On a crowded Saturday afternoon, when impatience has competed with impulse and the food court hum has sounded like a familiar symphony, Amrith Gopinath has not walked into a DLF mall as a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Rather he has walked in as a consumer- alert, curious, almost instinctive.
“What hits you first,” he said, “is the visual. The visual drama you’ve created in the atrium.”
That moment, before a brand logo has flashed or a shopping bag has filled, has been where marketing, according to Gopinath, has already begun. And perhaps half the battle has already been won.
When Space Has Become the First Touchpoint
“If it’s Diwali or Christmas and you walk in and see a massive installation, a Christmas tree, action, vibrancy in the atrium, half the battle is won,” Gopinath said. “The consumer is in a good mood. And when people are in a good mood, they shop more and eat more.” For him, mall marketing has never started with the media. It has started with mood.
“People forget what they buy or what they eat,” he noted. “But they remember what they experience.” That belief has shaped how weekends at DLF Malls have been designed. Experiences have not been incidental; they have been deliberate.
“There has to be something happening,” he said. “Something for kids, something for mothers, beauty masterclasses, music, something that engages different members of the family.”
In that sense, the mall has been treated less like a corridor of commerce and more like a living, breathing stage.
How the Media Mix Has Been Rebalanced
While global media spends have tilted decisively towards digital, Gopinath has been clear that a mall operates by a different logic. “A mall is a very physical environment,” he said. “We’ve built real estate right in the heart of the catchment.” That reality has reflected clearly in DLF Malls’ marketing allocation.
“About 25–30% of our marketing budget has gone into digital, and a similar 25–30% into experiences, events and activations,” he shared. “The rest gets divided between retainers, fixtures, loyalty programmes, print and OOH.”
When efficiency has been examined purely through cost, the picture has been unambiguous.
“If you look at acquisition cost, or footfall acquisition cost, digital and social are the lowest,” Gopinath explained. “Experiential events are the highest.”
Yet, he has been careful not to confuse efficiency with effectiveness. Experiences, he has implied, may cost more, but they have stayed longer in memory.
Why Collaboration Has Created a Multiplier Effect
Marketing at DLF Malls has rarely been pursued in isolation. “We believe one plus one is greater than two,” Gopinath said. The philosophy has been simple. “We have a mall marketing budget. Brands have their own marketing budgets. We have the real estate; they have assets, athletes, celebrities, brand power.”
That shared reality has shaped how partnerships have been built. “We sit with brands like Zara, H&M, Uniqlo, Nike, Chanel at the beginning of every quarter,” he said. “We align calendars, priorities, and see how we can help each other.”
“One rupee here and one rupee there,” he added, “creates a multiplier effect in terms of the marketing ripple.” At its core, the collaboration has worked because, as Gopinath has put it simply, “their consumer is our consumer.”
From Footfalls to Loyalty And the Next Phase of Retail
Gopinath’s belief that the next decade belongs to retail has increasingly been reinforced by data.
“We track trading density, sales per square foot, footfall, and spend per footfall,” he said. “At a brand level, at a mall level, across categories.”
“These metrics,” he noted, “have reinforced the fact that retail is on an upswing.”
The next evolution, however, has come from building a direct consumer relationship, something malls historically lacked.
“For the longest time, consumers came to the mall for brands,” he said. “They didn’t come to the mall.” That changed with the launch of DLF Rewards.
“Six months ago, we launched a loyalty programme where consumers upload a bill on WhatsApp and get free parking or vouchers,” Gopinath explained. “Today, we have about 50,000 sign-ups.”
The shift has been structural. “Earlier, we never had a direct connection with the consumer,” he said. “Now we can communicate with them directly. Our cost per contact has become far more efficient.”
Looking ahead, Gopinath has remained measured about the physical-versus-digital debate.
“Physical will never lose relevance. Digital will never completely take over,” he said. “The future lies in balance.” And in that balance, DLF Malls has continued to position itself not merely as a place to shop, but as a place to return to, remember, and belong.
