City of Parramatta Council

The problem

Parramatta’s Church Street dining precinct in the heart of the Parramatta CBD is a popular destination for Parramatta locals and visitors. The downturn in patronage due to the COVID pandemic meant that restaurant owners on Church Street needed help to raise awareness that their venues were still open for business.

This was coupled with businesses along Church Street being impacted by the construction of the Parramatta Light Rail project, which had closed down the street to all traffic. The popular dining area had become noisy and unattractive, turning patrons away from dining at the local establishments.

City of Parramatta Council needed a creative solution that would remind patrons that the restaurant precinct on Church Street was still open for business - both dining in and takeaway.

The solution

Icon’s creative team and marketing strategists began sketching out a script and storyboard for a fast-paced, colourful and vibrant video. The video would be crafted around the core theme of highlighting the wide range of dining options available on Church Street without favouring a particular outlet. It was also important to take the focus off the construction zone by not featuring the actual location.

The video production team developed three concepts and produced storyboards and script synopses that were presented to the City of Parramatta Council team. The creative execution selected - ‘Pass It On’ - involved the passing of an object, such as a piece of cutlery, from scene to scene, seamlessly.

The Icon team filmed all video footage in one studio location against a green screen, which meant a cost-effective production and timely delivery for City of Parramatta Council.

Local Parramatta identities - including NRL football players, actors, and City of Parramatta Lord Mayor Bob Dwyer - were featured in the video. Also featured were several local residents and restaurant staff of different ages and backgrounds, which helped to showcase the cultural diversity of Parramatta.

The results

The ‘Pass It On’ promotional video was praised by the City of Parramatta Council stakeholders, Church Street restaurateurs, Parramatta locals, and visitors to Parramatta.

“Our job was to entice locals and visitors to return to the Church Street dining precinct.”Erica Williams, Business Partner, Icon

The results

• Above-average ad scores.
• High impressions, reach and interactions.
• Increased website traffic.
• Drove 6,000 visitors to local Parramatta listing websites.
• Over 24,000 unique visitors to Eat & Drink content on the Discover Parramatta website.