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MAXIs go high-tech, categories revised

BY DEBRA HAZEL

MAXI Award hopefuls can say good-bye to those infamous thick, black binders they have been required to use for submitting their entries. Applications will now be submitted online.

“How many trees have died in the name of MAXI?” quips William N. Fullington, SCMD, president of Cleveland-based Fullington Strategic Services and a member of the task force that oversaw the change.

ICSC has been awarding the MAXIs, which honor outstanding management and marketing programs at shopping centers worldwide, since 1972. The Web-based submission process is one of several changes announced for this year’s awards, which will be presented Oct. 18 at the conclusion of the ICSC Fall Conference in San Diego.

“The wider international thrust for 2005 has prompted this,” said MAXI 2005 Chairwoman Eileen Connolly, head of retail marketing at London-based Donaldsons Europe. “The program is global, and to be effective, the awards need to reflect faster and more efficient communication.”

Previously, MAXI entry packages were submitted in a 3-inch-thick binder containing photographs, videos, marketing pieces and similar materials. As of March 1, entrants can visit www.icsc.org/icscmaxi and link to the entry form through the Education section. Binder submissions will no longer be accepted.

In the past each MAXI entry could take about 40 hours to prepare, Fullington says. But the new approach will probably cut that time by nearly half, he estimates. It will help the judges, too, says Fullington, who is himself a frequent judge as well as a multiple MAXI winner. With all the entries now to be presented in identical format, they can be assessed much more easily.

This year participants will notice that the category structure has changed as well. The Retailer Productivity and Center Productivity categories have been eliminated, and three new categories have been added: Business to Business (B2B), Category Integration and Revenue Impact. The Advertising, Community Relations, Expansion and Renovation, Grand Opening, Public Relations, and Sales Promotion/Event categories will remain.

“The time is right to review how the marketing function has evolved in recent years, how consumer demand has changed, how ownership consolidation affects the approach to portfolio marketing, and how marketers are meeting the challenge of diminished budgets,” Connolly said. “Additionally, the new categories allow for more-complex marketing programs that focus on a wide range of marketing-mix skills.”

The Business to Business category represents efforts originating from an individual shopping center or company and directed to a retailer, trade group, investment community, or other targeted commercial interest. Revenue Impact consists of programs intended to generate revenue that directly enhances the net operating income of a shopping center or a company.

Category Integration will honor efforts involving multiple disciplines such as gift cards, advertising or branding initiatives for a center or company.

“Some entries really are cheated by being defined as only one thing,” Fullington said. “This typically would refer to a comprehensive and very sophisticated program. The Westfields, Simons and General Growths aren’t just marketing one center, they market 200 centers.”

Further, officials have adjusted the existing size classifications and introduced one for centers with more than 1.4 million square feet of total retail space.

To qualify, programs must have been substantially implemented between Jan. 1, 2004, and May 31, 2005. The submission deadline is June 8.