Shopping for Solutions: How University Village Uses TEGNA’s KING 5 to Help Create Brand Awareness  

Since the 1950s, University Village, an outdoor shopping center in Seattle, Washington, is a fixture in the area, as well as home to beloved local stores and restaurants for more than 30 years. With such widespread popularity, the challenge is to continue to grow and bring in new shoppers on a regular basis.  

To help reach its goals of creating brand awareness, Alison Barrett, marketing director for University Village, brought in TEGNA’s KING 5 to help, and was looking for new and innovative ways to market its summer concert series, seasonal holiday activations, and its local businesses located within the mall.  

“When I came on board at the Village, we were heavily weighted in print advertising. I just followed the evolution of where advertising was going, and because they’re a trusted partner, I went to KING 5 first to see what opportunities there were,” says Barrett.  

“We are always reinventing. We never like to do the same thing twice and TEGNA has done a great job of expressing different opportunities that my business could take advantage of,” says Barrett. “Instead of a carbon copy advertising plan year after year, I’m always approached with new creative solutions without me having to dig for them.”  

 Today, those opportunities and solutions are paying off dividends, as the Village’s campaigns now include video, OTT, and TEGNA Attribution.  

“OTT scared me right out of the gate because it meant video, and we have a very strong aesthetic that I wanted to uphold, so I did resist it a little bit at first,” admits Barrett. “But eventually it became this no-brainer for the Village. Once print went away, video came up as a strength because we knew people were more on their digital platforms, TV, social, their phones, everywhere.”   

Better yet, Barrett is able to measure the results of the campaigns with TEGNA Attribution.  

“It’s a really great advantage to be able to stand in front of my boss, stand in front of my board, and actually give them data points,” says Barrett. “Because at the end of the day, to really be able to take that to leadership and say, ‘This is how your marketing dollars are working, this is how they aren’t, and this is how we’ve changed it.’ It makes us sound smarter.”   

“That’s another great example of what it means to be in good company with TEGNA,” says Ryan Fitzgerald, an Account Executive at KING 5. “We’re not just going to do what’s worked in the past, we’re going to make sure we uncover new opportunities for growth.”  

Sound Good?  

At TEGNA, being in good company means always having someone in your corner. If you’re looking for a media partner that always makes sure that your marketing dollars are effective, let’s get in touch.