Small City Branding Around the World

New Book: Destination Branding for Small Cities – Second Edition, Now Released

I am pleased to announce that my second book, Destination Branding for Small Cities - Second Edition has now been released. This expanded and revised edition has updated our 7A Destination Branding Process and includes new place branding elements, advice, checklists and techniques. Some of the changes include:

• Explanations of the different forms of place branding, branding in tough times, selecting place branding expertise and the important role of product development, placemaking and wayfinding in place branding.  
• Actions to introduce a stronger strategic focus to enhance city competitiveness.
• Interesting insights from some of the world’s leading place branding consultants, academics and practitioners.
• Worldwide examples from the USA, Asia, Europe, Middle East and Australia, moving beyond the USA focus of the first.

While the title is Destination Branding for Small Cities, the underlying principles and processes can just as readily be applied to regions, counties, Downtowns, Main Streets, resorts, and even states and countries.

I hope that you enjoy this edition as much as the first. Worldwide sales are available through Amazon.com.

Why Quality of Place Matters to City Competitiveness and Sustainability

DMOs and other tourism organizations often become so consumed by their sales function that they don’t exert any influence on their community’s quality of place.  There are many places where the DMO and tourism folk don’t even have a seat at the table to discuss matters relating to the city’s quality of place and its impact on visitors – and dare I say its image and identity.

An Urban Times article by Saffron Woodcraft suggests that a city’s quality of place involves both the built and social environments.

Woodcraft argues, “Debates about urban sustainability tend to focus on improving the built environment - making it greener, more efficient, less energy intensive. However, as both urban populations and the challenges of making livable cities grow, a radical shift is needed.  Much more emphasis needs to be placed on understanding the social life of cities - how government, public agencies and urban planners can design spaces, but more importantly, services to help neighborhoods flourish socially.”

I would suggest that there is also another layer that involves visitors to the community and whether the attractors, amenities and services designed for them provide a net benefit to residents.

My friend Reyn Bowman touched on this in an interesting blog post last week where he traced the links between billboards, beautification movements and the emergence of tourism marketing organizations. Reyn said, “It is puzzling to me why so many community-destination marketing execs today seem so detached from their role as guardians and curators of sense of place.”

We hear a lot about the role of DMOs being redefined. I feel that when that clarity comes, many DMOs will have a more active role in the development and management of the city’s quality of place. After all, isn’t that an integral part of the essence of many places? It’s in the public domain, isn’t owned by any one company and it’s essential for competitiveness. When a city has a strong quality of place, it brings greater efficiencies to the DMO’s marketing functions and increased satisfaction for visitors – and residents. 

Indigenous Tourism Brings the Challenge to Do the Right Thing

I recently came across an article by Anita Mendiratta in eTurbo News in which she outlined the importance and influence of indigenous people in tourism development. Importantly, Anita provided great advice for tourism organizations wanting to integrate indigenous people into their destination development. She highlighted how they are the truest guardians of the history, folklore, traditions, arts, culture, natural environments, ideology, spirituality and sensibilities.

Anita said, “Worldwide, indigenous peoples are 370 million strong – almost 5% of the world’s population. Living in over 70 countries across the globe, they cover over 20% of the surface of the Earth. They reach across over 5000 different groups of peoples, and speak approximately 4000 different languages. This global community, which embraces peoples from the Aboriginals to the Zulu, the Masai, the Mayan, the Mohican, and the Maori, the Bedouin, the Bushmen, and thousands of other communities – are the heartbeat of a nation. And for the global tourism community committed to the growth and development of nations, they are invaluable. In so many ways, it is the indigenous community that has become the litmus test of the industry’s ability to ‘keep it real’.”

Around the world there are both positive and negative examples of indigenous people in tourism. The article identifies critical issues and suggests approaches to ensure that participants are treated with dignity and the experiences that showcase traditional art, dance, music, cuisine, language, storytelling, and other features of the lives of indigenous people are grounded in authenticity, with objectives for the long term sustainability of the culture. Sadly, these are not always at play.

Night Economies: What’s The World’s #1 24-Hour City?

I always thought that because Frank Sinatra sang, “I want to wake up in a city that doesn’t sleep”, it inferred that New York City was the #1 place for night owls. Well it seems that New York is well down the list in a study of the world’s 24-hour cities by Marion Roberts, a professor of urban design at London’s University of Westminster and author of Planning the Night-time City. 

The BBC reports that Cairo was ranked the “most 24-hour” city of all. Next came Montevideo, Beirut, six Spanish cities (Malaga, Zaragoza, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Seville) and Buenos Aires. London was ranked 17th, Paris 18th and New York 32nd.

Roberts identifies many of the benefits and challenges of managing the night economy of cities. She says, “In the UK, Europe and Australia, a lot of their ‘24-hourness’ has been about extending entertainment and this has disadvantages for city center dwellers unless carefully managed. However, it does generate more jobs, activities and social solidarities.” This is a subject that cities worldwide will increasingly have to address.

Cairo might be the #1 night-time city, and it’s a great place, but I can’t imagine Frank Sinatra belting out, “Cairo – the city that never sleeps!”

Repositioning of Britain’s Industrial Cities Pays Off

It wasn’t so long ago that many of Britain’s industrial cities initiated aggressive tourism strategies and commenced city-wide efforts to reposition themselves as cultural and sporting centers. It seems that these investments have been paying off with the largest of the industrial cities establishing themselves as the UK’s most popular tourist destinations in the 2011 international visitors survey by Visit Britain.

BTN reports that while London and Edinburgh continue to maintain their traditional supremacy as the two most popular urban destinations in the UK, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and now Bristol are emerging as rival attractions.

But Manchester, with its two competing global football teams, its ultra-modern new landmark buildings such as the Lowry Centre, a new state of the art BBC media center (open to tourists) and world-class shopping is firmly in third place with 936,000 visits (up 15 per cent on 2010). Birmingham sits neatly in the fourth spot with 732,000 visitors attracted by its outstanding arts, exhibitions and one of the largest shopping centers in the UK, the Bullring, host to the best designer labels as well as accommodating 25 restaurants.

This success did not happen overnight. It has taken unwavering commitment to their visions, strong strategic foundations, sustained investments by successive governments, partnerships with private investors, and a belief by everyone that they could successfully turn the page on their industrial past.

Walkability is Vital to Small City Tourism Success

In the tourism readiness reports for small cities we develop, one of the critical success factors that we look for is their walkability. I just came across an article by Dan Burdon, “The Roads Scholar” in which he provides an excellent checklist for cities.  In the AARP article, Dan provides his checklist of the five things that make small towns walkable.  

Dan says that his rationale for the focus on walking is because, “people worldwide want to live in a town or city that is walkable. Places that seek to become more walkable and livable - everyplace from Maui to Abu Dhabi, where the prince has declared that he wants his city to become one of the five most livable in the world - must invest in the features that make it happen.”

While his checklist is really designed for the comfort of residents, it is directly applicable to the needs of tourists as well.  

Why Venice is one of the World’s Most Fascinating Tourism Destinations

 

Give yourself a well-deserved three minute break to watch this great video of a Day in Venice. You will see why Venice is one of the most fascinating, romantic and spectacular cities in the world. Being in Venice is like being in a 360° theater production and this video catches much of that.

Take a break. You deserve it!

Will the Hobbits be the Biggest Boost Yet For New Zealand’s Brand Awareness?

The Sydney Herald reports that Tourism New Zealand has announced the national tourism organization is very close to signing a deal with the makers of The Hobbit movies to promote the country as a tourism destination.

Released between 2001 and 2003, the Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings was credited with boosting tourism to its New Zealand locations, where visitor numbers rose by 40 per cent. Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler said, "I think The Hobbit is going to be that and more. We learned a lot of lessons from Lord of the Rings and we are doing everything we did back then plus some more."

The two movies by Sir Peter Jackson are expected to be a bigger boost for the country’s tourism than the three Lord of the Rings films. The first of the Hobbit movies is due for release in December.

The Lord of the Rings gave New Zealand an incredible boost and is a hard act to follow. It’s hard to believe that the Hobbit movies will top that. But then I haven’t seen the movie!

You can watch the trailer here.

Ad Featuring Argentinian Nationalism Upsets Britain

 

Tapping resident pride and patriotism is often one of the objectives of national branding efforts. The Olympic Games provide an environment in which many countries try to project their national identity in ways that will aid their economic development, advance polical objectives and boost national self esteem. However, it seems as though Argentina may have gone a tad too far in advancing its geo-political and self esteem objectives in a commercial run on local television.

The ad that features Argentinian Fernando Zylberberg, a star field-hockey player, training for the London 2012 Olympics in the Falkland Islands (the two countries fought a brief war over in 1982). The islands are a self-governing British Overseas Territory, with the United Kingdom responsible for their defense and foreign affairs. The voice-over in the ad says, "to compete on English soil, we train on Argentine soil"  as Zylberberg is seen running, exercising and even climbing over a British World War I memorial.

The International Olympic Committee denounced the ad and said that it sent a letter to Argentina’s national Olympic committee saying the games should not be part of a political platform.

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Are London Games Logo and Mascots The Worst Ever?

It didn’t take this article in The Atlantic Cities to cause me to wonder if the London Olympic logo and mascots are the worst in Olympic history. From the time the logo was launched in 2005 I saw that we would be in for an interesting ride with other designs to follow. Olympic logos need to be quirky and not predictable and they should cause people to think differently about the host city and nation.

While the London Games are winning kudos for its organization, the logo and mascots have drawn ridicule over the past two years.

I agree that the logo looks like it was dropped on the floor and I think the mascots look like rejects from a kids television show.

 What do you think?

Pure Michigan Campaign Changing Michigan’s Image

 

One of the more successful state rebranding efforts in recent years has been Michigan’s Pure Michigan campaign which was launched in 2006. Paul Brown, vice president of capital services for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, provided an update recently during the Pure Michigan Governor’s Conference on tourism and travel in Grand Rapids.

Brown said, “That (Pure Michigan) campaign alone created a 180-degree change in people’s outlook on Michigan. That made a difference on large national banks’ willingness to lend here as well as large corporations around the country considering either moving here or using some of our resources to their advantage.”

“We were really suffering from an image problem on the business side,” said Brown. ”We were getting redlined not only from banks, but also businesses not interested in locating here or looking here as a potential market.”

“It was the commercials,” he said. "They changed everyone's perception."

When a campaign reaches the point where it is positively impacting banker’s attitudes, then it is making progress way beyond tourism. I believe that the impact to Michigan from this campaign will be long term benefits because the State wisely chose to invest in the campaign throughout the recession while competitors were cutting back. This will probably also lead to long-term increases in market share for many business sectors. A great case study for many others to follow.

Nice Job America!

 

How do you create the first brand advertising campaign for a country that has around 100% brand recognition and abundant national icons that are known globally? Oh, and it has fifty states that compete with each other and it’s not exactly popular in many places around the world. That was the task for Brand USA.

I think they have done a great job in the first of the television ads created for a global launch featuring the song “Land of Dreams” written and performed by Rosanne Cash, daughter of Johnny Cash and June Carter. What I like is that the ad projects experiential themes, is multicultural, has great music and doesn’t dwell on any of the icons or self-serving themes that national branding efforts sometimes fall into.

Brand USA, the public/private entity charged with increasing America’s share of international visitors, will invest $12.3 million in TV, the Internet, billboards, print advertising and social media beginning May 1 in the U.K., Canada and Japan. A second wave will include Brazil and South Korea, with several other markets to follow.

I look forward to the next installment.

Is it Possible to Successfully Rebrand or Reposition Nigeria?

Several prominent Nigerians are fueling a debate regarding the need for Nigeria to address its negative international image which is negatively impacting all regions of the country and every aspect of the economy.  They spoke at a recent event for the launch of a book by Chief Austin Nonyelim Izagbo, “Re-branding Nigeria: Leadership and the National Image Project”.

Interestingly, they suggested tackling graft, providing social amenities, increasing security, poor management of resources and improving the standard of living of citizens.

It was refreshing to see the brutal honesty of some of the officials. According to Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, who said “Leaders are often misadvised and misdirected because 99 per cent of those who approach them are sycophants, who rarely tell them the truth.” Wow! One of the essentials for successful place brands is that they must be founded on truth and devoid of self-delusion. It is truth telling like this that must be followed, otherwise Nigeria will make zero progress in addressing its image problems.

It will be very interesting to see whether they will be able to introduce the changes to cultural behavior, resource allocations and political priorities necessary to truly rebrand Nigeria.

India’s Brand Awareness Increases Need for Rural Tourism Development

The Incredible India marketing campaign launched in 2002 has increased brand awareness for India as a global destination. Despite its outstanding cultural and natural tourism assets, its development in rural areas has been patchy because of shortfalls in infrastructure and service standards. Major steps are underway to address these situations

The 2022-12 Annual Report of the Indian Ministry of Tourism reports that the Ministry has approved 160 tourism projects worth approximately $160 million, mainly in rural areas. The Ministry has given special focus to the development of important destinations and circuit routes through approval of fifty-three mega projects. Mega projects are a mix of cultural, heritage, spiritual and eco-tourism attractions. Priority is also being given to projects involving construction and upkeep of wayside amenities along highways/roads leading to tourist destinations, cleanliness at tourism sites and development of tourism in rural areas.

A study by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Yes Bank identifies the positive influence that the “Incredible India” marketing campaign has had on rural areas. It recommends that there should be increased focus on capacity building in regard to human resources in key rural areas. It suggests programs to address service-oriented needs, citing this as a major reason why Indian tourism falters in some regional areas. It also highlights the need to train entrepreneurs. "Rural entrepreneurs, in recent times, have proved to be the success story of the emerging Indian economy, and provided that a clear direction is given, they can very well champion the cause of sustainable tourism models." The study also recommends conserving tradition and values, besides ensuring infrastructure development.

Several decades ago, China was referred to as “the sleeping giant”. Considering the vast tourism appeal of India I think that in tourism terms, the title aptly applies to India, and particularly many of its rural areas.

French Ad Campaign Caught Using Beaches of Hawaii and South Africa

Two of the essentials for successful destination branding is delivering what you promise and being true to who you are because brands are built on trust.  France is one of the most popular destinations in the world and has accumulated considerable brand equity and trust. Unfortunately, a recent print advertising campaign inviting Brits to visit French beaches has caused considerable embarrassment for French tourism officials and has possibly diminished trust in the nation’s brand and its marketing.

It seems that many of the images that are central to the advertising campaign are actually stock images shot at beaches near Cape Town, (South Africa) and in Hawaii, which were then edited to make them look as though they were shot in France.

The Daily Mail reports that in one shot a bikini-clad woman emerging from what looks like the Mediterranean and captioned as 'backflip in Corsica’ is actually a stock photo of a Hawaiian scene with the background altered to feature an image of the Corsican coastline.

What were they thinking! Brits may be excused for wondering if the French beaches are really so unattractive that they can’t be used in an advertising campaign.  It will be interesting to see their response. The immediate priority for the tourism office should be to re-establish trust with their British audience. Without trust, brands have nothing!

Homer Finally Comes Home to the Right Springfield

Many cities lean on some of their famous sons and daughters to influence their brand identity and tourism marketing. For some it is very straight forward, Ronald Reagan was born in Tampico IL, Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg and William Shakespeare was from Stratford-upon-Avon.  But the home of an arguably even greater celebrity, Homer Simpsons, has been a mystery until now. Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons has finally confessed in an interview with Smithsonian Magazine what most of us in Oregon knew all along …… that Springfield, OR is the famous Springfield in the longest running series in U.S. television history.

There are 58 Springfields in the U.S.A. making it one of the most common city names in the country. Groening said he has long given fake answers when asked about the Simpsons' hometown, leaving open the possibility that his latest one is itself another fake.  

In 2010 we completed a Visitor Readiness Report for Springfield OR and one of the recommendations was to work with Groening on developing The Simpsons related experiences in the city. Dan Egan at the Springfield Chamber of Commerce tells me that since Groening’s announcement the phone calls and emails from around the world have been non-stop. Well Dan, you’d better get working on that new wing of the Springfield Museum to be dedicated to the city’s most famous “residents”.

In reaction to the announcement, Homer Simpson offered several Tweets, including, "Now that Bart knows we live in the Beaver State, all he says is dam dam dam!" and "Crap, we live in Oregon? I mean, Go Ducks!" (For non-Oregonians, the Ducks is a reference to the University of Oregon sports program.)

Colorado Invites Audiences to “Come to Life”

 

Colorado Tourism Office is taking an interesting approach in its forthcoming television advertising campaign aimed at boosting summer visitation. Instead of focusing on its geographic and iconic features alone, the advertising features the transformative qualities of the state with an invitation to Come to Life. The focus is squarely on the prospective visitor and the emotional rewards of spending time in the outdoors away from their everyday hectic lives. Actually, Colorado is not identified until the end of the 57^th second of the ad.

The emotive film shows how viewers can come to life in lakes, cascading waterfalls and open fields, and prods them to rejuvenate by exploring spectacular mountains.

The campaign is supported by print advertising, a visitor guide and web and social media marketing programs providing critical links to towns and operators throughout the state. It will be interesting to review the results of the advertising and how it translates to increased Summer business for the state’s towns and tourism businesses.

Do Places With Funny Names Play With a Handicap?

Glancing at a map of just about any country, it’s easy to find places that are playing with a handicap. Names like Mousehole (Cornwall, England), Lick Skillet (VA) and Hairy Hill (Alberta, Canada) may bring a smile to your face. But others, such as Looneyville (TX and VA), Satan’s Kingdom (Vermont), and Ugley (Essex, England) are names that could be a drawback for the town.

When it comes to destination and place branding, the name of the city, town or county is the most powerful part of its identity. It has often been said that being introduced to a brand is like meeting a person. Their name is important - it’s how we remember them, make associations, and refer to them. It’s as if there is a filing cabinet in our brains where we keep everything relevant to that name. When we hear London, Paris or Saigon, we recall the many pieces of information, thoughts and feelings, large and small, that we have assembled about each over the years, even if we have never been there.

USA Today considers ten other town names that “will make you snicker like a middle schooler”. While some have been able to trade of their unfortunate names, e.g. Hell (Grand Cayman), I guess for some of the others it acts like a mediaeval city wall to protect the place from outsiders.  

Do you know of a place with a funny name that has used it to its advantage?

Angels Camp CA Follows a Methodical Brand Development Path

I was recently drawn to an article in CalaverasEnterprise.com showing that the very small community of Angels Camp CA was methodically implementing its brand strategy. I spoke to my friend, Mary Klugherz from Great Destination Strategies who developed the brand concept for Angel’s Camp and was part of the Destination Development International team that developed the city’s brand strategy to gain a better understanding of their plans.

Mary said that the success at Angels Camp boils down to three things:

1.  A supportive city government/staff

2.  A few true brand champions

3.  Consistency and patience

She said, “Angels Camp started with a Brand Advisory Committee created during the brand development phase.  That morphed into a Brand Leadership Team, led by a local resident, who is a tireless champion.  This group has formalized into Destination Angels Camp and the organization was approved at the recent Council meeting.  They took the plan I wrote and have just followed each step slowly and methodically.  They have had the plan since late 2008, so it has been just over 3 years.  This is a great example of how a very small community (pop. 3,800) has taken a plan and followed it, even with limited resources.  They have maintained transparency in all they do and are slowly making progress.”

Mary said that she believes the six key lessons learned in Angels Camp are:

1.  It takes a supportive city government and brand champions

2.  It takes time

3.  It is important to stay the course and follow the plan

4.  It takes time

5.  Continue to follow the plan

6.  It takes time

I’m not sure whether Mary pointed out that you have to religiously follow the plan and that it won’t happen overnight! While Angels Camp has a very distinctive logo, this hasn’t become their fixation and sidetracked them from the critical brand development issues that have to be addressed.  It’s great to see a very small community tackle its brand development in such a comprehensive and methodical manner. There are some lessons here for much larger places.

Residents Call For Panama City Beach FL to Address It’s Conflicted Brand Image

Balancing the visitor mix can be a challenge for many destinations. What attracts one group may just as easily be negatively impacted by the actions of another group.  This particular challenge is being debated in Panama City Beach FL, the self-proclaimed "Spring Break Capital of the World", which is also a popular family destination.

Local residents are becoming increasingly concerned about the annual invasion of some 250,000 college students. Many regard them as being more trouble than they’re worth, despite the Spring Breakers typically leaving over $100 million in local businesses during the month of March.

"We are having a big problem with the culture of our guests,including vulgarity and a lack of respect," County Commissioner Mike Thomas told the Panama City News Herald. "Every town is having these problems, but you ought to be able to have community standards. Our main business is the family business.”

"It used to be school kids having a good time," Vice Mayor Ken Nelson said. "Now it's thugs coming here for the biggest party in Florida. We need drastic action. When you throw a party you are responsible for who shows up.  We have to change our marketing," added Nelson, noting that similar beach cities with fewer Spring Break problems tell him that "we don't invite the same people that you do."

As we have seen with some European fun and sun destinations, weaning local businesses off these lucrative markets can be very difficult. Eventually, the question will be asked, “Who’s city is it – the visitor’s or resident’s?”

Panama City Beach could learn a lot from the very popular restaurant and event venue, The Hangout on the beach in nearby Gulf Shoes AL, where the tagline is “Be Nice or Go Home”.

Xiamen Slogan Competition to Create a Brand Without Research or Strategy

Xiamen also known as Amoy is a major city on the south east coast of the People’s Republic of China and is known for its scenic beauty and tree lined beaches.  

The Xiamen Tourism Bureau is calling for public suggestions for a new tourism slogan, logo and souvenir to represent the city.  The Bureau has established a web site for the competition which closes on April 30. The winners will be announced after public online voting and expert review, seemingly in that order.  Winners will receive approximately $US 3,200 each.

Unfortunately this is another example of a DMO attempting to take a shortcut to acquire some of the key elements for shaping their city’s brand identity.  Not only is it a mistake to run a competition to obtain logo and slogan suggestions, but to then turn it over to residents to make the choice further compounds the problems of this strategy-less and research-less approach. The Xiamen Tourism Bureau will be left to then shape their brand strategy around their new logo and tagline, rather than have those elements emerge from a well-researched strategy that is based on their most competitive positioning, personality and benefits.

Xiamen could be well advised to take a page from the research and strategically focused branding approach of nearby Shaoxing which I blogged about several weeks ago.

Australia Re-positions for Education Markets

While there may be strong reasons for nations and cities to create an overarching brand that will embrace tourism, investment and education, it’s not always possible to define a single brand platform that will be sufficiently potent to meet the diverse needs of their target audiences. It can be done, but one always needs to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach which is based on a series of compromises and moves the focus off customer hot buttons and onto points of commonality that are not distinctive, meaningful or compelling to those audiences. In some cases politics and turf protection can work against efforts to develop a competitive and viable brand strategy for each part of the nation or city’s marketing portfolio.

The challenge of establishing a national brand that will resonate with target audiences comprising visitors, students, investors and new residents is highlighted in an article by Stephen Matchett in The Australian.  He outlines how Austrade, the organization responsible for the marketing of Australia as an international study destination has launched a new campaign Future Unlimited. This campaign involves the repositioning of Australia for the international education markets and downplays the lifestyle and tourism strengths of the country that have been at the heart of the nation’s brand strategy. Instead the new focus will be on the quality of the educational institutions and the programs being offered.

Austrade executive Quentin Stevenson-Perks told The Australian, “People looking at investing time and money in education don’t want to come and look at kangaroos. They want a qualification recognized by governments and employers. Future Unlimited is much more than destination marketing.”

Newcastle, Australia Rebrands With Comprehensive Brand Strategy

Last week I had the opportunity to meet with Simon McArthur, the Tourism and Economic Development Manager for Newcastle City Council, Australia. I wanted to gain some insights into how their work for the Brand Newcastle project is coming along.

An aspect that caught my attention was their product development focus to ensure that the city delivers on its brand promise. Central to this is attracting and reinvigorating events (many associated with the beach and sports), the opening of the Newcastle Museum, the development of innovative harbor tours, and City Evolutions which will feature digital projections on buildings and lit moving sculptures that interpret some of the key stories that formed and rebuilt the city. The next phase is likely to feature a function center overlooking the beach, a coastal spa, regional convention and exhibition center, new hotels and expansions to Newcastle Airport. Another interesting feature is the plan to rebrand several of the city's key suburbs and visitor precincts such as Hamilton and Downtown Newcastle.

“This rebranding will enable us to consistently promote a more contemporary view of the city - a genuine, ever-changing, vibrant and energetic place that is home to hardworking people and world-class industries,” Simon McArthur said.

Newcastle is attempting to shed its long established ‘Steel City’ image with a comprehensive rebranding program.  This includes a new logo and tagline (See Change) as well as increased promotions through tourism websites, brochures and signage. The city has also installed sixteen visitor information kiosks throughout the city, in lieu of operating a traditional tourist information center.

Urban Branding: The Evolution of Kansas City’s Graphic Identity

We have all heard the line that we “stand on the shoulders of those who came before us.” Sharon Gochenour writing in ThisBigCity offers the perspective that the generations of graphic designs and signage on the streets and buildings of Kansas City combine to capture the authenticity and ethos of the place. They also have a strong influence on the city’s contemporary look.

She sees Kansas City as not only a modern, high tech city, but being the product of an industrial boom in manufacturing, warehousing, rail traffic, and stockyards in the early part of the 20th century. Accompanying these activities was the accumulation of generations of signage, billboard ads and graphic designs, many of which are still evident.  Gochenour explains that by walking through many of Kansas City’s streets and districts you can discover what the city has been and how the layers of graphic imagery accumulated over the past century differ from the modern marketing of the city seen in websites and brochures, but are evidence of what makes Kansas City, Kansas City.

Gochenour advocates, “A city’s image is not only formed by what it is but all the things it has been. Perhaps the next step in city branding is to generate virtual spaces through the accumulation of images from various sources on all levels of city development - planners, artists, officials, individual city dwellers. These images could be presented on a platform that allows visitors to arrange each of these layers of meaning, generating new designs and new understandings.” 

What’s The Difference Between Brand Image and Brand Identity?

We receive many questions and requests for advice from city leaders, practitioners and students around the world. I have decided to start sharing some of these requests and our responses with readers of this blog.  Here is an email from Marc a tourism marketing student in South Africa, “I see materials that use the terms ‘brand image’ and ‘brand identity’ as if they are the same thing. Can you please clarify their meanings, and if they are the same thing. Additionally, how does this relate to cities and tourism destinations?”

 Marc, the terms ‘image’ and ‘identity’ are often confused. Brand image relates to how the brand is perceived from the customer’s point of view, while brand identity is the unique set of visual, auditory and other stimuli that express the brand and shapes its image.  Each must be deeply rooted in the foundations of the brand.  Think of brand identity as being like the identity of a friend, comprised of his or her name, appearance, personality, speech, ethnicity, and personal style among many other elements.  Image, on the other hand, comes from the external view and in this context relates to what people may think of your friend. It is their perceptions and therefore their reality of who that person is and what they represent.

Strong brands are built on trust. There must be alignment between what the brand promises and the reality of the actual experience. If the two are out of sync the brand will not be sustainable unless there are plans - and resources - to bridge the gap. In the case of a city, if its performance is of a high standard and its image is bad or non-existent, then it has a deficient brand strategy and may need increased or more accurate communications.

A city has a real image challenge when people outside of it do not accurately know the reality of the place. The imbalance between the internal identity and the external image of many places limits their development. This often happens when the city is projecting itself as one thing, but the reality is much different. For example, the city promotes itself as a place for romantic beach getaways, but visitors find that restaurant service is a nightmare, hotels are substandard, and that after-hour beach walkways are hard to find or poorly lit. Strong, successful brands don’t display this kind of dissonance. Destination managers must constantly monitor customer satisfaction and “test drive” the services and experiences in their own city to ensure that they the images matches the reality and is aligned with the promises that they are making.

Thailand Brands Second-Tier Provinces

The Nation (Thailand) reports that Thailand has commenced a very interesting tourism development and place branding program. The Tourism Council of Thailand and the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion are collaborating to promote the country’s second-tier provinces by dividing them into clusters and creating brand identities for each regional group. Their objective is to strengthen provincial tourism, which is comprised mainly of small and medium-sized enterprises.

The plan recommends forming nine clusters, covering 52 provinces. They are Central region, west coast, east coast, Andaman in the South region, Gulf of Thailand in the South region, upper North region, lower North region, upper Northeast region, and lower Northeast region.

The challenge for them is to ensure that these destination branding strategies are not predominantly top-down. Their long term sustainability is going to be determined by how each brand is understood, supported and used as the catalysts for tourism development at a grassroots level. For too many state and federally mandated brands around the world soon run out of steam if they are not developed in a consultative and collaborative way with locals.

Atlantic City NJ Masterplan to Reinvent the Tourism District

Few destinations have attempted to reinvent themselves on the scale that is being undertaken in Atlantic City NJ. This internationally renowned for gambling, conventions and leisurely strolls on its boardwalk.  But the destination has languished for decades.

Atlantic City’s Casino Reinvestment Development Authority recently released a 300-page masterplan that spells out redevelopment options for the city’s Tourism District - a 1,700-acre area encompassing the casinos, the boardwalk, and shopping and dining districts. State Governor Christie is giving the district five years to gain traction before reconsidering whether to expand casino gambling to the Meadowlands and other parts of New Jersey.

The plan contains short, medium, and long-term goals. Among the short-term is to introduce new attractions along the 2 ½ mile Boardwalk. The designers envision up to 10 "innovation pavilions”, sponsored by private companies, having entertainment and educational components.

The city has had five or six master plans since gambling was legalized in 1976, and most of those recommendations were never implemented. Some people are concerned that this plan may suffer a similar fate if there isn’t sufficient investment in the area’s basic infrastructure, let alone the multi-billion dollar casino and resort investments.

“If you make Atlantic City attractive, people will definitely come”, said Jack Plackter, a real estate lawyer with Fox Rothschild in Atlantic City.  “Atlantic City is only 48 blocks long. You can fix this place one block at a time," Plackter said. "The issue is can it be done quickly enough. We don't have a huge window. We don't have 20 years."

This will be a fascinating case study over the coming years.

Can Mexico Re-brand itself?

While many regions in Mexico are important international visitor destinations, the nation has been the focus of intense global media coverage of the drug cartels, violence, murder and kidnappings. These are hardly the most attractive tourism messages for the country. An added problem is that these negative images are rubbing off on areas that are unaffected by this type of criminal activity. This is a case of some areas being guilty by association and thus suffering negative impacts.

I read with interest a BBC article that Mexico's President Felipe Calderon has called in Simon Anholt, a British expert on country branding, for advice. Anholt produced a detailed report on Mexico's image for the President which concluded that Mexico had "an already weak and in some cases badly flawed reputation" which was "undergoing a further downward correction" (because of the crime wave).

My suggestion for Mexico is to rebuild its international reputation with “sub-brand” strategies focused on its priority regions and cities, rather than on the overall Mexican nation brand. For example Cozumel and the Yucatan Peninsula do not seem to have the same image and crime problems as say, some of the nation’s border states. Maybe it needs a multi-speed approach to addressing the country’s brand image by building on its strengths and where the product does deliver excellent customer experiences.

An Epidemic of Anemic City Taglines

In recent weeks I have seen what must be an epidemic of anemic and insipid taglines that had me reaching for the quote that my colleague Tom Buncle at Yellow Railroad in Scotland gave me for my forthcoming book. Here it is…

“Taglines are brilliant when they are inspired, convey a destination’s benefits succinctly in a way that evokes the essence of the place, and could be nowhere else. It helps too if they say something new to you and say it in a way that grabs you, make you smile or think “yeah, that’s nicely put”  i.e. impactful, memorable and, usually containing one strong idea. But mostly they fail spectacularly. And how much money has been wasted with expensive agencies generating mediocre calls to action in insipid taglines?”

Buncle adds, “The risk is that a destination looks amateurish and hick if it tries too hard and fails to come up with a compelling tagline – in which case no tagline at all is better than an embarrassingly lame one that patronizes consumers – and residents. If you can’t come up with the Holy Grail of a killer tagline, use a descriptive one or one that anchors the place in a single powerful idea, e.g. Angus: Scotland’s Birthplace or Innsbruck: Capital of the Alps which at least paints a picture of your destination, or be brave and don’t have one. In other words trust your product, get your brand and marketing right, and treat consumers as potential visitors who want to be inspired and informed, but not patronized.” 

These are wise words that every place, committee, leader and firm should read before they start a place branding assignment.

Disney/Pixar in Cooperative Marketing Link with VisitScotland

A global marketing campaign promoting Scottish tourism will be based around the launch of Disney/Pixar's forthcoming animated film, Brave to be released in August.  The film is set in the Scottish Highlands and features the voices of Scottish personalities Billy Connolly and Craig Ferguson. VisitScotland will invest £7m in the campaign which will be its biggest yet, and the first time that Disney has linked up with a country's tourism organization on such a large scale.

VisitScotland chairman Mike Cantlay told the BBC,"This is an incredible opportunity to extend the reach of VisitScotland's marketing activity across the world. This film will be shown in more than 70 countries and will give us the opportunity to convert cinema goers into visitors in the biggest campaign VisitScotland has ever launched.”

While many destinations have benefited from being the setting for movies, the majority of places leave it to the movie alone to convey the attractiveness of it as a tourism destination. Another option is to leverage the short-lived opportunity presented by the publicity for the initial cinema and video releases of the movie. One of the best examples of this integration that I have seen in recent years was the global integrated marketing campaign launched by Tourism Australia in conjunction with The Movie Australia.    VisitScotland would be well advised to take a leaf from Tourism Australia’s marketing plan. 

Why Every Destination Needs a Crisis Communications Plan

The tornados that ripped through several American states and devastating several communities is another warning that really bad things can happen unexpectedly to good places. The lesson is that all places need to have a crisis communications plan that is tightly integrated into the city’s crisis management plan. How well this is done can influence how quickly the place can recover from the crisis and reinstate the economic momentum of the city.

A case in point is Branson MO which was struck by a tornado last week that damaged about four dozen commercial structures including six of the town's 50 theaters and 22 of the 200 hotels and motels. This happened right at the start of Branson’s busy tourist season. Fortunately, Branson CVB and the local tourism industry seem to be responding fast in an effort to minimize the tourism impacts of the tornado.

My colleague Peggy Bendel, author of the forthcoming book “It's a Crisis! NOW What?" observes, “At a time like this, having a crisis communications plan in place helps destination marketers move swiftly to gather accurate information, and get the word out to their various publics: visitors, staff, marketing partners and the media. Branson's doing a great job: their home page at ExploreBranson.com retains its brand imagery, and highlights special events, while featuring a half-page with links to current details about the February 29^th storm. Many destinations might be tempted to ignore the "bad news" and keep their site as is, but with a national story such as a damaging tornado, that simply makes you appear clueless and guarantees people will go elsewhere for credible information.”

 

Simply because you have completed a brand strategy and marketing plan does not mean that you have secured the best possible future for your destination. You also need a constantly updated crisis communications strategy, because bad things do happen to good places!