Semiahmoo Shopping Centre is trying to get through its $7 million renovation with its customer traffic intact. With the help of Vancouver-based Hangar 18 Creative Group, the centre launched a promotional campaign that celebrates its construction reality, instead of apologizing for it.

On April 5, the marketing team began hiding one little yellow hard hat every week somewhere in the South Surrey and White Rock areas for a lucky shopper to find in order to win a prize.
The contest’s only rule is that the hats will never be hidden inside a building or vehicle, underground or underwater, or higher than five feet above the ground.
Each hard hat is numbered and corresponds to a specific prize ranging in value from $100 to $500, and participants can get clues on where to find them by visiting center retailers, perusing ShopSemiahmoo.com, looking through their edition of the Peace Arch News or checking the center’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
“Our goal is to encourage more customer visits to the shopping center; leverage the renovation by having fun with our current construction reality; and connect with the community,” said marketing director Jeri Cox when the campaign was launched.
“We [also] wanted to find a way to [reach] people across as many channels as possible. Utilizing social media to promote the contest was a priority [in order to] engage our customers in a particular dialogue.”
The hard-hat campaign wraps up on July 25 and winners will have until August 30 to turn in their hard hat and claim their prize.

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