There’s a link between how we interact with Instagram and how we want to experience brands.

It appears that many of us would rather consume experiences than shop for things. Which is why malls are working so hard to dial up the experiential component of their locations. More on that later but first, some grousing about instagram.

I am SO OVER high-ticket instagram experiences e.g. Color Factory ($38), Room For Tea ($23), Wonder World ($26), Museum of Ice Cream, Candytopia (for which I had tickets but couldn’t bring myself to go after the disappointing Color Factory experience).

And it’s a shame because people clearly love immersive, interactive experiences

• Look at the long run of The Ghostbusters Experience in NYC
• Popular branded pop ups e.g. Café Bustelo Experience (one of my all-time favorites)
• Selfies with street art murals – often in retail locations e.g. Colette Miller’s angel wing murals or Paul Smith’s pink wall (in LA)

But now the instagram hucksters are killing the goose that laid the golden eggs

• I initially loved the concept of using made-for-instagram experiences for branding but the sameness and the excessive number of these events is sucking the life out of Instagram.

Same goes for retail “experiences” – most of which are primarily aimed at Instagrammers versus shoppers

• Mall developers are coming up with some amazing ideas but I’m not convinced that putting theme parks in a mall will generate enough revenue to sustain these kind of mall operations.
• For example, the soon to open $3 billion American Dream Mega Mall in the Meadowlands NJ sounds hellish from the standpoint of how much it will cost to keep the place operational (indoor, all-year skiing?).
• The Mega Mall has interesting theme parks and food halls but the stores are really random, almost an afterthought e.g. the Gap, Microsoft, Lord & Taylor and Victoria’s Secret.
• The mall will consist of 55% entertainment and 45% retail.
• And that’s the key differentiator: Instead of a traditional mall, these are BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT EXPERIENCES with some shopping on the side.
• They’re anticipating 30 to 40 million people will visit American Dream within its first year of operations with most visitors coming from China, South America, the Middle East, and Russia.

 

Read on below for more details on what will become one of the largest Branded Entertainment Experiences in America.

 

American Dream Mega Mall

 Theme Parks:

 

• Sea Life’s aquarium
• LEGOLAND Discovery Center
• Indoor DreamWorks water park
• Nickelodeon Universe theme park

An observation wheel:

•  Nearly as tall as the Statue of Liberty.
• 26 climate-controlled gondolas will take 25 minutes to make one revolution.

KidZania: A mini-city for kids:

• Kids can role-play more than 100 real-life professions in an 80,000 sq ft facility

 

Sport Activities:

 

• Big Snow America indoor snow park and chalet.
• Open 365 days a year.
• The first indoor ski and snowboard park in the Western Hemisphere with an 800-foot high ski slope and an ice-climbing wall.
• An NHL regulation-sized ice skating rink recreational hockey and figure skating programs.

Food Halls/Courts:

 

• VICE’s Munchies is one of the food tenants recently announced. It will include a cooking studio and two revolving kitchens showcasing up-and-coming chefs and pop-up restaurant concepts
• A kosher food hall, the first in a North American retail entertainment destination

Health & Wellness:

• 20,000 square feet of health, wellness, beauty, and spa facilities.

Hotel:

•  An 800-room luxury hotel connected to convention space and restaurants.

 

Bottom Line.

IF the stars align and this all comes together as planned (and more importantly, stays together), the American Dream Mega Mall will be magnificent. The fact that this has been under development for 16 years and they are spending $3 million a day on construction makes many NJ-ites skeptical about how sustainable this will ultimately prove to be.

It seems a bit fanciful with too much focus on how many instagrammable elements they can add vs. how much money they can make (or how much money they need to keep this operation running).

Here’s hoping their vision is on the mark. My biggest fear is that if the crowds don’t come as planned, many areas of the mall will be shuttered most of the time.