steering shopping center crisis moments
Identity’s expertise is rooted in commercial real estate—a vertical that has been part of the agency’s portfolio since 1998. This includes a client that leases and manages a portfolio of successful lifestyle properties, which has established this real estate firm as one of the most accomplished and admired developers and managers in the country. Its centers are true community environments—destinations packed with recognizable brands and animated with immersive elements that make for memorable and inviting visits.
While Identity supports this client through media relations and thought leadership to bring recognition to more than a half-dozen lifestyle centers in its portfolio, a large component of our relationship includes management and execution of the shopping centers’ crisis communications strategy.
Our crisis services include providing operational guidance, using robust social listening tools to manage centers’ online presence and working with media to provide context to the client’s response and efforts to navigate the crisis situation with the community’s best interest in mind.
strategy for success
Identity deployed the following strategies and tactics in order to help this client achieve success:
crisis response management
Since our partnership began, Identity has provided counsel, drafted statements and enacted social listening to effectively diffuse sensitive issues and keep unfortunate situations out of the news. Crisis moments for this client have included tenant closures, navigating pandemic-related health and safety concerns, LGBTQ fight/bullying, carjacking on property, a shooting at a movie theater, an attempted suicide, a corporate fraud case involving a shopping center, and a jewelry store theft following a car crashing into the store front.
Identity’s crisis communications expertise allowed the staff at various client-managed shopping centers to be adequately prepared for media questioning as these tragic, violent or disturbing situations unfolded at centers or at the corporate level. While always unfortunate instances, being looped in to provide counsel early has alleviated future issues and helps the shopping centers maintain a positive reputation.
