Work
Market Street
See and be seen
Market Street The Woodlands is an outdoor retail experience in the heart of The Woodlands, 30 miles north of downtown Houston and one of the nation’s fastest growing exurban communities. Adcetera has worked with Market Street since it opened in 2004. In recent years, a number of competing retail centers have sprung up in the area — including traditional mall mainstays and new mixed-use concepts.
The challenge
When Market Street approached us about a refresh to their logo, we saw a larger rebrand opportunity. After commissioning research into shopper perceptions of Market Street and their competitors — and cross-referencing against Market Street’s own shopper data — we recommended not only a visual redesign, but also a full strategic repositioning: as a hub of the community that’s high-end without being haughty, and sophisticated without being stuffy. A modern brick-and-mortar destination and a social center. A place to see and be seen.
Objective
Market Street gave Adcetera the creative wheel to drive a complete overhaul of their brand positioning and identity. Starting with creative discovery sessions, we arrived at the chosen campaign concept, “See and Be Seen,” and developed a multi-phase rebrand launch plan to take the brand forward.
Execution
From logo redesign to messaging tone, font selection, color palette, and campaign photography, the Market Street brand evolution has been a full-circle approach, driven by consumer insights and purposeful strategy. All parts of the new brand experience are creatively cohesive, even winning a Silver ADDY award in 2019 in recognition of the integrated rebrand campaign.
Same spot, new style
To lead up to the main “See and Be Seen” campaign message, we developed an interim teaser campaign theme, “Same Spot, New Style.” This messaging extended across multiple channels, including social and onsite signage, to introduce the new look and feel of the brand to a broad audience. Market Street also looked to us to leverage the brand and assist with new designs for their on-site renovation, which included the main-entry marquee and wayfinding landmarks. The teaser campaign was the perfect way to set the stage for a new-and-improved Market Street experience, and a refreshed look also helped attract more upscale and prominent retail brands to choose Market Street as their storefront location.
See and be seen
Over the past year, the campaign has evolved with a widely recognized mantra showing visitors that everything they want to see and discover, from the latest fashions to local cafes, and everyone they want to be seen by, from new faces to familiar friends, is happening at the new Market Street. The core campaign message and photography has been published on billboards, in local and multicultural publications, in social and digital ads, and more, with different looks and tones tailored to different seasons.
A new web experience
An essential part of the brand story was creating a completely new website ― one that not only would showcase the new Market Street to the world, but would also be user-friendly and engaging, and would embody the luxe-trendy, refined-casual spirit that’s true to the experience Market Street offers.
Completing the new website design and launch also included giving it a new and more actionable URL, shopatmarketstreet.com. In less than four months since the new domain went live in March 2019, the site has seen an average of 20% to 30% increase in new user traffic. Of that, 33% of new users return to the website twice as many times as before, and they spend more time overall on the site. The new tag @shopatmarketstreet has also been implemented across all the brand’s social channels.
Working with Adcetera on our marketing campaigns for the last 10 years has evolved into a bigger creative partnership with the redesign of our brand ― especially as we’ve seen the retail industry become more competitive. When it came to creating our new website, we knew the work needed to be exceptional as it’s the most visible part of our brand and often customers’ first impression. Adcetera helped us elevate our platform options and brand in the digital space and showcase our unique quality as not just a shopping center, but a hub of social happenings in The Woodlands.
Selling moments
There’s no denying that the way people shop and engage with brands has shifted, but brick-and-mortar retail with smart marketing tactics and a memorable brand persona still stands as one of the strongest influencers in this space. Working alongside our Market Street clients as partners, we were able to play to their strengths and differentiate them as a place that sells not just trends, but memorable experiences.
