I recently spoke with the owner of the fashion retailer I work with about investment in branding and marketing, and how to judge its return. The conversation brought me back to a question that matters just as much between landlords and tenants: when we call a campaign successful, whose definition are we using?

A shopping centre may see more visitors, stronger engagement and an increase in reported sales. A participating tenant still needs to weigh that business against discounts, staffing and the time spent serving customers. An encouraging result for the centre can look different from inside an individual store. Understanding which tenants benefited, and what it cost them to participate, belongs in the same discussion.

That discussion should begin before the campaign is commissioned. We need to agree what we want customers to do, what each tenant can realistically deliver and when to assess the result. Otherwise, we risk asking the data to settle a disagreement about objectives. The brief should record what will be reviewed, what it will be compared with and whether a later review is needed.

The timing should reflect how customers buy. Where people rely on a store team’s advice and personal service, a first visit may lead to an immediate purchase, a later appointment or a return visit. It may also end without a purchase. Some customers may buy again or recommend the business to someone else. Understanding those outcomes takes time and the tenant’s input.

Customer experience and loyalty belong in the assessment too. If we believe an activity strengthened the brand or a customer relationship, we should explain what supports that view and over what period. Closing the review when the campaign ends may leave that part of the story unexplored.

Visitor and campaign data can help us follow what happened: where activity was recorded, which offers attracted a response and how behaviour varied over time. Technology gives the centre and its tenants something specific to investigate together. We still need to know who those records cover. A group of app users cannot automatically stand for everyone in the building.

The same care is needed when judging the technology itself. For a shared website, app or other digital tool, visits, registrations and interactions tell only part of the story. Does it help customers find something useful? Do any benefits reach a broad range of participating shops?

Tenants can explain what happened inside their shops. To do that candidly, they need to know what information they are being asked to share, who will see it and how it will be used, including whether it could enter rent or lease discussions.

Consider a promotion associated with more visits to a participating store. Before repeating it, I would want to know whether the team received relevant enquiries, whether the offer was clear and what business followed. How much could reasonably be linked to the promotion, and was that enough to justify the discount and staffing involved? The answer could change the next offer, the preparation required or the time allowed before judging it.

Gift cards show why that judgement may need to extend beyond the campaign period. The person buying a card may be different from the person spending it, and its value may be redeemed weeks later across several shops. Where records and permissions allow, redemption data can show when and where the value was spent. It does not, by itself, establish how much spending the campaign added.

That distinction matters when deciding where to put the next marketing euro. The findings could inform when a promotion runs and which tenants participate, while leaving room for further investigation where the evidence is incomplete. To estimate additional spending, we need to ask what customers would have spent without the campaign. A credible comparison must account for other reasons spending might have changed.

Some of those explanations may lie beyond marketing. A shop opening, closure or relocation can alter visitor patterns, as can changes at a competing destination. This is where a joint review involving marketing, leasing, property management, centre management and asset management becomes useful. Together, those teams can consider whether the promotional offer, a participating store’s location or the wider mix of shops and services needs attention. More promotion may be the wrong response to a gap in what the centre offers.

For the property owner, this opens a wider question: what does sustained tenant performance mean for rental income, leasing prospects and the property’s long-term value? The campaign review can contribute evidence about trading and customer demand, but the connection to property performance needs its own assessment. Landlord and tenant have a shared interest in understanding the results, even when their objectives differ.

If the review points to difficulties with access, comfort or operating costs, the next investment may concern the building itself. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations become practical here, through questions about energy use, accessibility and who benefits or bears the cost. Each investment needs evidence suited to its purpose; visitor activity alone cannot measure every benefit of a building improvement.

Teams managing several centres can share the method as well as the results: what they asked, what they found and what they changed. They still need to account for differences in customers, tenant mix and available information. A result from one centre becomes something to test elsewhere.

I want a campaign review to end with a decision: repeat it, change it or stop it, with a clear explanation of why. That also means agreeing who will act and whether they have the time and support to do it. Calling a campaign successful should mean that the centre and participating tenants can explain what worked, for whom and what they will do next.

I’ll take these questions to Budapest on Monday 12 October 2026, when Allee Shopping and Leisure Centre hosts the invitation-only roundtable “Beyond the Campaign: Is Your Marketing Driving Footfall and Sales?” It takes place the day before the Solal Marketing Conference and Awards Gala on Tuesday 13 October.

Allee offers a relevant starting point. Its Allee Club campaign was a Tactical Marketing finalist at the 2025 Solal Awards, while Multi Corporation’s portfolio-wide Advanced Footfall Intelligence entry received Bronze in Emerging Technology. Both initiatives used technology from Retail Insights, which I advise and which sponsors the roundtable.

The useful question now is what we’ve learnt since. We’ll compare experiences across markets: what has worked, where results haven’t matched the effort and what we would do differently. Practical examples give us something to learn from and test in our own centres.

Arrival is from 15:30, with the discussion running from 16:00 to 18:00, Budapest time. Informal drinks and dinner will follow, allowing time to continue the conversation. The roundtable is independently organised and separate from the official Solal programme.

If you’ll already be in Budapest and this sounds like your kind of conversation, message me to check availability. Places are limited;requests to joinare subject to confirmation from the host.