested platform will
continue to be realised.
“I have been at the
centre for 10 years,
and this is the best
campaign I have
ever seen.”
In terms of the traditional to digital transition, instead of 100% of
the budget lining the pockets of the television networks for
airtime the funds were put straight into the tills of Riverwalk
retailers. Only $7427.24 was applied to traditional radio and
billboard advertising as well as a minimal budget of $464.20 on
Facebook advertising. Centre signage, table talkers and
promotional staff maximised the in centre promotion through
retail theatre.
Riba Kai Cafe
Campaign Costs
Campaign collateral and enablers - branding, artwork and production
$12,997.67
App development - set-up, customisation and individual retailer photography
$9,005.53
Printing and installation of signage – billboard, coreflutes and hanging banners
$7,427.24
Incentives and giveaways expenses – 1,000 movie passes, 900 x $18.57 gift cards
and 300 x $9.28 gift cards
$28,087.96
Radio advertising – Sea and Mix FM
$2,785.22
Live advertising - walking billboard promo team
$4,642.03
Facebook advertising
$464.20
Website electronic direct marketing
$185.68
Total Campaign Cost
$65,595.53
Total Marketing Budget (2013-2014)
$1.299
million
Percentage of total annual marketing budget
5.05%
Return on investment
ROI calculation = sales gain - campaign cost/campaign cost
Sales gain of $761,817.58 from September to November 2013 from Licenced Restaurants
Campaign cost = $65,595.53
ROI = 1:10.72
Riverwalk Rewards App