Primedia Unlimited's Shopping Centre Marketing Consultancy Primedia Lifestyle, has won two Silver Awards at the prestigious 2011 European Solal Marketing Awards, held in Istanbul last week. Primedia Lifestyle was the only consultancy on the continent to not only receive finalist awards, but claimed 13 of them.

The ICSC Solal Marketing Awards bring together the very finest retail marketing across Europe and South Africa to reward those with the most effective campaigns. This year a total of 177 entries were received from shopping centres across 22 countries, with 6 Gold and 21 Silver Awards being awarded.

Since Primedia Lifestyle's inception in 1996, it has, through its innovative marketing campaigns, received numerous industry accolades which have solidified its position as the leader in shopping centre marketing.

Primedia Lifestyle was honoured with two Silvers this year, firstly for its national WAGS campaign entered in the Sales Promotion and Events category, and its Cavendish Square Football, Fashion and Fine Art Campaign, entered in the Public Relations category.

The WAGS campaign took its lead from the global phenomenon of the spending power of footballer's WAGS (wives and girlfriends) as the catalyst for the campaign, spanning six malls. The marketing teams from Cavendish Square, Gateway Theatre of Shopping, Menlyn Park, The Zone@Rosebank, Riverside Mall and Vincent Park executed the campaign, giving shoppers an opportunity to win a Day in the Life of a Footballer's Wife by simply spending on their Visa Cards or Mall debit cards. Red and Yellow Card bearing promoters dressed as referees completed the action and handed out gift cards to lucky shoppers during the tournament.

The Cavendish Football, Fashion and Fine Art campaign consisted of an event, communications and media strategy seeking to attract local and international visitors to the centre, with specific focus on the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Nelson Mandela Day and the fashion surrounding these events. The team devised a public relations programme and on-site activities including fashion launches, a fine art exhibition (which was endorsed by FIFA), diski dance flash mobs and other innovative activations.

Results over the World Cup period proved that the campaign was most successful in obtaining substantial media interest and publicity of more than R3 million for Cavendish Square.

Doug Mayne Deputy MD comments, "Once again we're incredibly proud of our teams in ranking tops in the best of breed, not only locally, but against stringent European marketing standards. The competition was exceptionally tough this year and with a massive 13 finalists and now two Silvers, it really is a brilliant achievement. We're delighted to bring these accolades home and reaffirm that our award winning marketing strategies deliver quantifiable results."

Campaigns entered into the Solal Awards are assessed against quantifiable objectives including building brand awareness, increased turnover, added value for shoppers, increased foot count, sponsorships, database recruitments and PR generated for each campaign.