Shopping center events: how to draw people before the day

Promoting an event at a shopping center means selling something that has not happened yet. What draws people most is showing the energy it will have, turning the schedule into a story and explaining the mechanics in a single image. With AI, the atmosphere of an event can be recreated before the date, without waiting to film it.

Why an event at the shopping center is promoted before it exists

A shopping center organizes events so that people come: a fan rally, a match screening, an activation with a partner brand. The problem is always the same. The invitation has to go out before the event, when there are no photos, no video and no people yet.

The usual answer is a title card with date, time and place. It informs, but it does not draw people. Nobody decides to go to an event because they read a schedule. They decide to go because they pictured themselves there.

That is the job of the invitation piece: for the audience to see the event before it exists. Within video for shopping centers, it is the piece with the most concrete objective: a date and people who have to show up.

Showing the event's energy: Toscas' fan rally before the fan rally

Toscas Shopping wanted to bring its community together to cheer on the national team before the matches. The communication had to draw people before there were any images of the event itself.

The piece for Toscas Shopping's fan rally did not wait for the event to happen: it anticipated it. The story starts in a home, moves through a get-together with friends and ends in a collective celebration in front of the shopping center. The energy builds until it shows the rally the audience had not yet experienced.

AI made it possible to build crowds, flags, smoke and an event scale that could not be captured before it happened. Art direction, animation and post-production made sure everything was consistent. It is the same device as in the article on AI visual effects for brands: scale at the service of a concrete idea.

Turning a schedule into a story: the matches at Alto Palermo

Sometimes the event is a schedule. Alto Palermo was going to screen the World Cup matches and the commercial goal was clear: bring people to the shopping center to watch them. The risk was reducing that to a message about times and screens.

In El Mundial llega a Alto Palermo a giant Argentine player appears in Buenos Aires and walks through the city while everyone follows his arrival. The journey ends at Alto Palermo, where a crowd is waiting for him. The match schedule became a story about getting together, and the shopping center became the place where that happens.

The lesson applies to any series of events: the practical information goes in the piece, but the piece has to have something to tell besides the information.

Explaining a mechanic without an instruction sheet: Pasito at Alto Palermo

Some events work through a mechanic: scanning a code, using an app, adding something up. There the challenge is explaining how it works without the piece looking like a rulebook.

Alto Palermo set up an exclusive activation with the Pasito app: scanning a QR code at the shopping center doubled the steps for three hours. The activation lasted a few days and the launch date was already set. The idea was the counter: people walking through the shopping center with their steps adding up above their heads, with the visual logic of a video game. The mechanic is understood by looking, before anyone explains it.

It was produced with real footage of the shopping center and the counters integrated in post-production, on the app's visual system. The partner was placed inside the story instead of being tacked on at the end.

When and where the invitation goes out

An invitation works if it goes out on time. That is why a shopping center's events are planned together with the shopping center's retail calendar, and the piece goes into production when the event is confirmed, not the week before.

Some events cannot be planned that far ahead, because they depend on a result or a piece of news. For those cases it helps to work as in real-time marketing: a team ready to produce as soon as the date is confirmed.

In every case it is worth thinking of the pieces as a system: the main story for social media, versions for the shopping center's screens and a reminder for the day of the event.

Frequently asked questions

How is an event at a shopping center promoted?

With a piece that shows what the event will be like, not just when it is. What draws people most is anticipating its energy, turning the schedule into a story or explaining the mechanic in an image. The practical information, date, time and place, goes in the piece, but the decision to go is made by whoever pictured themselves there. It is worth adding versions for the shopping center's screens and a reminder.

Can an event be shown before it has happened?

Yes. With AI video production, crowds, flags, smoke and the scale of an event can be built before it happens. That is what happened with Toscas Shopping's fan rally: the piece showed the celebration in front of the shopping center before there was a single real image of the event. Art direction and post-production make sure the result is consistent with the place.

What pieces does an activation with an app or QR code need?

A piece that explains the mechanic by looking, without seeming like a rulebook. In Alto Palermo's activation with the Pasito app, scanning a QR code doubled the steps for three hours, and the piece showed it with people walking and a counter growing above their heads. Versions for the shopping center's screens and a title card with the details of the mechanic are also useful.

How far in advance should the invitation go out?

It depends on the event, but the piece has to be out before the audience decides what they will do that day. That is why it is worth starting production when the event is confirmed and having it planned in the shopping center's retail calendar. For events that depend on a result or a piece of news, you need a team ready to produce quickly.

Toscas' invitation, from start to finish, is in the Toscas Shopping projects.