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SIMON PROPERTY GROUP
Driving a Company's Sales by Establishing It as a Premier Media Resource
Simon Property Group, the largest mall owner in the world, is a major economic engine in New England. Solomon McCown & Company (SM&) provided public relations services for nine Simon malls, including Copley Place, South Shore Plaza, The Mall at Chestnut Hill, Burlington Mall, and the Cape Cod Mall.
To attract media coverage and drive sales, Simon called on SM& to provide a creative approach that could help their properties rise above the din of advertising. We worked with the corporate office in Indianapolis and individually with each mall (not just the larger malls where media tend to gravitate) to handle crisis communications and to promote stories to the media about sales events and opportunities.
Each holiday season, SM& created innovative, eye-catching press kits, including the award-winning "Yes, Virginia, There Is a Stress-Free Holiday." This kit incorporated a combination of humor and empathy, containing stress-relief items from Simon mall retailers, story ideas and attention-getting copy - all encased in a large cardboard "book" box and hand-delivered to media outlets before the kick-off to the holiday shopping season. The coverage exceeded the malls' public relations goals, making this region one of the top performers across all Simon Properties.
When Simon prepared to welcome department store Nordstrom to the region by opening stores at three properties, SM& was charged with stewarding a highly sensitive press conference. Because both companies are publicly traded, all information had to be held secret until the announcement. SM& rose to the challenge beforehand by arranging 16 interviews in 90 minutes with Simon's president & COO and Nordstrom's CEO, and securing blanket coverage in every Boston, New Hampshire and Providence media outlet.
SM& met challenges like these by creating momentum, by keeping the message consistent throughout the properties and by serving as a tireless liaison between reporters and mall managers. As a result, key retail and television reporters regularly used Simon malls as a valuable resource for retail segments and articles.
