SM Case Study

SM

New malls, from the ground up since 2016.

This SM case study spans ten years of SM coverage, from aerial progress documentation of new malls in Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Tagum and Zamboanga, as well as the Christmas tree lightings audiences look forward to every year.

Christmas tree lighting at SM CDO Downtown Premier, shot for this SM case study by Project LUPAD — Christmas tree lighting at SM CDO Downtown Premier, Cagayan de Oro, 2022.

The results

Numbers anyone can see.

Every figure in this SM case study comes from the public counts on our Facebook page, YouTube channel and website, so you can check them yourself.

300K+Reactions on over 100 SM posts on Facebook

635K+Views across 28 SM videos on YouTube

44K+Shares, so the news reached even more people

70SM stories on our website since 2016

Totals of the public counts on Project LUPAD’s Facebook posts, YouTube videos and website stories for SM malls, the SM Store, SM Supermarket and SM campaigns, from 2016 to October 2026. However, content featuring tenant brands inside SM malls is not included. Platforms round large counts down, so actual totals are higher.

The story

Every mall, from the ground up.

Initially, our coverage centered on monthly aerial progress documentation of SM CDO Downtown Premier in 2016. A year later, our team captured its grand opening from the air. Since then, Project LUPAD has documented new SM developments across Mindanao and delivered each milestone to an audience of over a million followers.

Similarly, our coverage of SM City Butuan ran from its foundations to opening day in 2020. Likewise, our documentation of SM City Iligan began with site clearing and continues today. As a result, our latest updates on SM City Iligan and SM City Tagum rank among our most watched content.

Above all, Christmas brings the biggest moments of the year. Every year, we produce coverage of the tree lightings at SM CDO Downtown and SM City CDO Uptown, bringing each one to audiences across the region.

Mall constructionGrand openingsTree lightingsSM Store campaignsAerial videoEvent photos

The timeline

This SM case study, year by year.

Here are ten years of milestones, from the first flight to today.

2016
SM CDO Downtown Premier takes shape
Monthly aerial documentation of the new mall began, as well as our aerial tour of SM Seaside City Cebu. That video has since passed 203,000 views on YouTube.
2017
The grand opening
Subsequently, our team captured SM CDO Downtown Premier’s opening from the air, along with the Sky Garden, the Sky Park and the helipad. Since then, one progress video from that year has passed 50,000 views.
2018
The SM BPO Tower
Then we documented the tower from construction to opening, a project set to bring 4,000 jobs to Cagayan de Oro. Later that year, we also covered the SM Uptown Higalaay PyroFest.
2019
Fireworks and SM City Butuan
Our New Year fireworks coverage at SM City Cagayan de Oro also passed 37,000 views. Meanwhile, aerial documentation of SM City Butuan got underway.
2020
SM City Butuan opens
Eventually, our coverage of SM City Butuan carried through to its opening in November. Later, at year’s end, we documented the site clearing for the proposed SM City Iligan.
2021
The SM Mall of Asia Globe returns
In particular, our feature on the return of the iconic Globe drew 7K reactions. Meanwhile, documentation of the SM City CDO Uptown expansion continued.
2022
Christmas goes big
Initially, the North Wing of SM City CDO Uptown opened in June. Later, our coverage of the tree lighting at SM CDO Downtown Premier drew 27.8K reactions and 8.2K shares.
2023
SM City Iligan is coming
That year, our aerial reveal of the SM City Iligan site drew 25.7K reactions and 4.5K shares. Later, we covered A Downtown Christmas Wish at SM CDO Downtown.
2024
Cebu’s newest landmarks
Our aerial team then returned to SM Seaside City Cebu for the new SM Seaside Arena, the largest indoor arena in Cebu.
2025
National University at SM Cebu
Above all, our feature on the new NU campus at SM in Cebu drew 35.2K reactions. In addition, we covered the new SM City Zamboanga and Christmas in Bloom at SM CDO Downtown.
2026
Our biggest SM year yet
Overall, our SM City Iligan construction reel is our most engaged SM content, with 38.7K reactions. Likewise, our feature on the new SM City Tagum drew 30.5K.

The posts people loved most.

In this SM case study, new malls and Christmas tree lightings drew the strongest engagement, as audiences look forward to what’s coming to their city.

July 22, 2026 · Facebook

From the ground up

Eight SM projects. Followed from above.

Altogether, these are the SM developments we’ve documented through construction and opening. In addition, each one links to the original coverage.

2020–2026SM City IliganLanao del NorteFrom site clearing to rising floors 2025–2026SM City TagumDavao del NorteConstruction updates 2025SM City ZamboangaZamboanga CityConstruction updates 2020–2022SM City CDO Uptown North WingCagayan de OroExpansion to opening day 2019–2020SM City ButuanAgusan del NorteConstruction to grand opening 2020SM City MindproZamboanga CityOpening 2017–2018SM BPO TowerCagayan de OroConstruction to opening 2016–2017SM CDO Downtown PremierCagayan de OroMonthly progress to grand opening

Christmas at SM

The tree lightings people wait for.

Every year, we also produce coverage of the Christmas tree lightings at SM CDO Downtown and SM City CDO Uptown. As a result, they rank among the most shared content in this SM case study.