Reinventing Thamesmead
Our client, Peabody, has spent years planning the regeneration of Thamesmead to make sure it lives up to its promise of being ‘London’s new town’. Our role was to create a brand identity and marketing strategy for the first phase.
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Challenge
Creating a new identity for an existing place comes with a host of challenges.
Firstly, we needed a brand for this new neighbourhood that would change people’s perceptions and put it on the map as a serious contender for Londoner’s to live; the wider area is known for its brutalist architecture but not a lot else, so we had a big placemaking job to do. We also had to strike a balance and make sure the look and feel of the neighbourhood resonated with local people, bringing the existing residents along on the journey.
Solution
Working closely with the Peabody team, our strategic planners organised various workshops to get underneath the skin of what makes this place special. We dived into its history, went on multiple walking tours, met the people behind the regeneration and met the people it was intended for.
Our planners then put their heads together with our creative thinkers and doers to finalise the name, Southmere, come up with some public space names (including a name for the new library, a landmark destination) and develop the brand proposition ‘Today, tomorrow, together.’
This proposition was all about leveraging what makes this neighbourhood so unique; it’s combination of natural assets, cultural heritage, community and bright future.
The people, the vision, the culture, the lakes, the green space, wildlife and active lifestyle all presented this feeling of wonder, of hope and fresh beginnings. And that also inspired our brand activation campaign ‘Live in wonder’.
The branding gave us tingles!
Andrew Peglau, Assistant Director – Marketing | Sales & Marketing
Impact
Southmere has launched. Although it’s early days, this new neighbourhood is already fulfilling its mission of putting London’s new town on the map. Watch this space…
