The document outlines marketing campaigns conducted between 2001-2004 to promote the Acland Street retail precinct in St Kilda, Melbourne. This included producing brochures and sponsoring a tram to advertise the local shops, cafes, bars and attractions. Competitions were held to create a St Kilda Life calendar showcasing local art and photography, and events like a group hug gathered the community and increased publicity. Newsletters kept local businesses informed of promotion results and upcoming events, like fashion parades and trials of closing the street to vehicles on Sundays.

1. ACLAND STREET,
ST KILDA
Retail marketing for this iconic Melbourne retail precinct
June 2001- July 2004

2. Acland Strip 2001
A unique 8 page promotional
brochure highlighting the retail
strip's main attractions of
resturants/cafes, bars, fashion,
entertainment and of course,
Acland Street's unique cake
shops!

3. The Strip Tram - 2001
Melbourne's tram operators, Yarra
Trams, entered into a one year
sponsorship of Acland Street
Precinct, with the Route 96 tram
painted in orange 'Strip' colours and
slogans.

4. Launch of The Strip Tram
The launch of the sponsored 'Strip'
tram was a VIP tram ride along
Acland Street, attended by City of
Port Phillip councillors, Yarra Trams
management, Acland Street retail
traders and media.
The tram remained on the 96 route
(from Acland Street to the CBD) for
more than 18 months.

5. St Kilda Life
Art & Photography
Competition 2001
A competition was launched in June
2001 to attract entries from locals
and visitors with their art and
photographic interpretations of what
St Kilda meant to them.
Elements of the campaign included
an exhibition of the works, a charity
auction to raise funds for the Sacred
Heart Mission St Kilda and the
production of a calendar featuring the
top 12 entries.

6. St Kilda Life
Calendar 2002
The St Kilda Life Art & Photography
Competition resulted in a full-colour
uniquely St Kilda calendar for Jan-
Dec 2002.
The calendar featured the winning
entry on the cover and all 12 entry
finalists for each month of the year.

7. Media Campaign to
support St Kilda Life
Campaign 2001
Extensive publicity campaign
supported the St Kilda Life campaign
and resulted in several features in
Melbourne newspapers, including a
sponsorship of the campaign by the
Port Phillip Leader.

8. St Kilda Life Exhibition
The entries in the St Kilda Life
competition were exhibited in a
gallery space adjacent to Acland
Street, kindly donated by a local
trader.
These artworks were then auctioned
off at a special function with all
proceeds going to a local charity, the
Sacred Heart Mission.

9. Helping with a Hug
Sunday 21st October 2001
To complement the St Kilda Life
campaign, a parallel event was
staged to raise funds for the Anti-
Cancer Council and to unite the St
Kilda Community.
It was called Helping with a Hug
and for a gold coin donation, invited
the public to congregate in Acland
Street on Sunday 21st October 2001
(which was closed to traffic for the
event) for the World’s largest Group
Hug.

10. Helping with a Hug
Sunday 21st October 2001
The Helping with a Hug event
united more than 2,000 St Kilda
locals and visitors in the World’s
largest group hug and raised several
thousand dollars for the Anti-Cancer
Council.
The resulting image as below (the
crowd celebrating after the group
Hug!) featured on the inside front of
the 2002 St Kilda Life calendar.

11. Helping with a Hug
Sunday 21st October 2001
The unusual nature of the event and
the huge public participation attracted
enormous media interest and the
event was covered by radio,
television news and print.
The publicity generated was an
enormous boost for the retail precinct
both before and after the event.

12. St Kilda Life
Art & Photography
Competition 2002
The St Kilda Life Art & Photography
campaign was repeated in 2002,
resulting again in a full colour 2003
calendar featuring the winning
entries, an exhibition of the works
and a charity auction.

13. St Kilda Life
Calendar 2003
The St Kilda Life Art & Photography
Competition 2002 resulted in a
second full-colour uniquely St Kilda
calendar for Jan-Dec 2003.
The calendar featured the winning
entry on the cover and all 12 entry
finalists for each month of the year.

14. St Kilda Fashion Follies
St Kilda Festival 2000
The inaugural St Kilda Fashion
Follies was staged as part of the St
Kilda Festival on 13th February 2000.
The fashion show featured designs
from local fashion retailers, as well as
second hand and op-shop fashions
from the many eclectic clothing
shops in St Kilda.
The event has been hugely popular
and still features as part of the St
Kilda Festival each year.

15. St Kilda Fashion Follies
St Kilda Festival 2000
St Kilda Fashion Follies was staged
on an open-air catwalk in Bedford
Street, off Acland Street.
It featured designs from unique St
Kilda fashion retailers.

16. St Kilda Fashion Follies
St Kilda Festival 2000
St Kilda Fashion Follies was hugely
popular with the St Kilda Festival
crowd and has become an annual
event as part of the festival.
Local designers and fashion retailers
are still the exclusive showings at the
parades.

17. Acland Street Car-Free Sundays – March 2001
In partnership with Yarra
Trams, operators of
Melbourne’s tram network,
Acland Street trialled the
closure of the street to
traffic over three Sundays
in March 2001.

18. Acland Street Car-Free
Sundays – March 2001
The street closures enabled the cafes
and bars to extend their normal outdoor
trading areas, retailers to display their
wares outdoors and the public could
enjoy promenading along Acland Street
in a relaxed al-fresco environment free
from traffic.

19. Acland Street Precinct
Traders Newsletter
Regular newsletters and news
bulletins were produced and
distributed to more than 200 retailers
and businesses in the Acland Street
Precinct.
The aim of the newsletters was to
advise the traders of the results of
recent campaigns and to alert them
to upcoming events and promotions.

20. St Kilda Life Dollars
To extend the reach of the St Kilda Life
campaign, St Kilda dollars were
developed to reward loyal customers
who regularly shopped in Acland Street.
Each month a category of retail was
featured and shoppers were invited to
send in their receipt and an entry form
for the chance to win $100 St Kilda
Dollars.
The St Kilda Dollars could be spent at
any retailer in Acland Street and the
traders association simply reimbursed
the retailer.