Target lines up TV trial at shopping centres

Ambient advertising is taking another step forward with the launch of Shopping Centre TV (SCTV). Giant screens in shopping centre foodcourts will show sports events, fashion shows and other consumer programming.

SCTV is the brainchild of marketing agency Target Marketing Events. It has signed deals with five of the UK’s biggest malls, including the Arndale Centre in Manchester, Bluewater in Kent and Lakeside in Essex.

The screens, which range from 12 to 20 square metres in size, will be in place for a month, starting from May. If SCTV proves successful its run will be extended. The screens will show 12 minutes of ads an hour.

Target operations manager Jeff Bennett says SCTV gives marketers the chance to reach consumers close to the point of sale. “We are offering options including TV advertising, sampling and data collection.”

Target also has a deal with London’s Spitalfields market to show the World Cup on a giant screen.

The one-off Spitalfields deal follows press speculation that the City stands to lose up to &£2bn in absenteeism during the World Cup.

“Spitalfields’ management came to us with the idea that companies would have less absenteeism if the games were easily accessible,” says Bennett.

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