Hard Launching Nicholas Street | Precinct Marketing Campaign

Unveiling Ipswich’s new favourite lifestyle precinct

As one of Queensland’s fastest-growing cities, Ipswich stands at the forefront of transformation. At the heart of this transformation is the $311 million Nicholas Street Precinct (NSP), the largest revitalisation of Ipswich’s city centre in three decades.

Ipswich City Council engaged Aruga to announce three landmark tenants at NSP – HOYTS Ipswich, General Public and Hotel Commonwealth – followed by a wholly integrated six-month marketing campaign to drive awareness, build brand salience and increase visitation.

Befitting a place-making commercial development of this scale, Aruga developed a comprehensive and integrated marketing approach that spanned social and digital media, graphic design, copywriting, video production, events, influencer engagement, and media relations.

Our job was to ensure the local community embraced and celebrated the transformation of their city centre, in turn driving commercial outcomes for the precinct’s growing list of tenants.

And our target audiences talked with their feet. The multi-faceted marketing campaign drove a 42% year-on-year increase in visitation, cementing NSP as Ipswich’s leading lifestyle precinct.

Results

1,008,988

precinct visitors during a seven-month campaign

42%

YOY visitation increase

4.8M

above-the-line impressions

157

editorial clippings

7.5M

estimated audience reach of earned public relations activity

631

pieces of content created

3.2M

organic reach across social media channels

Deliverables

Multi-Channel Content Creation

Ideating and capturing more than 600 pieces of unique content across mediums, including out-of-home advertising, paid media partnerships, organic and paid social media assets, eDMs, in-precinct signage, website content and a 30-second cinema commercial.

Organic and Paid Social Media Management

Reaching more than 3.2 million people through social media and attracting more than 41,000 unique engagements across all channels. Paid Meta activity performed exceptionally well, delivering high engagement and an efficient cost-per-click average of $0.40.

Public Relations

Securing 157 editorial clippings, with an estimated audience reach of more than 7.5 million people. Earned media success was driven by new openings in the precinct and supported by experiential famils developed for targeted media outlets.

Precinct Activations

Designing construction hoarding pieces that set a new visual tone for NSP, followed by significant place-making installations, including Christmas and Easter events, a hand-painted mural and street lighting.

Winning tactics

Content-led marketing strategy

A consistent content-led strategy across paid, owned and earned media was critical in building awareness, increasing visitation and, over time, building brand love with our primary audience. Content that told a story, rather than simply promoting an offering, delivered exceptional engagement and developed long-term brand affinity.

Impactful design and branding

Elevated graphic design ensured every consumer touchpoint felt cohesive, contemporary and high quality. From hoardings to social media, cinema and website content, the premium visual identity reinforced brand perception and increased public confidence in the precinct.

Precinct activations

Simple, well-executed activations elevated the NSP brand and encouraged revisitation. Live music, Easter entertainment and Christmas activities were effective in energising the space and reinforcing NSP as a dynamic community hub.