Rebranding the city: changing the image of places and spaces

1
Re-branding the city changing the image of
places and spaces
School of Geography FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT

• Rachael Unsworth

2
Outline

• What is a brand?
• Why brand a place?
• Types and examples
• Process and problems
• The case of Marketing Leeds

3
Brand
4
Product differentiation - superior quality
First English registered trademark 1876
Édouard Manet, A Bar at the Folies-Bergère,
1882Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London
5
What do they mean to you?
6
Brand and image
Not just name, logo, website, brochure
Something that exists in the collective mind of
the consumer FT article 2002
7
Why create a brand image for a city or re-brand
a city?

• creates/changes awareness creates/builds
  consumer demand for a product in an increasingly
  competitive market place

8
Competition among cities is like riding a
bicycle if you dont pedal, youll fall off.
However, globalization is making us
increasingly uniform, so we must construct and
promote our difference in order to continue
existing Mirón, Urban Land Institute
9
Place marketing

• Assert individuality in pursuit of various
  economic, political or socio-psychological
  objectives
• Need to attract inward investment, visitors, high
  skilled workers, promising students
• Shape place identity and promote to specific
  markets
• Kavaratzis M. and Ashworth, G.J. (2005) City
  branding an effective assertion of identity or a
  transitory marketing trick?

10
Major assumptions

• Places can be treated as spatially extended
  products
• and
• Places are in competition in a way that is
  similar to competition between companies and
  products

11
Types of branding/re-branding

• Structural re-branding/re-positioning
  re-branding using events/'year of ......'
  slogans
• Creating a new image for a place that is
  transformed or wants to be transformed pulling
  out its best assets and qualities, what makes it
  special

12
Process of creating a place brandworkshop at
Core Cities conference 2007

• Identify visual, verbal, experiential elements of
  places to communicate
• What are the main (3?) things that you want
  people to know about your place?
• Develop message and consider how to put it across
  to different audiences internal and external.
  Forge associations between place and (potential)
  consumers

13
BRAND IDENTITYHow the owners want the brand to
be perceived

• BRAND POSITIONING
• The part of the value proposition communicated to
  a target group that demonstrates

BRAND IMAGE How the brand is perceived
Kavaratzis M. and Ashworth, G.J. (2005) p.508
14
Examples of slogans

• B in Birmingham, Birmingham Europe's Youngest
  City, or Birmingham, The Global City With The
  Local Heart
  Oct 2007 announced new exercise
• Glasgows miles better
• Kingston-upon-Hull 'The pioneering city'
• 'Uniquely Manchester'
• Edinburgh Inspiring city
• Nottingham Our Style is Legendary changed to

15
(No Transcript)
16
(No Transcript)
17
(No Transcript)
18
Problems with place branding?

• Can cities be treated like products?
• Do cities compete in the same way as products?
• Do messages ring true?
• Can everywhere be world class?

19

• The Work Foundation specialisms and
  characteristics of individual places can help
  cities build and sustain a distinctive identity
• argues for 3 conceptions of distinctiveness
  functional, physical and intangible
• warns against flashy iconic developments or image
  campaigns not based on an underlying reality
• http//www.theworkfoundation.com/Assets/PDFs/disti
  nctiveness_final.pdf

20
Positive images of the city heritage,
up-market, new facilities, public realm,
waterfront, sunshine
21
Unlikely to feature in marketing
campaigns? Ordinary scenes, social divide,
dereliction, abandonment, rain
22
The case of Leeds

• Identifying a need for re-branding
• The Vision for Leeds strategic aim to go up a
  league
• Marketing Leeds troubled conception, birth and
  early years growing stronger?
•  

23
The need for re-branding

• Old-fashioned imagery associated with the city
• Low recognition outside the city
• Brahm report 2003
• Not making the most of its strengths

24
Vision for Leeds 2004Strategic aim of Leeds
Going up a league

• Appropriate aspiration?
• are cities like football teams?
• does the urban hierarchy work like leagues?
• Leeds United sank down the rankings just as Leeds
  adopted this metaphor

25

• If you dont work to go up a league, you will
  end up going down one
• Senior Planner from Gothenburg,
• Vision for Leeds workshop, July 2002

26
Survey identity of city

• An Agency Called England asked
• If Leeds was a person, what sort of person
  would it be?
• Response
• A young male, friendly, your best friend, a
  really nice person to know, an ambitious person,
  living in a trendy apartment, driving a VW Golf
  GTi

27
Divisive process of selecting brand concept from
consultants

• Made in Leeds v. Leeds Live It Love It
• Thompson Design v. An Agency Called England
• Key stakeholders unwilling to support Made in
  Leeds

28
Marketing Leeds as arms length company

• Seen as separate from Leeds City Council
• Needed to attract private funding
• Greater flexibility in operation

29
Launch of

• 26 Sept 2005
• Victoria Quarter champagne party
• Introduced brand image and slogan
• Film of famous Leeds people saying what they like
  about their home city

30
Celebrity presenters
Chris Moyles Gabby Logan
31
Control imagery a single message from all in
the cityWithin this, vary content according to
audience
Brand image
32
Typeface and colours controlled
33
Row over second-hand city slogan

• A new slogan aimed at boosting the global image
  of Leeds is the same as one used in a 2003
  campaign in Hong Kong
• http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/
  4319162.stm

34
After the party

• Chief Executive sacked
• Debbie Green brought in

35
Using the brand image to convey messages
36
(No Transcript)
37
Sub-brands
38
Marketing Leeds plan 2008

• Key Issues
• Raise profile of Leeds on national stage
• Promote a strong business image
• Promote the cultural offer
• Position Leeds on the international stage - and
  co-ordinate, not duplicate!

39
Marketing Leeds plan 2008

• Supporting current events and activities
• Thought Leadership Technical
• Yorkshire Women in Business
• Leeds Business Week
• National high-profile Financial Services event
• support for partners international activities
• FT business supplement
• Thought Leadership Social Networking
• Quarterly meeting with business and lifestyle
  champions
• Networking events for business leaders
• Thought Leadership The Business Series
  Leeds as a centre of innovation
• Business of Culture, Environment, Financial
  Services, Security and Protection, Innovation,
  Sport

40
Lots of action. How effective?
41
Brand extension? Subversion?
42
Work on improving the offer and promotion will
look after itself?

• infrastructure
• public realm
• quality of built environment
• cultural activities and institutions
• skills
• social cohesion
• crime reduction

43
Resilient places with resilient populations

• Buildings, infrastructure, services
• minimal costs in use efficient, low maintenance
• cope with heat, cold, excess water or drought
• flexible long life, loose fit
• dispersed services
• improved connectivity transport remote
• effective, multi-purpose green infrastructure

• People households, institutions, communities,
  businesses
• adjusted expectations
• forward thinking contingency plans
• genuine community involvement neighbourliness
• mixed use diversity as a strength
• creativity and innovation valued
• appropriate use of technology
• enhanced cultural activities

Attractive, adaptable, well-connected places
where people can enjoy high levels of well-being,
make minimal impact on the environment and suffer
minimal threat to their safety, security and
comfort
44
(No Transcript)
45
REFERENCES

• Ashworth , G.J. and Voogd, H. (1990), Selling the
  City Marketing Approaches in Public Sector Urban
  Planning, London Belhaven Press.
• Boyle, M. and Rogerson, R.J. (2001) Power,
  discourse and city trajectories, in Paddison, R.
  (ed.) Handbook of Urban Studies, London Sage,
  pp.402-416.
• Florian, B. (2002) The City as a Brand
  Orchestrating a Unique Experience. In T. Hauben,
  M.
• Vermeulen V. Patteeuw, City Branding Image
  Building and Building Images. Rotterdam NAI
  Uitgevers.
• Gold, J.R. Ward, S.V., eds. (1994), Place
  promotion the use of publicity and marketing to
  sell towns and regions. Chichester John Wiley
  and Sons.
• Hankinson, G.A. and Cowking, P. (1995) What do
  you really mean by a brand? Journal of Brand
  Management, 3(1), pp.43-50.
• Hankinson, G.A. (2001), Location branding a
  study of the branding practices of 12 English
  cities.
• Journal of Brand Management 9, pp.127142.
• Hauben, T., Vermeulen, M. Patteeuw, V. (2002),
  City Branding Image Building and Building
  Images.
• Rotterdam NAI Uitgevers.
• Kavaratzis, M. (2004), From City Marketing to
  City Branding Towards a Theoretical Framework
  for
• Developing City Brands. Journal of Place
  Branding 1, pp. 5873.
• Kavaratzis, M. and Ashworth, G.J. (2005) City
  branding an effective assertion of identity or a
  transitory marketing trick? Tijdschrift voor
  Economische en Sociale Geografie, 96(5), pp.
  506514.
• Kearns, G. and Philo, C. eds. (1993), Selling
  Places, Oxford Pergamon Press.
• Scott, N. (2005) Brand loyalty, Yorkshire
  Evening Post Marketing Leeds Special Supplement,
  27 September.
• Trueman, M., Klemm, M. and Giroud, A. (2004), Can
  a city communicate? Bradford as a corporate
• brand. Corporate Communications An
  International Journal 9, pp.317330.
• Urwin, C. (2006) Urban myth why cities dont
  compete, Discussion Paper no. 5, Centre for
  Cities, London.
• Ward, S.V. (1998), Selling places the marketing
  and promotion of towns and cities 18502000.
  London E FN Spon.