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The International Council of Shopping Centers has launched, what it calls a “landmark campaign,” aimed at providing a marketing toolkit “to help retailers and owners of retail spaces communicate with one voice through the process of economic reopening.”
The campaign was developed by Makeable. The ICSC said in a statement that the campaign “highlights the relationship ICSC’s members share with consumers and their communities, showing that we can rebuild our communities safely and effectively.” The ICSC noted that the retail sector was one of the hardest-hit business segments by the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization described retail spaces as “pillars of our communities — nearly 25 percent of U.S. jobs are retail-related and the sector generates approximately $400 billion of state and local taxes.”
Brian Flatow, partner of brand innovation at Makeable said the agency “created the branding platform and creative campaign ‘Back. Together.’ for ICSC and its members to celebrate the community and relationships that exist within retail environments for shopping, restaurants, hair salons, gyms and more.”
“‘Back. Together.’ is not about pressuring people to come back,” Flatow said. “It’s about saying, ‘we’re here when you’re ready and we’re doing things responsibly’ and acknowledging we’ve been missing each other — maybe more than we expected.”
Rae Logsdon, senior vice president of communications, marketing, publishing and research at the ICSC, said the organization’s members have faced “incredible hardship over the past several months — and our communities are hurting because of it.”
“’Back. Together.’ appropriately balances sensitivity to potential consumer anxieties and optimism about reopenings and returning to our communities and centers,” Logsdon said. “The campaign showcases the relationships and the experiences that our shops and centers bring to life and marks just how integral retail real estate spaces are to our social fabric.”
The campaign also includes a “Back. Together. Video Challenge,” which was rolled out by Urban Edge Properties along with ICSC member companies that include Brixmor Property Group, InvenTrust Properties, Kimco Realty, Linear Retail Properties, Peterson Companies, Phillips Edison & Co. and Weingarten Realty, among others, the ICSC said.
The ICSC said the “Back. Together.” campaign follows the launch of its “Your Business” campaign, which is the ICSC’s first national television campaign that called on elected leaders to create a coronavirus pandemic recovery fund. The America’s Recovery Fund Coalition is a group of “more than 100 industry and business organizations urging the federal action to distribute funds and liquidity to businesses from all industries impacted by COVID-19,” the ICSC said in a statement.
