Shopping Center Owners See a Future With Bright Lights

Shopping center managers are giving new meaning to the term “retail theater.”

Using the latest in digital and interactive technology, retail center operators are taking a page from the Times Square school of visual display and investing in giant digital signage to promote their venues and tenants.

Newport Beach, Calif.–based Craig Realty Group took the lead in May when it erected four 30-foot LED signs in front of its Citadel Outlets in Los Angeles. Last month, Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group Inc. and its Simon Brand Ventures division hoisted a 20-by-30-foot sign above its Westminster Mall, which fronts the 405 freeway in California’s Orange County. Smaller 9-by-16-foot signs were placed at street level.

The real estate company also installed similar signage at its Lenox Square mall in Atlanta. The signs are the first of their kind in their respective markets, and high-resolution technical capabilities provide light-emitting displays of a type previously seen only in such hot spots as Las Vegas and New York’s Times Square.

“These signs are starting to go up all across the country now,” noted George Whalin, chief executive officer of Retail Management Consultants, based in San Marcos, Calif. “It’s becoming a big deal. They look cool and everything, but it’s hard to evaluate their effectiveness.”

For Craig and Simon, the benefits of the signs are twofold. Both companies are providing a public service by linking the signs with the state’s Amber Alert system, which posts information on child abductions. But they also hope to reap profits from advertising by mall tenants. The signs are also being used to promote the malls in general.

“This represents a significant step forward in transforming our malls into a unique new advertising medium,” said Stewart Stockdale, chief marketing officer at Simon. “Marketers and advertisers are already finding that reaching consumers at the point of purchase offers more flexibility and has an impact that more-traditional advertising mediums can’t match. And we believe that the outdoor digital experience will provide them with a compelling new option.”

Westminster’s signs are provided by Sacramento-based Smart Sign. Accenture, a Chicago-based technology services company, is providing interactive “smart” technology for the signs, which have the capability of detecting FM radio signals from passing motorists and adjusting advertising messages based on the information received. And the system will further allow advertisers to connect with consumers by offering information and coupons that can be received by way of a cell-phone call.

The signage deal complements Simon’s recent alliance with Lamar Advertising Co. to market freestanding, static outdoor-advertising billboards and wallscapes at choice locations throughout the country.

Simon is working with market researchers Arbitron and Scarborough to develop demographic data for advertising planners and buyers including unique shopping center visits, frequency of mall exposures and other information. Simon owns or has an interest in 296 properties across the country.

Following Craig’s installation of signage at the Citadel, company Chief Executive Steven L. Craig was so impressed he bought the company that makes the signs.

Craig Realty closed escrow last month on the purchase of BillBoard Video Inc. Now Craig will explore building more signs around the company’s other retail properties. BillBoard is responsible for 60 percent of the lighted signage in Times Square. About 250,000 commuters view the Citadel’s signage daily, Craig said.

The Citadel recently partnered with advertising firm Clear Channel Outdoor to market the medium to advertisers within the Citadel and beyond.

“This is such a unique out-of-home medium with a wide variety of applications for different real estate ventures other than shopping centers,” Craig said. “In acquiring BillBoard Video, I’m excited to be directly involved in spearheading these advancements in the LED industry, where projected revenues are expected to reach over $4 billion by 2008.We’ve seen how it has created a significant impact for Citadel Outlets from an economic standpoint, both in sales at the center as well as advertising revenues, and look forward to continuing to develop groundbreaking projects in the future.”

Retail consultant Whalin said the only problem facing mall owners is the myriad local ordinances and regulations, which usually prohibit large advertising.

Both the Citadel and Westminster, for example, are prohibited from displaying animated images to freeway traffic.