Agency to
lead strategy and creative
for the historic shipyard,
now reborn as a
center for pioneering companies
of new economy
Congrats are in order for Ad Age’s Small Agency of the Year winner Concept Farm. The independent, full-service marketing agency announced yesterday that it has been awarded a large project by Hugo Neu Corporation for the brand relaunch of Kearny Point.
Kearny Point, which has been dubbed as New Jersey’s own “Brooklyn,” is Hugo Neu’s ambitious four-million-square-foot redevelopment of a historic shipyard—now home to more than 200 businesses—located along the shores of the Hackensack and Passaic Rivers, between Newark and Jersey City, N.J.
The agency was awarded the business without a formal review.
A little bit of Kearny history – Kearny Point was originally constructed to build ships in WWI, and became the most productive ship building facility in the world during WWII when it launched a new ship every five days – breaking production records and employing over 30,000 people at its peak.
The property was acquired by Hugo Neu Corp in the early 1960s, and the site became a ship dismantling and recycling facility for the once-great warships, where their scrap metals were sent to steel mills, making Hugo Neu the largest exporter of scrap steel in the US at the time.
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Today, the 130-acre property has a creative office building—Building 78—and a light industrial and manufacturing building—Building 197—up and running. Hugo Neu is also in the midst of redeveloping the Building 78 ‘Annex’, slated to open in Fall 2019.
The Annex will house small- and mid-sized flexible creative office spaces, similar to those that are now nearly 100-percent occupied in Building 78.
The complete redevelopment plan for the entire Kearny Point site over the next few years includes multiple phases, and will feature creative office spaces, film/TV studios, event and entertainment venues, dining and retail, and outdoor public spaces with waterfront access that will be open to the surrounding community.
Concept Farm has been brought on as a strategic and creative partner to help Hugo Neu define and develop Kearny Point’s brand positioning for a relaunch, including strategy, creative and interactive.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Hugo Neu on this new business and lifestyle district,” said Griffin Stenger, Managing Director of Concept Farm. “We know the ‘walls will talk’ as Kearny Point continues to grow as a diverse community of pioneering businesses, many of which are founded by women and minorities, with stories of success and innovation to be told.”
Kearny Point currently offers a variety of office options, including a co-working space, private ‘flexible’ office spaces for creative uses, and larger spaces up to 90,000 square feet. But what really differentiates this project—led by lifelong environmental and social activist Wendy Neu—is its larger mission, which is derived from the developer’s commitment to social and environmental justice, in addition to animal rights.
“We want Kearny Point to attract startups and established companies alike that take their carbon impacts into account and show a real interest in ecological and social justice,” commented Nick Shears, Director of Marketing at Kearny Point.
Shears added, “Therefore, it was important for us to find a small agency partner that would quickly understand our vision and work to meet our needs. The team at Concept Farm are ideal — they immediately understood our goals and have placed their senior people on the account to ensure a robust scope gets completed on time and on budget. Furthermore, their track record of creating innovative campaigns for other real estate companies such as Manhattan Mini Storage was an added benefit.”
The first work for the brand is expected to launch in late March.
Source: Concept Farm
