Branding a City

Branding a CityExploring aspects of theory & practice

Edinburgh September 2015Michalis Kourtidis BA, MA, Chartered MCIPDLecturer in Business, Tourism & HospitalityCoventry University College Shanghai

OutlineConcept, origin and development of City branding in Scotland or U.K.;Various factors needing to be considered when branding a city;Different perspectives or method in terms of city branding;Any problems or thinking during the process of branding the city

Brand Relationship Theoryor ConsumerBrand RelationshipFunctional ConnectionPersonal ConnectionAttachmentFunctional NeedsIdentity NeedsEmotive Needs

Therelationshipthatconsumers, think, feel, and have with abrand.

Response of the Brand

Consumer NeedsBrand ImageFunctionalIdentityEmotiveDevelopment of SymbolsSocial ValuesProduct Features

Stages of a Positive C B R

EdinburghThe case of

Nicknames of the cityAuld ReekieThe Athens of the NorthThe Worlds Festival City

What is there to offer?Scotlands capital city, home of the Scottish ParliamentA global festival cityUNESCO World Heritage Site Old & New TownsThe first UNESCO City of Literature from Sir Walter Scott to JK RowlingNational Galleries & MuseumsReputation of innovations from the telephone to Dolly the SheepCity centre surrounded by mountainsRoyal palace & a castle at the heart of the city

2007Collective Marketing Brand1st joint marketing campaign byNew Festivals Edinburgh OrganisationScottish GovernmentCity of Edinburgh CouncilVisitScotlandEventScotlandScottish Enterprise

Scottish GovernmentThe interest of the stakeholders:Conscious that a strong reputational capital brand is essential for an increasingly outward looking Scotland seeking to assert itself in the global stage.Edinburgh to become for cultural diplomacy what Davos is for economics (Edinburgh International Culture Summit 2012 back in 2014).

The New Scotlands International Framework 2012with key overseas markets.Show Leadership on the world stage around Low Carbon Economy

Is it all great?Newspapers play the role of getting the pulse of the localsLocals do not buy in the marketing campaign Big parts of the population have lost confidence in the governmentThe image of Edinburgh is perceived to be only for the outsidersLuck of inspiration from a leading politician with the task to promote well-being of locals: an elected Mayor (not only for the City, but the City Region)

http://www.creativebrief.com/blog/2012/11/20/city-brand-leaders-%E2%80%93-edinburgh-2/ 12

Why do you need that?Closer to the pubic, deals with everyday life and confronts negative PR on a daily basis; can inspire locals (see New York, London, etc.)

The most positiveDevelopment of Edinburgh BrandDevelopment of ScotlandPromising Purpose - Strong Commitment

SHANGHAIBuilding our case

ConfusionAd campaigns

Branding

Ad campaigns may give a city a nice haircut but this doesnt change its personality. It will soon loose its formMarketing & advertising only reflects whats real. If its not real itll fade out soon.16

Stockholm

Venice of the North

What sort of questions does this credo raise? How successful is it?

Confusion Big cities have multiple identities Architecture?History?Eco?ICT?Shopping?They have to decide which one prevails or find something which ties them all up togetherWhat are the identities of Shanghai?

Go to: http://padlet.com/mkourtidis/Shanghai

Ultimate purpose of Urban brandingFor the city to become better understood in various facetsand more attractive to or appreciated or trusted bymore people

Morgan, N., Pritchard, A. and Pride, R. (2011). Destination Brands: Managing Place Reputation (3rd Ed). Oxford: Elsevier

Understand why you are re-branding your city.Conduct thorough research.Start to craft your city's brand message.Educate inside and out.

Although it can be a long and tedious journey, the effort falls into four basic phases.

1.) First, understand why you are re-branding your city. Usually the answer is economic growth, but how? Do you want companies to move to your city? Or are you trying to draw more visitors? Getting consensus on this issue will direct all of the future re-branding activities.

2.) Conduct thorough research. Understand how your city is viewed by residents and your target audience. What is your city's reputation? What are the strengths, assets and even problem areas in the community? Is the city negatively perceived by those on the outside? Getting an accurate and honest assessment of the situation is a key success factor.

3.) Once you have collected research, you can start to craft your city's brand message. It should be short, but meaningful. It will paint a mental picture when combined with your new logo and represent your city's assets. For example, Jacksonville's brand now stimulates the images of Florida vacationing in an often overlooked city.

4.) Educate inside and out. Report back to residents surveyed during the research phase. Their buy-in will help successfully launch the new brand. You can also host special events and press conferences. Determine who on the outside needs to be educated about your new brand. Target regions where your city was misunderstood. Strategic ad placement will realign those perceptions.

Source: http://www.polarismr.com/POV/bid/86884/Brand-Research-How-Cities-Brand-Themselves20

Understand why you are re-branding your cityIdentity/ -ies

Back to the exercise

Conduct thorough research.Perception of the city already exists among inhabitants

Strategy of Creating IdentityImpose creativity, consistency, truthfulness, effectiveness onto:Development & promotion of National & Regional Tourism, Inward Investment, Recruitment & TradeBranding of exportsInternational relations & foreign policySocial & cultural policyUrban & environmental planningMembership of supranational bodiesDiasporasSportMedia managementMore of a topical significance

Start to craft your city's brand messageInvest in Reality, not Image. Regenerate, invest, transform first. Only when change is visible should you start to "brand" itLook at the key assets. Make something tangible about the city & make people connect with thatThe role of the media: Photos, videos, movies need to capture the spirit of the city

Deliver the BrandAdvertising/ MediaWebsitePRPRSignageEnvironmentTransportationAirportsDirect MailWord of MouthPhotos & memories

Educate inside and outClean streetsEffective & efficient transportationResidents feel proud to be brand ambassadorsWhen citizens are proud, visitors are encouraged to find out why they are proud and then tell the world.

Direct your brandingOutside

Inside

People are Culture

Most successfully branded citiesParisHong-KongNew YorkLiverpoolEdinburghSydneyGlasgowThe Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2008/oct/01/city.urban.branding

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Least successfully branded citiesBelfastLondonJerusalemBirminghamBristolToronto

The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2008/oct/01/city.urban.branding30

8Step Process to Develop a Place BrandStep 1Step 2Step 3IMAGEStep 4Step 5Step 6PROPOSITIONStep 7Step 8IDENTITYDefine Clear Objectives Understand the Target Audience Identify Current Brand Image Set the Aspirational Brand IdentityDevelop the Positioning Create Value Propositions Execute the Brand StrategyMeasure Success

http://miplace.org/sites/default/files/CEOsforCities_BrandingYourCity.pdf

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Execute the Brand StrategyAdvertising/ MediaWebsitePRPRSignageEnvironmentTransportationAirportsDirect MailWord of MouthPhotos & memories

Measure city brand identity(prefer a comparative study)

The PresenceThe PotentialThe PeopleThe PrerequisitesThe PulseThe Place

Presence: international status and standingPlace: physical awareness, pleasant or unpleasant imagePotential: economic & educational opportunitiesPulse: vibrant urban lifestyle, interesting things to do (short-term visitor and long-term resident)People: warm & friendly or cold & prejudiced against outsiders. How safe they visitors feel Prerequisites: perception of the basic qualities of the city: what they think life would be here, how easy they think is to find satisfactory accommodation, what public amenities look like (school, hospitals, transport, sports facilities, exercising religious beliefs, etc.)33

Top Mega cities of the worldTokyoNew DelhiShanghaiMexico CitySao PaoloMumbaiOsakaBeijingNew York-NewarkCairo

Megacities will become even biggerWell-being at the centre of inhabitantsWhere will they live? Think creativehttp://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000235756

Who owns the destination?Not a matter of a closed group of peopleThe importance of stakeholdersThe example of Vancouver: https://vimeo.com/66920801 Partnership, shared vision, involvement of stakeholders is key

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Whats included in place branding?Hardware of a city: geography, environment, industries developed because of the physical offeringsSoftware of a city: experiences, culture, people, unique characteristics

Whats culture in city brand identity?Not for sale - A promotional giftCulture is the rich harmonic accompaniment to the simple, accessible, easily memorable melody of the commercial competitive advantage. You can whistle a [citys] commercial brand, and not its cultural counterpoint; but the former is worth very much less without the latter. Anholt, S

Culture is next-door to tourismMakes a complete place, rather than a tourist destination, a place worth visiting at different times of the year (broad social appeal, usually well behaved visitors)Attractions are the commercial dress of culture and should be aligned with it.

Steps towards brandingAudit of current brand perceptions and communication: messages sent out by GovernmentIndustryGuest experience tourists perceptionsAlignment

Steps towards brandingEngage stakeholders* Business playersGovernmental & civic levelCommunity levelTourism destination market levelPeople

* Vancouver spoke to more than 130 stakeholders to finalise their proposition https://vimeo.com/68405297

Participation is keyAny future plan will fail unless people develop a sense of ownershipP2P Diplomacy

Alignment of the interests attracts investment

Ultimate aim: develop Residence

Set your targets Measure your expectationsSet small victories and celebrate them

What if the usual visitor extends their visit and stays to Shanghai from 72 hours to 96 hours?How would they spend their extra day?Would they be interested in that?What would that mean for Shanghai?

VisualiseNot only who you are

but what you want to become

To sum upBrand has to respond to Consumers needsEdinburgh: a successful international example of city brandingA national perspective: involvement of the government, industry, peopleIdentify and make stakeholders buy into the idea; let them participateIdentity has to be real discover it8 Steps to follow Measure brandingValue and use Culture to support commercial aspect of cityA long journey

Future is Created Now

Reference listAnholt, S. (2006).Competitive Identity. Palgrave Macmillan.Chen, X. (2009). Shanghai Rising : State Power and Local Transformations in a Global Megacity, ed. Minneapolis, MN, USA: University of Minnesota PressMusterd, S. and Kovacs, Z. (2013) Place-making and Policies for Competitive Cities, Chinchester, John Wiley & SonsProphet Consultancy (2006). Branding Your City. CEOs for Cities. MarchTodd, L.A.(2015)Developing brand relationship theory for festivals: a study of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.In: The Future of Events and Festivals. Routledge Advances in Event Research Series . Routledge, Abingdon Oxon, pp. 157-176.