Project Overview

St Hilliers and First Point Projects have joined forces to create Thornton, an exciting new project that will see the transformation of North Penrith into a vibrant, urban village style precinct with a new community of around 5,000 residents. A brand and marketing campaign by Hoyne has embraced the Penrith location and the transformation occurring in the area to showcase a new way of living. The results have been spectacular with Stage 1 and 2 selling out shortly after launch.

Project Commissioner

First Point Projects and St Hilliers

Project Creator

Hoyne

Project Brief

In a market saturated with generic developments and promises of open spaces, the brand strategy identified the opportunity for Thornton to stand out from the crowd. Residential apartment living in Penrith’s city centre was previously unprecedented, but with transformation occurring in the area, the market was ready for this type of housing product and amenity – and Thornton would be part of igniting Penrith’s future as a diverse, urban centre. The existing Thornton name and brand equity was retained with a new, refreshed creative campaign that had real personality. Research also identified the opportunity to showcase Penrith as an astute investment so the campaign needed to utilise a range of statistics to demonstrate growth in Greater Western Sydney.

Project Innovation/Need

Research identified great interest in the future of greater western Sydney’s property market, but saw there was a lack of knowledge among investors and owner occupiers. The campaign communicated the hugely positive forecasted growth figures and government investment information to position Penrith and Thornton as an area for astute investment. Campaign language and imagery ignored common suburban clichés and instead used bold messages that had real personality. Emotive language called on locals to join a new movement in apartment living. Positive messages were developed to convey many of the attributes of living in this location, taking advantage of the last two letters of Thornton: ON the money, ON home turf, ON your bike. The rich history of Penrith, ignored by pervious campaigns, was used to intrigue the market, engage the local community and inspire a feeling of pride in the area. Penrith Pride T-shirts and tote bags were created to give Penrith the feel of a cool and desirable fashion brand, which appealed to a younger, urban market. The Sales Centre embraced technology to create a flexible platform, which could be updated based on sales success and buyer enquiry, and also created an anchor for community events.

Design Challenge

The biggest challenge was communicating the new way of living that was available at Thornton and changing market’s perception of North Penrith as an industrial hub. Unlike competitor campaigns, the location was embraced and reframed to demonstrate the transformation taking place and the future lifestyle on offer. A unique identity was created to bring people, life and activity back to Penrith and stamp Thornton’s identity on the CBD.

User Experience

All 151 Stage 1 apartments delivered over four buildings sold out within one month. Stage 2 was fast tracked to market as a result and 191 apartments were sold out over 5 hours on launch weekend. Ninety percent of the stage 3 release has now been sold. Community engagement ideas were developed to increase community sprit; this included Penrith Pride T-shirts and tote bags that gave the area the feel of a hip, urban fashion brand. The Sales Centre was developed to be a flexible platform enabling new information on sales success and buyer enquiry to be easily updated. It also provided an anchor for community events.