It started off as a very different type of visit to what we were used to, with a tour from the centre concierge Daniel. The tour began in the central arcade where we were able to see and interact with the ‘totems’ that Westfield use for in-centre advertising, mall guides and to promote up and coming events. An interesting feature was the ‘find my car’ feature that could be very successful in Australia.
We were then taken through to chestnut plaza- the outdoor shopping area- and we began to realize how big the centre actually was. It became obvious the importance Westfield placed on digital screens, after sighting a large outdoor screen (made by JCDecaux!) as well as two large screens inside that continually swiveled. Daniel highlighted that Westfield was located closely to the Olympic stadium and village, and spoke of the opportunities represented by the 2012 Olympics. He also mentioned the importance of staff who were able to speak and understand a variety of different languages in order to appropriately cater for the influx of tourists during this period. This was followed by a more lighthearted moment of the visit- Daniel’s demonstration of the mobility scooters. Whilst very informative, it did cause a few giggles throughout the group (one unnamed group member in particular!). The tour finished in the food court and was followed by a Q&A session with the centre's PR and community manager; Samantha. Samantha reinforced how important experiential marketing was to the centre – especially in a country that has a huge drive for Internet shopping. In order to attract customers, the centre has to be able to offer the customers an experience that they could not get anywhere else. Examples of methods used to do this are the Justin Beiber concert or the Twilight Movie Premiere. Sam also spoke about the importance of community involvement and interaction for the centres success. Westfield in Stratford is located in the borough of Newham in East London, which is one of the poorest boroughs in London. It is a very ethnically diverse area with over 90 languages spoken. In order to have community support for the centre, Westfield worked with the community prior to opening, continually hosts events to engage the community (e.g. Christmas choirs from local schools, or the ‘bridge’ festival) and heavily encourage retailers to recruit locally. In fact, of the 10,000 jobs the centre created, 2,000 are held by local residents. Sam emphasized how important community support was in the centre's success and believed it made the brand much stronger. The Westfield company visit was very entertaining and informative, and will no doubt be remembered by the group.
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