Background

SITUATION InnoCell is a brand-new co-living and co-working space located in Hong Kong Science Technology Park, the heart of the city's R&D hub. In a city infamous for cramped apartments and sky-high rents, InnoCell provides its residents with a balance of modern private living spaces and stylish high-quality shared facilities, supported by smart living technologies, in subsidised accommodation designed to build greater personal interaction and collaboration. OBJECTIVES A fully 360 brand-build. The client's primary objective was to create a brand that could help to attract and retain I&T talent in HK. BRIEF To create a brand that is vibrant and community-centric. Although InnoCell is a government-backed project situated in the largely corporate Science Park, they did not want any of the branding or materials to look 'typically' government or feel corporate in style; they wanted it be stylish and to appeal to international I&T talents, however without alienating corporate clients.

Describe the creative idea (40% of vote)

The most important message that the client wanted to deliver was that of collaboration. As such, the creative ideas all revolve around the idea of co-creation; "InnoCell offers great spaces for great minds to build great ideas." The project launched in the midst of a COVID-19 lockdown, which required people to socially-distance. We had to strike a creative balance between showing a collaborative, community-centric environment at InnoCell, while respecting the city's social-distancing laws and sensitivities around densely-packed communal facilities. Therefore, we consciously emphasised the spaciousness of the property, while using vibrant colours and playful hand-drawn illustrations to provide an added human-touch and personality. InnoCell's target audience is made up of existing corporate I&T Science Park companies' employees for long-stays, and other companies looking for spaces on a short-term basis (i.e., company events, team-building, etc). The audience base is largely corporate, so we had to be careful not to alienate them.

Describe the execution (40% of vote)

This was a truly 360 branding project on a large-scale, which comprised of identity creation, website and mobile app design, virtual CS design, smart living controls, copywriting, posters, stationery, swag, mood-book, photography, video, newsletters, social media and even a bus wrap. As this new-to-market brand launch originally had a tight 9-month timeline and launched in the midst of another wave of COVID-19, our approach was to create strong, consistent assets to build a successful, memorable identity. Being situated in Science Park, one of the major selling points of InnoCell was the property's integration of smart technologies; however, it was important to still make the brand feel human, as the message of community and collaboration was key to the client. We introduced playful lo-fi illustrations in many of the 'smart tech' design assets in order to strike a balance between humanity and technology. A bright colour palette communicated inclusivity and diversity.

List the results (20% of vote)

InnoCell quickly reached their tenancy occupancy goals within the launch phase of the project. The InnoCell Living app has been successfully downloaded and used by all residents, who also seamlessly process their rental payments, control their smart home features and pay for communal facility bookings via the mobile app that we designed. The InnoCell Staff app was simultaneously deployed successfully, which notifies InnoCell housekeeping and maintenance staff of tenant requests. The app also offers an inventory management system and internal messaging platform. These apps ensured the success of InnoCell's smart living promise. The eApplication portal designed by us was also successfully implemented, allowing for a fully-online application process and subsequent internal scoring system for admissions. InnoCell has also enjoyed prominent features on leading news sites, including HK01, SCMP and LifestyleAsia. Finally, the property welcomed the city's Chief Executive on a visit and has received very positive feedback from all stakeholders.