June 2022
Last week, a new unified place brand for Geelong was launched. Backed by 16 leading local organisations who form the Vision Partner Group, this brand supports key aspirations of the community-led Clever and Creative 30-year vision for our region.
While the development of the brand was several years in the making, the story of Geelong is as old as the language and culture of Wadawurrung People.
As part of the project group responsible for the strategy and development of the brand, seeing the Greater Geelong, Greater Australian Stories brand narrative come to fruition was a wonderful moment in time. It was also a great show of strength and collaboration among many stakeholders who came together to design and build the brand to benefit the region.
From its inception, we knew the brand needed to be recognisable and real to locals. It needed to showcase our beautiful bay, beaches and the Barwon. It needed to demonstrate our caring community who welcomes new people with open arms. It also needed to embrace the long and deep history of Wadawurrung Traditional Owners on this land called DJilang.
Our city by the bay is a great Australian success story. As one of Australia’s fastest-growing cities, we can rightly claim to be a destination of choice for living, working, studying and visiting. Just this week we heard that global retail giant Costco is looking to establish a presence in Geelong. This does not happen by chance, but is testament to our resilience, economic diversity and attractiveness as a place for investment.
Greater Geelong, Greater Australian Stories campaign will share that we are home to over 19,500 businesses, facilitating a $12.7 billion investment pipeline and powering over $1.3 billion in cutting-edge new knowledge-based ventures.
The establishment of the TAC, followed by WorkSafe and the NDIS in our CBD has provided a vital core of public sector employment and generated significant additional economic benefit throughout our region. We are now seeing a new wave of investment in commercial office and accommodation projects with several cranes towering over our skyline.
In the next months and years, we will see: the Spirit of Tasmania docking at Corio Quay opening up new opportunities in trade for both freight and tourism; the completion of the new Geelong Arts Centre; the design and construction of the Geelong Convention & Exhibition Centre on our glittering waterfront; the completion of GMHBA Stadium to accommodate 40,000 people; and the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
These stories of economic success are now shared through a range of visual and digital assets highlighting Geelong’s beauty, vibrancy, opportunity and creativity.
Local industries, businesses, and stakeholders have an opportunity to be part of the Greater Geelong, Greater Australian Stories campaign with a suite of assets freely available to download via www.greater-geelong.com.au
Geelong, we are ready to tell our story. It’s a story we can all share and it’s a story we can all own because it’s about all of us. Now, it’s up to us to embrace our story and tell it to the world.
Jennifer Croamrty
Committee for Geelong
CEO