Redevco simplifies its communications at Le31 with Chainels

Vanessa Medioni is Director of Marketing and Communication for Redevco France, the French subsidiary of one of Europe’s largest privately-owned real estate companies.

Redevco has a clear ambition to help cities become more sustainable and liveable. Currently, it manages more than 350 assets in 12 countries on behalf of its investor clients, with an accumulated value of nearly €10 billion.

Vanessa is responsible for the communication of projects in Redevco’s pipeline, as well as operations within their existing assets. She also manages corporate, internal, press and marketing communications.

In particular, Vanessa Medioni’s mission is to oversee the communication and marketing of Redevco’s project ‘Le 31’, a 25.000 square-metre urban refurbishment situated in the historic centre of Lille.

Le 31 started construction in 2017 and opened in March 2021. During that time, Vanessa was responsible for the design, signage, architectural elements, marketing and activation of the community.

The mixed-use destination includes a tenant community of retail, street food, leisure,   co-working and parking spaces, plus a four-star hotel. She is directly involved with the brands situated within the building as well as communication campaigns conducted to make the destination come to life.

Le 31 is not a conventional shopping centre. 

Le 31 is not your average shopping centre. Conventional shopping centres typically have centre management, marketing assistance or someone who takes care of community management.

Le 31, on the other hand, is made up of different revenue centres including a hotel, office, co-working space and parking. A diverse range of stakeholders within these revenue centres can successfully collaborate without the need for centre management.

Before the project was completed the tenants came together multiple times to discuss the concept of what they were going to offer and support each other, says Marrit Laning, Redevco’s Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer. “It’s quite an open concept and the tenants are aware of each other’s business models. They think about how they can strengthen their concepts and leverage each other’s clientele.’

As a partner of the Le 31 project, Chainels – a web and mobile application – supports Le 31’s tenants in connecting the property in a digital way. By connecting Le 31’s various stakeholders, Chainels breathes life into this more than 25.000 sqm destination.

“We didn't have a solution that allowed us to standardize tenant communication, so we did our best through meetings, travel and messaging, but it was very time-consuming," says Vanessa Medioni. “With the implementation of Chainels, we can communicate much more effectively.”

“We started using the platform to develop the community of Le 31. We see now that we can go much further. I can select different audiences for different messages, so people don’t get messages that aren’t relevant to them. Our property managers use Chainels for communication, but the platform is for everyone to communicate whatever they want."

"The app is very useful for the daily operation of the mall and was especially useful for the launch where we had to inform a lot of people about things like opening hours." Medioni adds.  

“Of course, Chainels doesn't replace physical contact with customers. Actually, it does not negatively affect the relationship with the tenants at all. In fact, it is a tool we’ve invested in to improve our relationships with our tenants. After all, it is part of our job to adapt ourselves to new technologies that help us work smarter.”