Westfield Group has appointed a “chief digital officer” to oversee the development of the shopping centre group’s online and digital media strategy.
Kevin McKenzie, a digital media entrepreneur, has more than 16 years’ experience in internet, mobile and product development, and will lead the integration of Westfield’s shopping centres around the world with emerging digital technology as well as examine new business development opportunities.
Westfield describes the appointment as significant step in expanding its digital communications with customers who make more than 1.1 billion shopping visits to its 111 malls in Australia, New Zealand, the US and UK, and its new ventures in Brazil and Italy.
Co-CEO of Westfield Group, Steven Lowy, says the new appointment to lead Westfield’s digital technology team reflects a more concerted effort by the group to integrate its well-established and growing existing shopping centre business with new technology.
“We offer public Wi-Fi in many of our shopping centres to make it easy for the consumer to connect their smart phone and tablets for fast connectivity while they are on the go,” he said.
“We have already had success in integrating technology in all sorts of ways, including sophisticated car park guidance systems and the use of social media through Facebook and Twitter.
“We have also led the way in our industry with the introduction of ‘brandspace’ a new concept using advertising space and technology to create new and growing revenue streams for our business.”
Lowy said while retail was the dominant feature of Westfield malls the role of dining, entertainment and other lifestyle factors was increasingly important in making the centres exciting and vibrant places to visit.
“We are determined to do more in this area and use digital technology to make the entire experience easier, more fun and more interactive for our retailers and shoppers,” he said.
McKenzie added: “With so many shoppers connected to their mobile devices while they are on the go, there has never been a better time to bring digital services to physical shopping environments.”
McKenzie will report to Lowy and will be a member of the group’s global executive committee. He will be principally responsible for setting and implementing the long-term digital strategy through each of Westfield’s markets.
He will join Westfield next month and will be based in San Francisco where Westfield will expand its office to focus on digital, social and mobile innovation in retail shopping. The San Francisco Bay Area is the global hub of innovation and the development of digital technology in northern California.
Before joining Westfield McKenzie was the founder and president of JiWire Inc, a digital location-based media channel composed of more than 40,000 public WiFi locations through partnerships with more than 30 leading wireless broadband providers and 200 location-based mobile applications. These serve venues such as airports, hotels, shopping centres and cafes, with more than 50 million unique users each month. JiWire connects audiences across multiple mobile devices from laptops to smartphones to tablets.
Prior to founding JiWire in 2003 McKenzie was senior VP, shopping services, with CNET Networks Inc, a pioneer in internet publishing and the world’s leading source of information and services for buyers, sellers and suppliers of technology and consumer electronic products.
Lowy said the new appointment would give added impetus to the move already underway within Westfield Group to explore the potential for digital technology to contribute to a more efficient operation of the existing business, as well as add new ways to connect retailers with the connected, on-the-go shopper.
