Brand narrative development for £1 billion town regeneration
When Stevenage Borough Council invited We Do Stories to support the programme, the initiative already had a name and early promotional materials. What it lacked was a clear narrative that connected the name to the compelling vision behind the regeneration.
Council leaders needed a story that would bring residents, businesses and investors on board with the programme. The brand needed to explain how the redevelopment would improve everyday life in Stevenage and why organisations should invest in the town’s future.
Without this clarity, the Stevenage Even Better name risked remaining a slogan rather than a meaningful placemaking brand.
We worked with Stevenage Borough Council through a series of workshops and strategic consultancy sessions to craft the narrative underpinning the Stevenage Even Better programme.
The work focused on connecting the Stevenage Even Better name directly to the outcomes the regeneration programme would deliver for the town. Together with council leaders, we developed a clear placemaking narrative that explained how the programme would improve residents’ daily lives and create new opportunities for businesses.
From this work, we established a set of clear brand pillars that translated the regeneration vision into tangible themes, including Even Better Living and Even Better Shopping, helping residents and businesses understand how the town centre would evolve.
These pillars provided a framework that the council could use to convey the town’s exciting vision across communications, planning discussions, and investor engagement. The narrative needed to build trust in the ambitious project and change audiences from feeling ‘but we’ve tried this before’ to ‘this is different, and it’s going to work’
Alongside this narrative work, we developed investor communications designed to support conversations with major businesses and organisations considering Stevenage as a location for expansion. The materials demonstrated the scale of the regeneration programme and set out the commercial case for Stevenage as a destination for new retail, office and commercial investment.
The work provided Stevenage Borough Council with a clear narrative that connected the Stevenage Even Better name to the wider regeneration programme.
The placemaking framework gave the council a consistent way to explain the vision for the town centre while engaging residents, partners and businesses in the transformation.
Investor‑focused materials strengthened conversations with major organisations considering Stevenage as a location for future retail or commercial activity, helping position the town as a destination for new investment.
