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Potato Wharf was billed as the last great development site in Manchester, but it arrived late to the party. Surrounding schemes were already mid build or close to completion, all competing for the same buyers. Crosby Lend Lease needed a marketing strategy that would gain traction quickly and put Potato Wharf at the forefront of the Manchester property market. We won the pitch with a simple idea: rather than shout louder than the competition, root the development in the city itself. Potato Wharf takes its name from the Castlefield wharf where potatoes were once landed from the canal, and that sense of place became the heart of the brand. Made from Manchester positioned the scheme as something the city had grown, not something dropped onto it, giving buyers a reason to choose it over newer, louder neighbours.

Client

Lend Lease

Project

Potato Wharf

Services

Brand Development
Marketing Campaign
Interactive site plan
Street VR
Digital Advertising
HTML5 Display Ads
Social Media
Email Marketing
Property Portal Advertising
Print Collateral
Site Signage and Hoardings
Video

Potato Wharf was billed as the last great development site in Manchester, but it arrived late to the party. Surrounding schemes were already mid build or close to completion, all competing for the same buyers. Crosby Lend Lease needed a marketing strategy that would gain traction quickly and put Potato Wharf at the forefront of the Manchester property market. We won the pitch with a simple idea: rather than shout louder than the competition, root the development in the city itself. Potato Wharf takes its name from the Castlefield wharf where potatoes were once landed from the canal, and that sense of place became the heart of the brand. Made from Manchester positioned the scheme as something the city had grown, not something dropped onto it, giving buyers a reason to choose it over newer, louder neighbours.

MADE FROM MANCHESTER

To bring the Made from Manchester idea to life, we turned the show homes over to the city’s emerging talent. We launched a student design competition, inviting young designers to interior design the show homes at Potato Wharf, with the winning schemes built for real. The competition was judged by Peter Saville, the Manchester born designer behind Factory Records’ most iconic sleeves and one of the most celebrated graphic designers in the world. It gave the students a platform, gave the development a story the press wanted to tell, and gave buyers stunning homes with real Manchester creativity at their heart.

Every great Manchester brand wears its history lightly. The Potato Wharf identity draws on the city’s industrial heritage, its warehouses, canals and hard working character, and distils it into a mark that is bold, simple and built to last. Made from Manchester, and it looks it.

I've worked with OnFire over the last seven years as Marketing Director of Crosby Lend Lease and also in the same role now at Countryside Properties. Their work for mixed use schemes at greenquarter and Potato Wharf in Manchester and Mann Island in Liverpool has always been highly creative, original, strategically led and ultimately highly effective.
Peter Vella
Marketing Director

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