Canal Place hosts experiential brunch for fashion influencers

Written By Alicia Vial

Situation

Canal Place is an established, luxury shopping center located adjacent to the French Quarter in New Orleans. The retail space sits along Canal Street, which is part of New Orleans’ historic shopping district. With 32 tenants including national names such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Tiffany & Co., Anthropologie and Lululemon and local, luxury brands such as Reagen Charleston Jewelry, Canal Place’s target audience spans the upscale market of both locals and tourists, baby-boomers and millennials. 

Canal Place partnered with Gambel Communications to work  hand-in-hand with its management team to position the center as a fun and unique spot for a complete high-end retail experience and to solidify Canal Place’s reputation as a premier shopping destination in New Orleans. 

Strategy

Gambel Communications concepted, planned and executed a Style Brunch with two of the area’s most influential fashion bloggers, Haute Off the Rack and A Pinch of Lovely, as well as several area fashion influencers.

 As part of the campaign, Canal Place sponsored three distinct giveaways in collaboration with the content creators. One giveaway targeted social media users prior to the event and encouraged engagement with Canal Place’s social media by offering the chance for a follower and a friend to attend the fashion influencer brunch. The other giveaways boosted excitement and engagement with the influencers attending the event and encouraged ongoing participation with Canal Place’s social media channels following the event. Opportunities to enter extended two weeks after the event and included a recap blog post, “unboxing” of the Canal Place swag bag, a post with the influencer from the brunch or a post wearing an outfit bought from Canal Place.  

The Style Brunch launched a preview of Canal Place’s new branding and social handle #CanalPlaceStyle and created a shareable experience to position Canal Place as the premier shopping destination in New Orleans. It featured partnerships with local New Orleans brands including a cold brew coffee bar by French Market Coffee, catering by Meribo, floral décor by Kim Starr Wise, decorations by Fox Fête, a mimosa bar, and swag provided by Canal Place retailers.  

After the brunch, bloggers were encouraged to shop at participating stores such as Mignon Faget, Saks Fifth Avenue and Tiffany & Co. with their newly branded Canal Place shopping totes, snap photos and share their experience on social media. 

Results

The event generated more than 200 tagged posts and shares on social media from a group of 20 influencers on the day of the event as well as featured blogs on A Pinch of Lovely and Haute Off the Rack. In the two weeks following, more than 20 posts using the event’s hashtag were posted from bloggers with a combined audience reach of more than 800,000. Results yielded a positive engagement with an exclusive but influential group of local fashion bloggers who continue to work with and shop at Canal Place.  Following the Style Brunch, Canal Place has been positioned to host myriad other events in partnership with local luxury brands and has maintained its earned reputation as a luxury marketplace.  

Alicia Vial

Alicia Vial is a New Orleans native with more than a decade of experience elevating client stories and leading crisis response. As the senior director of strategy, Alicia acts as a leader within the Gambel Communications team ensuring each agency team member is positioned to deliver strategic public relations services that meet the highest standards of the industry. In addition to supporting the agency’s long-term business growth and development, she coordinates day-to-day account services and oversees strategic direction while staying abreast of best practices and industry trends to provide innovative solutions to meet client’s needs.

Before joining Gambel Communications, Alicia served as the communications director for the Louisiana SPCA, the oldest and largest animal welfare organization in Louisiana that impacts more than 74,000 animals per year. During her nearly eight-year tenure, Alicia oversaw numerous crises, served on national communication taskforces, oversaw all aspects of internal and external relations and worked alongside the development department to raise critical funding. Prior to that, she worked in the fast-paced New Orleans hospitality industry focusing on digital public relations for multiple hotels.

Alicia is a member of the Public Relations Association of Louisiana (PRAL), Southern Public Relations Federation (SPRF), a board member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) New Orleans Chapter and a member of the New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute. An accredited public relations practitioner (APR), Alicia is also certified in crisis communications, organizational leadership, content marketing and social media.

A well respected and trusted public relations practitioner, Alicia has been recognized by SPRF as a ‘Senior Practitioner of the Year’. Dubbed early on in her career as one to watch, she also received the ‘Rising Star’ award by PRAL and was profiled in St. Charles Avenue Magazine as part of their Young Bloods series. Most recently, she was recognized at PRSA’s annual Fleurish Awards and received four Awards of Excellence for her work along with the ‘Plate Spinner’ award for her efforts on the board of directors for the chapter.

An LSU graduate, Alicia received a bachelor's degree in mass communications with a concentration in public relations and minors in business administration and leadership development. She is a frequent speaker and presenter on public relations topics, most recently presenting at the Jefferson Economic Development Commission and SPRF annual conference.

When Alicia is not at work, you can find her at the ballpark with her three boys or cheering on the Tigers in Death Valley.

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