CHI-LDN-NYC – – Global brand development, innovation, advertising, and marketing services consultancy GERTRUDE, INC.™ announces the completed renovation and official launch of its 25,000 sq. ft. design-forward brand destination, THE BRNDHAUS PL-ZEN™ – located at 1727 W. 21st Street in Chicago’s vibrant Pilsen neighborhood. The 2.5-year long project is a transformational one that emerges from the past year with momentum and purpose, as GERTRUDE re-energized the 20-year vacant, 1914 warehouse and former palette factory as dynamic hub for global brand engagement, content creation, and connecting brands to culture.
While the world was shut down, GERTRUDE was cultivating brands at THE BRNDHAUS PL-ZEN™ in a COVID-19-safe, premium location for top-notch clients including Maker’s Mark Bourbon (brand films production), Courvoisier (VIP program), PepsiCo (digital content innovation), Netflix (season 2 production of #1 show Love Is Blind), and NBC’s hit crime drama Chicago P.D. (film production).
Powered by GERTRUDE, INC., THE BRNDHAUS PL-ZEN is the new global HQ to the agency and its two divisions OZ MFG. COMPANY™ (Content Design & Digital) and RAYE™ (Experiential & Architecture), and satellite office to GERTRUDE’s strategic digital media and content deployment partner Prolific Media.
The newly opened BRNDHAUS is described as a ‘Global Brand Innovation and Content Factory’ dedicated to the development, consumer co-creation, incubation and activation of brands. “The BRNDHAUS PL-ZEN’s founding purpose is to actualize unique experiences and content while aligning professional creative leaders, thinkers, and doers within a forward-looking environment,” said GERTRUDE and BRNDHAUS Owner and Chief Creative Officer Otis D. Gibson, “It provides a contained, focused space for brands to develop, rapid prototype, engage with consumers, host productions, and create and test ideas real-time in the heart of Pilsen.”
Additionally, the BRNDHAUS offers select rental opportunity exclusively for brand showrooms, pop-ups, retail, corporate meetings, and like-minded entrepreneurs and businesses. The building features wide-open spaces with 18’ ceilings and modern-industrial design, along with THE BRNDHAUS PL-ZEN LIVE™—a livestream capability for remote shooting and broadcasting, KAFFE ARLO™ LOUNGE, TOKIO 21™ GALLERY & GARDEN, and TOKIO 21™ MERCANTILE.
Gibson added, “With the business climate and agency landscape rapidly evolving and creating new opportunity for entrepreneurial solutions, THE BRNDHAUS PL-ZEN™ is a facility built for today’s clients in today’s world, and anticipating what tomorrow may look like. We look forward to serving GERTRUDE’s client partners and creative professionals as we collectively reshape and innovate an even smarter, stronger path forward.”
THE BRNDHAUS PL-ZEN™ is immediately available for brand experiences and activation, exclusive sponsorships, and film and photo production.
