It took just four days for tickets to Grossmont Center’s fundraiser to sell out. Proving that sequels can be as appealing as an original movie, the California center didn’t need to exert much coercion to convince 200 adult guests to pay $20 each to attend the May 29 “Sex and the City 2” premiere, which benefited Sharp Grossmont Hospital’s Cancer Center. Marketing director Tracie Plefka got the word out through the Web, canceling her radio buy two days after the ticket sales began because things were going so well.
Guests congregated at noon at the Reading Cinemas, where Charlotte, Samantha and Carrie look-a-likes welcomed them to a private cocktail party complete with appetizers and pink drinks, courtesy of Grossmont Center restaurants. They got spoiled with purse-shaped gift bags, hand-made shoe cookies—Carrie would have approved—and free tickets to enter a draw to win prizes that included dinner at a firehouse, cooked by hunky firefighters, and a ride on a big red truck. Grossmont Center made things even more exciting by displaying a replica Faviana designer dress like the one that Carrie wore in a “Sex and the City” TV episode. And then, at 1:45 p.m., the lights went out in Reading Cinemas so that guests could enjoy the movie.
“Partnering with Sharp Grossmont Hospital Foundation, located across the street from the mall, to support Cancer programs has been a substantial benefit to the mall’s traffic and sales,” Plefka said.
“Because of the philanthropic and community contribution of Grossmont Center’s chair and CEO, [as well as] mall tenants’ support and generous donations, since October of 2009 the mall has raised over $10,000 for the Foundation.”
Guests did their part too, purchasing additional draw tickets to help raise a total $6,000 for the Cancer Center. Grossmont Center thanked them with a parting gift: the photograph for which they posed at the cocktail party.
MEDIA MIX
Dropping In On Shoppers
