Westfield owner URW unveils retail media agency

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, owner of the Westfield Shopping Centre franchise, has launched a new in-house media, brand experience and data partnerships agency, 'Westfield Rise'.

The agency serves as a "one-stop-shop" for brands and media-buyers to create innovative campaigns across URW’s platform of retail media assets at its 57 shopping malls in Europe.

The assets include the company's network of 1,700 digital billboards, 170 brand experience locations and range of online advertising capabilities.

Through Westfield Rise, brands will be able to team up with media partners around Europe, host short-term experiential activations or event sponsorship experiences, forge longer-term partnerships, and benefit from data analytics, production and operations services.

In addition, the new service offers a fully GDPR-compliant platform, allowing clients to access audience data on the company’s footfall, which includes 550 million yearly visits in Europe and 40 million consumers online.

The announcement coincides with the appointment of Candice Mayer-Gillet as Managing Director of Westfield Rise. Mayer-Gillet has experience across the URW business, having worked in leasing, operating management and retail media.

Caroline Puechoultres, Chief Customer Officer at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, said: “With the launch of Westfield Rise, we will be able to serve the advertising and media industries in a bespoke way, establishing the right team and organisation to work across our platform to create durable and measurable partnerships and explore new tailor-made opportunities.

"This client-centric approach, powered by data-driven insights and metrics, will allow us to serve brands, agencies and media buyers by delivering compelling off and online media campaigns and marketing activations to our incredibly engaged audience.”