Shopping City, in Runcorn, like many regional shopping centres, was operating in a period of change. Retail dynamics were shifting, tenant needs were evolving, and expectations around place, community and experience were becoming more complex.
During Dave Pearman’s tenure as Centre Manager, the challenge wasn’t a lack of activity – it was clarity.
Marketing was busy, but it didn’t always feel like it was landing in the right way. As Dave reflects, it often felt like the centre was “doing lots of stuff”, without always speaking the right language to the people it was trying to reach.
“We were doing lots of stuff, but it didn’t feel like we were talking in the right language.”
There was pressure to promote, to compete, and to “sell the dream” – even when the reality on the ground was more nuanced.
Offbeat worked alongside the Shopping City team to shift the focus from volume of activity to clarity of intent.
Rather than chasing short-term campaigns, the emphasis was on:
Dave describes the earlier challenge as feeling like “talking a foreign language” – messages were being put out, but they weren’t always being received in the way they were intended.
“It felt like trying to speak a foreign language – people sort of get it, but it doesn’t land.”
The shift was about alignment: language, tone, and direction – so marketing could support the centre manager role, not add to the noise.
The biggest change wasn’t immediate footfall or campaign performance – it was confidence and headspace.
Having a clearer plan meant conversations could move from reaction to intention.
“When we could say, ‘this is our plan for the next quarter, this is why we’re doing it’, that’s when it started to feel different.”
Instead of constantly firefighting, marketing became something Dave could lean on.
“We had more headspace to think ahead rather than just react.”
That shift mattered – not just for output, but for how the centre was managed day to day.
For Dave, the impact showed up in two places: confidence and representation.
Marketing began to feel like an extension of the team, rather than something running alongside it.
“You became an extension of the team.”
That translated into greater confidence in how the centre was presented – to retailers, partners, and the wider community.
“We felt confident in how we were coming across and what we were saying.”
Over time, this consistency helped strengthen how the Shopping City brand was understood.
“It helped elevate and cement the brand.”
This wasn’t about manufacturing a glossy version of Shopping City.
It worked because the marketing was grounded in honesty – about where the centre was, what it offered, and what it was becoming.
Dave is clear that the most important outcome wasn’t promotion – it was identity.
“The biggest impact was we found our identity again – or our current identity.”
And crucially, that identity wasn’t aspirational theatre.
“It wasn’t about selling the dream or the Las Vegas lights – it was about being honest about where we were.”
That honesty gave the centre credibility – and gave the team confidence to stand behind what they were saying.
Looking back now, over a year after leaving the role, Dave sees the work as having laid foundations rather than delivered a moment.
It created a clearer way of thinking, a shared language, and a level of confidence that supported not just that period, but what came next.
For Shopping City, marketing stopped being noise – and started being a tool the centre could genuinely use.
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