The House of Melbourne
Who?
Situated in the literal heart of retail in Australia, Emporium occupies the original Myer building — Australia’s very first department store — and offers a uniquely blended experience of retail, dining and entertainment that can’t be found elsewhere in Australia. Including an entire floor dedicated to Australian Designers, many of which first found their feet in Melbourne and now have their flagship locations inside the centre.
If you’ve ever been to Melbourne, you’ll be familiar with the pride Melburnians have for the place they call home. It’s the cultural capital of Australia. The crowd people want to be part of, the clique they want to hang with, the party that unites the best in style, culture & community.
So, how do we reconnect a wavering brand to the people and place that first gave it purpose?
The challenge (understanding culture)
Teaming up with research agency, Crowd DNA, we surveyed and conducted ‘in the field’ video diary sessions with a mix of Melbourne based and travelling shoppers, as well as in-depth interviews with a cross section of culturally influential Melburnians including fashion heads, writers, musicians and on-the-pulse community leaders. What we found rang true across the board:
Melbourne is a city made by its people.
It’s a creative hub for community and connection, and everything they choose to engage with needs to embrace these things. Especially post Covid, where community is more important than ever.
People X Place
The research gave us a clear path forward and it was one of bravery and bold choices. If Melbourne is so intrinsically connected to its culture, and Emporium is deeply rooted in Melbourne, then we needed to bring the two together.
‘The House of Melbourne’ is part strategic position, part promise and part signal of presence in place. Used to guide internally, it also has a consumer-facing voice and acts as a stake in the ground for future development of the centre. It’s a benchmark for brands, partners, events and experiences they choose to collaborate with to live up to. And it’s unapologetically ‘for Melbourne’.
The broad nature of the position leaves room to grow while also giving Emporium a clear voice in the experiential retail market — one nobody else can own.
Paying homage to heritage
To punctuate the strategic line, we explored different ways to visually represent ‘The House of Melbourne’ before deciding simplicity was the right choice. Leaning into the significance of place, a newly introduced graphic icon depicts the heritage facade of the building, punctuated by the E motif.
Expressing ownability and authenticity across the brand, the use of the icon defines ‘House of Melbourne’ moments — this might be a flagship store launch, a unique community collaboration, or something that only Emporium can lay claim to. It’s a mark of quality and curation.
The colour of community
A community focussed brand needs to show up as community forward. Working with Crowd DNA\Socialise we captured the intertwined stories of three Melbourne-based trailblazers through a series of high energy ‘day in the life’ films and accompanying library of effervescent photography.
The films come together to create an interweaving, chopping and changing hero film unlike anything Emporium have done before. With no direct ties to specific brands, and using the image and voices of real, influential Melburnians they now have a genuine perspective that is beyond their own internal view. One that celebrates the place they call home: Melbourne.
