Maarten Magazine

Project developer Ciril was looking for a way to put Maarten on the map of Mechelen, long before construction started. The goal was to make the new residential area known in Mechelen – and to let the general public really get acquainted with Maarten. We chose for a refreshing, creative way to do this: a lifestyle magazine. Maarten Magazine gave us the ideal canvas to present a vibrant residential area in a playful, contemporary and authentic way.

Brandstichters came up with the concept of Maarten Magazine and went on to fully create the magazine from A to Z. We came up with the content, found the right partners, looked up information, wrote the articles and designed the layout. This approach is completely in line with our preferred plan of attack: we worked strategically and thoroughly. We researched the project from the inside out, so we were able to tell a unique story – fully tailored to the project and our client, project developer Ciril.

For Maarten Magazine we interviewed Ciril, Polo architects, Okra landscape architects, the city of Mechelen and many local entrepreneurs. We first mapped out what was “happening” in the city so we could create a relevant city magazine that is attractive and interesting to locals and sticks with them. Throughs various articles, the reader gets to know all about the new residential area – from the architecture to the history, from the new park to the new street – and at the same time discovers new hotspots in Mechelen!

With Maarten Magazine we stepped away from a more traditional, commercial sales brochure. In the magazine we not only described the project and its many advantages in great detail, but we also made room for local entrepreneurs and initiatives. We painted a picture of a life in Mechelen along with Maarten and placed the development within a larger story of a thriving city in motion. We presented a real magazine that spoke to a wide group of people and was distributed all over Mechelen, through the businesses of the entrepreneurs we featured. Our ambassadors helped put Maarten on the map as the cosiest green residential area in the city of Mechelen.