David Kendall

In Bellevue, Washington, you will find Lincoln Square, the latest addition to the region’s fast growing retail and commercial center. It’s four star hotel, luxury condominiums, and commercial tower were built on a platform of distinctive retail, fine dining, and a variety of entertainment venues. The property was positioned early on as the heart of Bellevue’s vibrant commercial and retail core. Having set the stage in 2004 with a brand platform that focuses on the wide variety of experiences found at Lincoln Square, The next step was to create a branded marketing campaign to launch the property. The result is a tiered program, which revealed the unique offerings at Lincoln Square to its core audience across all points of customer contact.

Announcing new opportunities

Lincoln Square was introduced to its core audience of wealthy suburbanites with an eight-page brochure, inserted into local journals, newspapers, and lifestyle magazines. This ran in tandem with a full-page advertising campaign in a variety of local publications.

Greeting the community

Participants in the initial campaign were invited to a grand opening party, where they were treated to a preview of Lincoln Square, a property which had enjoyed years of anticipation. Attendees received a customized leather bound journal to commemorate the opening of Lincoln Square to the community.

Setting the scene

When Lincoln Square opened, some of it’s tenants had not yet moved in. In order to lend a sense of vibrant activity to Lincoln Square, large format graphics were placed on store windows, and on temporary walls throughout the property. These graphics reinforced the Lincoln Square brand, while promoting the arrival of the retailers and restaurants.

Guiding the experience

Lincoln Square’s wide variety of retail, dining, entertainment, hospitality, and commercial offerings demanded a intricate signage, mapping, and way-finding program, that could quickly guide visitors to any place in the property, from a number of different entrances. A tiered mapping system intuitively divides the property into understandable sections. Rich imagery, depicting dining, shopping, and entertainment scenes, help cross-sell Lincoln Square’s array of experiences to visitors who may have arrived with only a single stop in mind. The way-finding program adds the final piece to a multi-faceted program that helps link Lincoln Square to an overall experience in the shopping area.