Here East: Branding a Tech Campus From Scratch

After the 2012 Olympics, the broadcast centre in Stratford faced an identity crisis. It needed to transform from a temporary media facility into a permanent home for London’s tech and creative community. Here East was born — and it needed a digital presence that matched its ambition.

The Challenge

Branding a building is one thing. Branding an idea is another. Here East wasn’t just offering office space — it was promising a community, a creative ecosystem, a new kind of working environment. The digital platform needed to convey all of that without descending into generic corporate property-speak.

Digital Identity

The website became the campus’s primary storytelling platform. Rather than leading with square footage and floor plans, it led with people. Resident companies, their stories, their collaborations. The space was presented through the work happening inside it.

A dynamic content system pulled in events, news, and resident updates to create a living portrait of the campus. The site was never static — it evolved as the community grew, always reflecting the current state of Here East rather than a fixed marketing message.

Brand Films

A series of short films captured the energy of the campus — makers, coders, designers, engineers all sharing space and ideas. These weren’t polished corporate videos. They were authentic, slightly rough around the edges, reflecting the startup energy that defined Here East’s culture.

Results

Here East reached full occupancy ahead of schedule, attracting tenants including BT Sport, Loughborough University, and dozens of creative and technology businesses. The digital platform played a central role in positioning the campus as a destination rather than just a building.