Hemingway

Hirsch & Faigen approached Theola to develop the strategy, brand identity and marketing. The concept and design of the building was genuinely unique, cleverly using articulations (cut-outs) to reduce the buildings’ perceived bulk and dramatically enhance aspect. Instead of a conventional apartment approach with limited framed views typical of a square building, the project delivered wide-open views associated with a classic Queensland beach house – just in the sky.

This foundational idea formed the core of our strategic and design approach. We wanted to hark back to a golden age of beachside living, re-interpreted for a new generation of Palm Beach locals.

How do you explain a beach house in the sky? It involved getting our audiences to look with new eyes and discover something unique and wonderful. To change their perspective and rethink everything they thought was possible. To completely re-evaluate their perception of what a beachside apartment could be, and in doing so, transform their reality.

The Gold Coast city council objected to the natural concrete used in the exterior columns of the design as ‘too Brutalist’, so Rothelowman pitched the idea of tinting the concrete a light salmon pink colour - and that sparked the name. We christened the project Hemingway, after the romance of Havana in Cuba with its beautiful, muted pastel palette and the pink colour of El Floridita, Papa Hemingway’s favourite bar.

Theola always advocates for greatness, paying attention to even the smallest details to ensure projects stand out from the competition and attract a wide audience of qualified prospects. Hirsch & Faigen shared this dedication to bringing this extraordinary project, Hemingway, to life and trusted Theola to take an inspired creative approach to design and marketing. We engaged Israel Rivera to shoot the brand film and lifestyle imagery, Stefan Jannides to shoot the viewlines and backplates and Renderhouse to bring the project to life visually with renders.

In a world full of shining glass towers, Hemingway is a nod to the past. Unique in architectural design, it deserved an identity that mirrored this rare perspective and a strong, compelling brand that captured the attention of our audiences and stood out in the ever more crowded offering of beach apartment developments. All the Hemingway collateral demonstrated the idea of ‘reframing reality’, which became even more relevant and resonated with interstate audiences in Covid lockdown throughout the marketing period.

The Hemingway results speak for themselves. Prior to DA approval, 75% of the residences had been reserved with holding deposits. Once DA was received, enquirers were offered the opportunity to take their reservation to contract, prior to the public launch. This in turn drove urgency of action, word of mouth and increased enquiries. The one bedroom & three bedroom apartments sold out. We focused on promoting the remaining two bedroom apartments with targeted digital banners and they sold within the next week. For every buyer who declined to purchase their ‘reservation’, the Urban Activation team had prospective buyers in queues waiting for the opportunity. Two days before the Grand Launch event, all of the 78 apartments had been sold.