Future Park lifts ad budget 30%

As its six-month performance this year is likely to fall short of targets, Rangsit Plaza Co, the operator of Future Park Rangsit shopping centre, plans to increase marketing spending by 30% to 200 million baht to draw more shoppers in the second half of the year. Ratana Anuntanupong, vice-president for marketing, said the company would launch two big marketing campaigns in the second half of this year, one of which would be an extra promotion scheme during the year-end festive season.

At the same time, the company will increase the frequency of promotional and marketing events to at least four times a month, from two or three times in the first half of this year.

''As a retailer, we have never offered promotional campaigns to our customers during the festive season since being established in the market for 12 years. But we will do it for the first time this year because the retail market and consumer purchasing power are even tougher this year,'' she said.

Mrs Ratana added that the company expected the number of new shoppers in the first half of this year to grow by 10%, or 13,000 people, from last year's 130,000. So far, the number of shoppers has increased only 5%.

Sales at the mall, particularly for mobile phones, also dropped 4-5%. Also some tenants who used to arrange promotional activities, reduced the events to three days per week from seven.

Additionally, the company plans to spend 200-300 million baht to renovate its fashion zone and mobile zone on the third floor next month. It also wants to build a 10,000-square-metre space for its new outdoor event zone, which is scheduled to be opened soon. Management hopes these projects help it meet its 10% traffic growth target by the end of the year.

''We repositioned our shopping complex to be more premium to be in line with the customer portfolio in this area, which has sharply changed, and to differentiate ourselves,'' she said,

Around 170,000 high-end residential units are planned for nearby areas over the next few years, while the number of universities will rise to 22 from eight.

The company has launched the ''Gourmet Park Enjoy Eating Rally'', from now to July 15, offering 5-20% discounts for customers to eat at food outlets and have a chance to win a trip to Japan in a lucky draw. The campaign is expected to boost overall sales of the entire shopping mall by another 20%.

Source: Bangkok Post by Pitsinee Jitpleecheep
Friday June 15, 2007