June 2022, when I joined the professional team of Arricano Real Estate PLC, was a difficult period for shopping malls: the 100th day of the war, the terrible tragedy in the shopping mall in Kremenchuk, which changed the rules of operation for all shopping malls – the total evacuation of guests and employees during the alarm; inflation 21.5%, rising prices for food and essential goods, rising fuel costs; stagnation in the market and an extremely high level of uncertainty.

But for the Arricano team, despite everything, it was important to keep the situation under control, ensure the continuous functioning of the shopping mall, stimulate the restoration of traffic and increase the turnover of tenant partners. And one of our key tasks was to support visitors, partners and teams of shopping malls. 

At that time, the usual mechanics of marketing campaigns were no longer working - the events were out of time, so it was necessary to look for new niches to solve our problems. 

The Arricano Marketing Department has identified and incorporated into the strategy the new functions of shopping malls: consolidation, assistance, support, and training.

We updated the concept of the department – creating a customer experience and caring for the community, as well as identified the key attributes of the marketing strategy:

•    community
•    care 
•    experiments
•    new senses
•    tests
•    creativity
•    marketing beyond
•    empathy

The new reality required new approaches:
•    Reducing the planning horizon. Events around changed too quickly, so long-term strategies were ineffective. Every month, we updated our plans (and continue to do so), set short-term goals, and adjusted tactical actions.

•    Adaptability and rapid response to change.
•    Transformation of marketing activities. We constantly asked ourselves: is this activity on time? Is it relevant to the audience? The first events that were implemented in shopping malls are charitable and social projects. Subsequently, other components were gradually added – creative, educational, trade projects and steam promos, children's and family events, etc.

•    Maintaining constant communication with the audience. From the first days of the war until now, we have been in touch with our communities. We conduct mini surveys, constantly communicate with visitors and promptly respond to suggestions and comments.
Year of Resilience and Courage
We decided to be bold in our ideas and actions, and defined the year ahead as the Year of Resilience and Courage of all our shopping malls.

We were one of the first to launch activities – in particular, in July 2022, we conducted social and charitable projects in our Kyiv shopping malls, and in August we implemented such initiatives in regional shopping centers. All projects demonstrated high engagement and received positive feedback from the audience.

Timeliness, importance and relevance to our community are the main criteria through which we have evaluated and continue to evaluate our ideas.

Since the early days of the war, aid and support have been and remain one of Arricano's key priorities. The company helps the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard of Ukraine, the Territorial Defense, medical institutions, Ukrainians affected by the consequences of the war and the communities of our shopping centers.

It was important for us to support the community and provide an opportunity to smoothly buy products, essential goods, clothing, shoes, electronics and receive the necessary services. And also – to create and develop the spaces of everyday life, where our guests can spend time with family and friends at a familiar pace, pleasant atmosphere; disconnect from the disturbing reality, switch to the positive and regain control over their lives. For tenant partners, the shopping mall is an area where businesses can work, provide jobs for the team and support the country's economy on a daily basis. 

So, our main focus in planning and implementing marketing activities in 2022-23 is aimed at our visitors, partners and team.

To support and help the community, we implemented important social initiatives in shopping malls – we tested it in Prospekt shopping mall, and, having received good feedback and audience engagement, we scaled the Caring Saturdays project – free medical consultations and primary examinations - to the regional shopping malls Sun Gallery and CITY MALL. 

Here are some numbers:
•    300+ personal consultations and researches;
•    15 leading practitioners of 13 medical specializations;
•    19 lectures and workshops from medical experts.

Read the continuation of the op-ed on the RAU website.