ICSC member companies are making the Back. Together. marketing campaign go viral with a chain of online videos.

Back. Together. is a marketing and branding initiative ICSC launched in May to help its members communicate with one voice about the economic importance of retail and retail real estate as the country recovers from COVID-19. ICSC members can customize the assets in the marketing toolkit and can leverage them in physical and digital channels. The campaign emphasizes community and togetherness.

An enterprising marketing director cooked up the challenge as a way to increase awareness of the program and participation among ICSC members. As with the well-known ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, one person, group or company would record themselves completing a task, post the video on social media and challenge others to do the same. 

Urban Edge, which owns 78 properties in the New York City metro region, kicked off the #backtogether challenge. The company shot its video on an iPhone and posted it to LinkedIn on June 2. Urban Edge then challenged Peterson Cos. and CBRE to post their own videos. Peterson, which operates lifestyle centers throughout the Washington, D.C. market, posted its video on LinkedIn on June 12 and challenged Brixmor, which owns and operates 400 retail properties around the U.S. After posting its own video on LinkedIn on June 16, Brixmor challenged Linear Retail. 

Burlington, Massachusetts-based Linear Retail, which owns and operates 85 retail properties in New England, posted its video on YouTube on June 18.
 

Meanwhile Oak Brook, Ill.-based InvenTrust Properties, a REIT that owns or manages 66 retail properties, posted its video to YouTube on June 22.

InvenTrust then challenged Houston-based Weingarten Realty. The company owns and manages 167 retail centers around the U.S. On June 25, the company posted its video to Vimeo and challenged Cincinnati-based Phillips Edison & Co.

Meanwhile real estate services firm CBRE, whose clients already are using Back. Together. marketing materials at their properties, posted its video on June 25 on LinkedIn and challenged Pacific Retail Capital Partners. 

On June 28, Phillips Edison & Co. updated its take on the challenge to LinkedIn. The company owns and operates 317 retail properties around the country.

More companies are expected to participate as the challenge spreads. Who will be the next to rise to the challenge?

Learn more about the Back. Together. marketing toolkit here.