Creating Memorable Branding Experiences
Grocon: Story-Telling Activation
Famous for some of Australia’s most iconic assets, such as The Rialto and Eureka Tower, Grocon added yet another stand-out building to Melbourne’s city skyline – Swanston Square Apartments. We successfully managed to connect the building with the cultural heritage of Melbourne and the region.
The Brief
Grocon’s Swanston Square Apartments represent a building of national and international architectural significance. The Swanston Square Apartments’ façade is dedicated to William Barak (1824-1903), lovingly known as ‘King William, last traditional ngurungaeta of the Yarra Yarra tribe’, belonging to the Wurundjeri Willam clan. We were engaged to interpret the story and bring to life this amazing building through a property activation like no other.
The Execution
We make it our priority to be across all facets of an experiential marketing project, as the event planning required in this type of project is critical to the success on many levels. The considerations around key messaging with regards to the history and cultural importance of the Swanston Square Apartments façade was a balancing act between a stakeholders from the Wurundjeri clan through to Grocon and their partners. As an Event Designer TJ Carroll our director pulled out all the stops to create a variety of touch-points to reinforce the message and tell the story of this iconic building.
This was not your average experiential marketing campaign – it was a progressive style brand activation with a spot of product promotion. It was of paramount significance, not only to the Swanston Square Apartments and Grocon as a brand, but also to the legacy of the building design and inspiration that the launch stood as a symbol of Australian shared identity, recognising the deep history of Melbourne’s Indigenous people, The Wurundjeri-Willam.
The vantage point (and the product promotion referred to earlier) was from one of Grocon’s newly finished buildings, 150 Collins Street. Guests were taken on an excursion throughout the building, with each movement creating a part of the story of William Barak.
The brand experience was filled with many historical and cultural references. With performances by two Wurundjeri dance groups and Aunty Joy Wandin – Murphy’s Welcome to Country, the night had guests mesmerised.
The final installment was the unveiling of Swanston Square Apartments from afar where the portrait of William Barak on the façade of the building becomes clear. To ensure maximum brand experience we decided to flood-light the 30-story building!
As the evening progressed and the sun set, the building facade steadily lit up, heralding its place in Melbourne’s cosmopolitan skyline.
The Result
Through this brand activation we were able to achieve an array of priceless results. The most important result was acknowledgement of our indigenous heritage and the awareness it has brought to the Wurundjeri people past, present and future.
Grocon was able to connect with current and future stakeholders, showcasing the innovative and ground breaking technology used to create this building, while staying true to their community values.
The return-on-investment for Grocon through using brand activation was insurmountable; the media coverage reached far and wide with publications in Amsterdam, Paris and London picking up the story, not to mention the coverage it has received here in Australia.
We were honoured to be a part of making history when Grocon engaged us to work with them on this amazing project – thank you!!
“ We have a clear purpose at our company, that drives all of the work that we do, and that is to create enduring outcomes through collaboration. ENGAGE understood who we are as a company – that we strive to create lasting outcomes and value that is shared, this was obvious in their seamless execution of our event. ENGAGE thought of everything, executed the event without fault and provided our guests with an experience that was far and above what we had hoped for. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with ENGAGE on future projects. ”
— Clare Szewczuk | Grocon Corporate Brand Manager
