Sharing a local story with the world
The Republic of Fremantle is a start-up distillery and restaurant in Western Australia where artisan ingredients and passionate craftspeople meet—a classic ‘Freo’ venue with ambitions to share the culture and creativity of Fremantle on a global scale. After a successful first year of trading locally in WA, their eyes were set on future growth; a major renovation to their venue. And for this, they needed investors, preferably locals who shared their vision. So, the Lush production team came together with the creative minds of our sister agency Dear Storyteller in order to make a mini-documentary.
“The Lush team are the ultimate storytellers and have the ability to create brand films that not only wholeheartedly represent our brand, but show a genuine understanding of our audience.”
Mary-Anne Stupart, Head of Sales and Marketing, Republic of Fremantle
Through the documentary short genre, we created a compelling story that captured The Republic of Fremantle in an editorial manner. The film highlighted the history of this unique local business, plus their award-winning product range, existing hospitality venue, and vision for the long term. It was a fresh perspective on crowdfunding initiatives, masterminded by Dear Storyteller and brought to life by the Lush team. The film was at the heart of Glide Agency’s crowdfunding work and paid social media campaign, telling the brand’s story and ultimately helping drive one of 2022’s most successful Birchal campaigns to date.
“When we showed our current shareholders and investors what Lush had created, they were blown away with the ability to balance great storytelling, visuals and a call to action which was needed specifically for raising capital for this campaign.”
Mary-Anne Stupart, Head of Sales and Marketing, Republic of Fremantle
After running on digital channels for six weeks, the mini-documentary secured $1.028 million in capital from 450 investors. 71% of these investors were from WA, proving that the film had generated a groundswell of local support for this grassroots start-up. Now, after exceeding their campaign goals, The Republic of Fremantle is ready for what’s next: overhauling the venue and taking their first global steps.
“We’re so excited that 450 investors decided to join us in our next chapter, as we expand our distribution nationally and Internationally, and develop new products to meet changing consumers’ needs.”
Mary-Anne Stupart, Head of Sales and Marketing, Republic of Fremantle