Across IULIUS and Atterbury Europe’s Romanian retail network, the “Marțea Moca” campaign has transformed Tuesday, an ordinary weekday, into a stronger trading day, encouraging customers to visit more often, spend more time on site and engage with participating tenants. With offers ranging from food court promotions (1+1 offers) and cinema deals to loyalty rewards and free parking, the campaign demonstrates how value-led marketing can support both shoppers and retailers in a more cost-conscious environment.

The success of the campaign speaks to a broader asset management approach: understanding local customer behaviour, working closely with partners and creating retail places that remain active, relevant and connected to their communities throughout the week.

Altus Swanepoel, Head of Asset Management at Atterbury Europe shares his perspective on what “Marțea Moca” reveals about changing customer behaviour, the importance of landlord-tenant collaboration and how relevant, locally informed initiatives can contribute to stronger retail asset performance.

1. Why is a campaign like “Marțea Moca” relevant from an asset management perspective?

“Marțea Moca” directly addresses one of the key challenges in retail real estate: how to drive consistent footfall and trading performance beyond traditional peak periods. Tuesdays are typically weaker trading days, so the campaign focuses on unlocking value from an underutilised part of the week.

By encouraging customers to visit more frequently and engage with tenants through targeted offers, the campaign supports both income resilience and tenant performance. It also reflects an active asset management approach, where the landlord and operator are not only maintaining the asset, but actively creating reasons for customers to visit.

2. What does it show about how retail destinations can actively support tenants and drive footfall?

The campaign shows that retail destinations can play a proactive role in creating demand. Rather than relying only on weekends, holidays or seasonal campaigns, “Marțea Moca” uses a simple, well-communicated weekly mechanic to give customers a clear reason to visit on a specific day.

For tenants, this creates an opportunity to increase exposure, generate incremental sales and attract customers who may otherwise not have visited. It also helps position the mall as a platform for tenant success, not just a physical location where tenants trade.

3. What does the campaign reveal about current customer behaviour in Romania?

The campaign suggests that Romanian customers are increasingly responsive to value-led initiatives, particularly in a more cost-conscious environment. Shoppers are still willing to visit retail destinations, but they are looking for clear reasons to do so, whether that is better value, convenience, entertainment or a more rewarding overall experience.

“Marțea Moca” shows that when customers feel there is tangible benefit in visiting, they respond positively. It also indicates that weekday visits can be influenced by relevant offers and strong communication.

4. Are shoppers responding differently to value, convenience and experience-led offers?

Yes. The campaign demonstrates that shoppers are responding well to a combination of value, convenience and experience. Food court promotions, cinema deals, loyalty rewards and free parking each appeal to different customer motivations, but together they create a broader reason to visit.

This is important because customers are not only looking for discounts. They are looking for a visit that feels worthwhile. A successful campaign therefore needs to combine affordability with convenience and an enjoyable experience.

5. How important is collaboration between landlord and tenants in making a campaign like this work?

Collaboration is critical. A campaign like “Marțea Moca” only works when the landlord and tenants are aligned around a shared objective: increasing customer visits and improving trading performance.

The landlord and operator can provide the platform, marketing reach and coordination, but the strength of the campaign depends on the quality and relevance of the tenant offers. When all parties participate actively, the campaign becomes much more compelling for customers.

“Retail destinations do not have to accept weaker weekday performance as fixed.”

6. What role does strong tenant engagement play in the results?

Strong tenant engagement is one of the main drivers of the campaign’s success. Customers need a meaningful reason to participate, and that comes from tenants offering relevant, attractive and easy-to-understand promotions.

The more tenants engage, the stronger the overall customer proposition becomes. It also creates momentum within the mall, where tenants see the benefit of participating and the campaign becomes part of the destination’s weekly rhythm.

7. What can Atterbury Europe take from this campaign into future retail asset management strategies?

The key lesson is that active, locally relevant initiatives can have a measurable impact on asset performance. “Marțea Moca” reinforces the importance of understanding customer behaviour, identifying weaker trading periods and working with tenants to create targeted interventions.

This supports a broader strategy of managing retail assets as dynamic destinations. Future strategies can build on this by using data, tenant feedback and customer insights to design campaigns that are specific to each market and each asset.

8. Are there lessons here for keeping destinations active and relevant beyond traditional peak trading days?

Yes. One of the clearest lessons is that retail destinations do not have to accept weaker weekday performance as fixed. With the right offer, communication and tenant participation, quieter trading days can be repositioned as attractive moments for customers to visit.

The campaign also shows that relevance is built through consistency. By creating a recognisable weekly event, the destination becomes part of customers’ routines. This helps keep the asset active throughout the week and strengthens its connection with the local community.

The success of “Marțea Moca” is not simply about attracting shoppers with discounts. It shows what can happen when customer insight, tenant participation and consistent execution come together around a clear purpose.

By turning a traditionally quieter trading day into a recognisable weekly occasion, IULIUS and Atterbury Europe have created additional value for shoppers, tenants and the retail destinations themselves. It is a practical example of active asset management in action: identifying an opportunity, responding to local behaviour and giving people a relevant reason to return.

As customer expectations continue to evolve, campaigns such as this demonstrate that retail destinations can influence routines, strengthen tenant performance and remain connected to their communities throughout the week.