Karratha up for rebrand

Advertising agency 303 MullenLowe has been appointed by the City of Karratha to develop a four-year branding campaign worth $1.9 million designed to attract new residents and tourists to the area.

The Pilbara city has a population of about 21,500 and is best known as a mining and resources hub, with Rio Tinto and Woodside Petroleum having major operations nearby.

It has also attracted a lot of new infrastructure and property developments, as part of the Barnett government's Pilbara Cities program, which aimed to create a city of 50,000 people.

In a first for the region, the city has tasked 303 MullenLowe with changing the perception Karratha is simply a mining town by promoting it and the surrounding region as a centre for tourism, business and investment.

The branding campaign will encompass the wider district including Dampier, Roebourne, Wickham, and Point Samson and will complement the campaign, ‘Epic Pilbara People’, being undertaken by Australia’s north-west.

City of Karratha Mayor Peter Long said 303 MullenLowe had demonstrated a clear understanding of the requirements of the project and captured the council’s vision for tourism, lifestyle and business opportunities in the city of Karratha.

303 MullenLowe planning director John Linton said Karratha and its surrounds was one of few remaining pockets in Western Australia that the rest of the country hadn’t been completely exposed to, so to help tell its story was an exciting opportunity.

"This project is something that will really be looking to give the region of Karratha an identity that will be lasting over a long period of time," he said. 

303 MullenLowe is now working with Karratha to develop and begin implementing the campaign in the second half of 2018, predominately through advertising, public relations and social media.