Holiday visits to the mall: They?re not just to see Santa anymore.
Santa will have to move over, because the Baltimore-based Becker group, a marketing solutions provider, has been adding interactive- themed snow globes to malls all across the country.
“Malls need to really create a unique experience for the shopper in order to get them to their retail space and spend time,” said Glenn Tilley, president and chief executive officer of the Becker Group. “So we tell a story, and the stories are told through these larger-than-life animated snow globs, from 8- up to 20-foot snow globes that immerse you. It snows on you and is cold and interactive.”
This year?s globe theme is taken from the current box-office film “Happy Feet,” an animated story about penguins. Last year, the globes were geared toward the release of “The Chronicles of Narnia.” Because of all the sponsorship work with Warner Bros. this season and Disney last year, the Becker Group is gaining national recognition and expanding their customer base. Other Becker clients include 20th Century Fox and Trump Enterprises.
“Its been two tremendous years in a row,” said David Goldberg, vice president of sponsorship and center marketing for Taubman Centers Inc.
“Our sales increases has been the best in the industry, and we certainly feel that the Becker Group plays a significant role in that.”
For the last two years, the Becker Group has planned, implemented and carried out one of these extensive mall experiential campaigns. This year, Taubman is featuring 17 globes spread out through 23 locations in 11 different states. Not wanting to directly comment on a figure, a company source related with Taubman revealed to The Examiner that campaigns of this magnitude are usually five-year deals that cost on the high end between $400,000 and $500,000.
“Our cause is really to create experience that move people and is memorable,” Tilley said. “Obviously what a better time than the holiday and the smiles on children?s and family?s faces is what moves us. It?s our success measure.”
