The Galeries shopping centre in Sydney gets a festive four-week transformation via FOLKE

This festive season The Galeries shopping centre in Sydney has been transformed into the ultimate CBD escape thanks to a Happy Holidays installation and four-week activation plan, created and executed by creative agency FOLKE.

FOLKE were briefed to increase in centre traffic and dwell time, encouraging greater spend within stores.

The activation and installation also needed to create PR opportunities for the centre and ensure retailer integration.

To achieve this, the agency focused on setting The Galeries apart from other retail spaces during the festive season, opting to take a different angle than the traditional Christmas theme, instead exploring the concepts of  summer and escape associated with this time of year.

CBD shoppers and workers are lapping up a decadent Summer Lounge, which has been created on the ground floor, complete with palm trees, deck chairs, faux grass, umbrellas and flamingoes.

On Thursday’s, the lounge comes alive for The Galeries social media campaign, Get Social This Summer, which is targeted at the 1.2 million customers who visit the centre over a four-week period and its social media audience of over 14.5 thousand people. The activations invite visitors to The Galeries and fans to post and tweet what summer means to them. The winning entry each week is then brought to life on Thursday’s in the Summer Lounge.

Week one saw 1,000 visitors to The Galeries cool down on a particularly hot afternoon with a Freshpop, thanks to one winner’s entry of popsicles. While week two saw the Summer Lounge feature an Aussie BBQ, with 500 shoppers treated to a sausage sizzle and a cocktail at the Arthouse Hotel. Winners of the weekly Get Social This Summer campaign also receive a $500 shopping voucher to spend at The Galeries.

Situated above Town Hall train station, The Galeries is a high traffic area, with thousands of people walking through the ground level to get around the CBD. The FOLKE team ensured the Happy Holidays message reach all of these people through a vibrant umbrella installation carrying up through the atrium of the building.

In partnership with Freedom Furniture, the installation features beach balls, lanterns hanging between deck chairs and 20 red and white striped beach umbrellas.