IDENTITY AND MARKETING OF CITIES

A version of this paper research has been published as a chapter in the book Information Communication Technologies
and City Marketing: Opportunities for Digital Cities around the World, edited by Mila Gasc-Hernndez and Teresa TorresCoronas; published in IGI Global Publishing, Information Science Reference, Hershey; 2009 New York.

Author: Dr. Norberto Muiz Martnez, Universidad de Len, Spain. nmunm@unileon.es

Doctor of Economics and Business Administration, Professor of Marketing at the University of Leon, Spain. Diploma in European
Union and Foreign Trade by the Polytechnic University of Madrid (Spain); Master Science of Transport & Distribution Management,
University of Central England (Birmingham, England); has conducted courses on culture and languages in various
universities in Germany and France. Has published papers in academic journals, in books; lecturers in various forums and
conferences in Spain and international spheres. Teaches in some master and postgraduate courses, with stays at universities and
institutions from Europe, the Americas and Asia. His areas of research are: city marketing and place branding, strategic
marketing, international retailing, and new trends in tourism. Conducting international researches, such as a European Union
project with the cities of Leipzig (Germany), Bologna (Italy), Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Len (Spain), he has also worked with
Medelln (Colombia) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), where he is visiting professor at the Asia-Europe Institute, University of
Malaya. He has taught courses on new trends in tourism in Mexico and Colombia, and doctoral courses in Brazil and
Venezuela. Founding member of the Latin American association International Network of Marketing and Urban Development
(Red Internacional de Marketing y Desarrollo Urbano), which promotes exchange of knowledge and urban experiences.

The global network of urban areas is beginning to give rise to a new geopolitics that seems likely soon to become
more important that the geopolitics of nation states (A. Zaera-Polo, director of Foreign Office Architects, 2004).
From being really just run of the mill, which is what cities were at the start of industrialization, western metropolises
have undergone a recycling that presents them as consumer products (V. Verd, sociologist and writer, 2001)
Abstract
Cities are acquiring a key geopolitical importance in the shaping of world-wide flows and exchanges,
playing a key part in modern socio-economic relations within the framework of the world order termed
globalization. Urban areas are the nodes where networks of various types of interchange come together:
economic, social, cultural, communications and interpersonal. While having a leading role in these major
relations of world-wide exchanges, cities in addition shape their own interchanges between what they can
offer and the demands from the various groups within them. These are principally their citizens, but also
investors, tourists and administrative and civil institutions.
Strategic marketing and management approaches have been implemented into the field of countries,
regions, and especially cities, which are adopting these approaches to sell what they have to offer, to be
manage better and compete more effectively. Marketing provides a conceptual framework and tools for
managing these exchange relationships between what cities supply and demand. This research explores
these issues, and examines the evolution of city marketing, from emphasizing infrastructures and urban
regeneration towards stressing intangible values, such as multicultural integration, urban quality of life,
appreciating aesthetics, the design and beauty of a city, a marketing of cities by means of intangible and
emotional elements.

1. The Identity of Cities in Socio-Economic Globalization

As an outcome of economic globalization and the growing internationalization of markets, numerous
relationships are developing that encourage a multiplicity and mixing of identities, in what Castells (1998)
calls a network society. Cities, as the places or centres where these numerous flows of exchanges
converge, gradually form an identity for themselves as a function of how these interconnections take
shape within them. In this way, the concept of the identity of cities gains prominence. There are some
cities that have clear identities relating to certain more or less unusual features that make them well
known. Others, in contrast, especially large cities that constitute centres of power or world standards,
become famous as an outcome of multiple facets (Table 1).

Table 1. CITIES WITH INTERNATIONAL REPUTATION ACCORDING TO SOME ATTRIBUTES

Music

Music festivals: Bayreuth R. Wagner- (Germany); Salzburg W.A. Mozart- (Austria); Verona
G. Verdi- (Italy). Nashville North American folk- (USA); New Orleans Jazz, Gospel- (USA). Great

philarmonic orchestras: Berlin (Germany), Viena (Austria)

Avignon summer festival- (France); Edimburg Fringe festival- (Scotland, G. Britain); Stratfordupon-Avon festival in W. Shakespeares natal village - (England, G. Britain); classical theatre:
Theatre
Almagro, Mrida (Spain). Theatres of international reputation: Liceu, Barcelona (Spain); alla Scala,
Milan; La Fenice, Venice; San Carlo, Naples (Italy)
Cinematographic industry or festivals (and in some cases also festivals of advertising): Hollywood Los
Angeles- (USA); Cannes cinema and advertising- (France); Berlin Berlinale- (Germany), Venice
Cinema
Events based on
Mostra- (Italy); San Sebastin cinema and advertising - (Spain)
cultural singular
Madrid Museo del Prado, Centre of Art Reina Sofa, Thyssen-Bornemisza-, Bilbao Guggenheim-, Valencia
assets
Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias- (Spain); Paris Louvre, Centre Pompidou- (France); Saint Petesburg
Great
Hermitage- (Russia); London British Museum, National Gallery, Tate Gallery- (G. Britain); Berlin Alte
museums
National Galeri, Bodes Museum, Altes../Neues Museum, Pergamo- (Germany); New York Metropolitan,
Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), Guggenheim, American Museum of Natural History- (USA)
Oxford, Cambridge England-, St.Andrews Scotland- (Gr. Britain); Heidelberg, Tbingen, Gttingen
University
cities
(Germany); Salamanca (Spain); Coimbra (Portugal); Bolonia (Italy); Princeton, Berkeley (USA)
Carnival: Rio de Janeiro, Salvador da Baha (Brazil), New Orleans Mardi Grass (USA), Venice
Parties and
(Italy), Valencia Fallas- (Spain); Pamplona Sanfermines- (Spain); Munich Oktoberfest, party of
popular
the beer- (Germany); Siena Palio, horse racing- (Italy); Calgary Stampide western parade- (Canada).
celebrations
Holy week religious parades Semana Santa: Seville, Valladolid, Zamora (Spain)
World financial centres
New York (USA); London (Gr. Britain); Tokyo (Japan)
Chicago, Los Angeles (USA); Paris (France); Madrid (Spain); So Paulo
Metropolitan cities that are economic
(Brazil); Shanghai (China); Seoul (South Korea); Toronto (Canada); Dubai
centres of international influence
Cities
(United Arab Emirates); Johannesburg (South Africa); Singapur(City-State)

economic centres Cities of medium average size that

Industrial cities
Cities with
research centres
Vanguard
forefront cities,
trend setting
cities

Natural beauty

Touristic cities

Metropolis or
megacities
Cities-state

Frankfurt stock exchange, banks, European Central Bank- (Germany), Geneva

specialize themselves economically
banks, watches- (Switzerland); Milano economic centre, mode & craft industryand become more important than they
(Italy); Rotterdam Mercantile port activity - (Netherlands)
are for their sizes
Manchester, Liverpool (England, G. Britain); Glasgow (Scotland, G. Britain);
Cities of industrial tradition that look
for new positionings because of the
Bilbao (Basque Country, Spain); metropolitan area of the Ruhr region Dortmunddecline or industrial transformation
Duisburg-Bochum-Essen-Dsseldorf (Germany); Detroit, Pittsburg (USA)
San Francisco-San Jose Silicon Valley; universities: Berkeley, Stanford- (USA); Boston universities: Harvard, MIT- (USA); axis
Stuttgart-Munich high range automobiles Mercedes, Porsche, BMW, Audi- (Germany); Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) Multimedia
Super Corridor-; Bangalore technological parks- (India)
Barcelona urbanism, architecture- (Spain); Berlin urban renovation, reunification, culture- (Germany); San Francisco forefront
social movements, waterfront bay, cosmopolitanism- (USA); Vancouver multiculturalism, natural beauty, waterfront- (Canada);
Shanghai urban, socio-cultural and economic change - (China); Amsterdam urban singularity, forefront social tolerance(Netherlands); Curitiba social and environmental management- (Brazil); Dubai new economic centre, finance and trade,
tourism, vanguard architecture- (United Arab Emirates)
Sea waterfronts/bays/beaches: Palma de Mallorca, San Sebastin, Santander
(Spain); Bay of Naples (Italy); Miami (USA); Mar del Plata (Argentina);
Sydney (Australia); Cape Town, Durban (South Africa)
Cities, town and villages placed in
environments of natural beauty that
Mountains: Chamonix -Mont Blanc- (France); Zermatt Matterhorn or
generate reputation and attract visitors
Cervin- (Switzerland); Innsbruck Alps, Tirol- (Austria). Sky: Calgary
and residents
(Canada), Aspen (USA). San Carlos de Bariloche Andes-(Argentina)
Coast and mountains: Rio de Janeiro beaches of Copacabana, Ipanema, etc;
mount Corcovado- (Brazil); Bergen fiords- (Norway)
Popular destinations of sun and beaches
Benidorm (Spain); Rimini (Italy); Acapulco, Cancn (Mexico)
Cities specializing in a tourism of
Cannes, Nice (France); Monaco (Principality of Monaco); Punta del Este
coast of elitist nature
(Uruguay)
Baden-Baden (Germany); Evian (France); Budapest (Hungary); Karlovy Vary
Health tourism
Karslbad, Marinsk Lazn, Marienbad (Czech Republic)
New York architecture of skyscrapers, cosmopolitanism, cultural offer, cinematographic evocation (USA); Paris urban beauty, monuments, culture, fashion
industry (France); Rome old Roman civilization, urban beauty, Vatican (Italy);
Urban tourism
London cultural offer, cosmopolitanism, monuments, Monarchy (Gr. Britain);
Prague architectural heritage, culture (Czech Republic); Singapore and Kuala
Lumpur (Malaysia) shopping and financial centres
Big cities of powerful countries; politically,
New York, Los Angeles (USA); Paris (France); London (Gr.
economically and culturally of world reference
Britain); Tokyo (Japan); Moscow (Russia); Beijing (China)
Calcutta, Bombay (India); Yakarta (Indonesia); Mexico City
Urban agglomerations of emerging or developing
(Mexico); So Paulo (Brazil); Cairo (Egypt); Lagos (Nigeria);
countries, with over-excited and unplanned growth
Karachi (Pakistan); Manila (Philippines)
Monaco principality, tax haven, elitist tourism-; Andorra winter and mountain tourism-; Vatican catholic religion-;
Singapore financial centre and communications hub-; Luxembourg European crossing of cultures-

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Cities that host international

institutions
Cities where international treaties
have been signed, or international
agreements have been celebrated
Cities that host
big companies

Brussels European Union, NATO- (Belgium); New York United Nations- (USA); Geneva United
Nations, International Red Cross- (Switzerland); Paris UNESCO- (France); Lausanne International
Olympic Committee- (Switzerland); Washington D.C. International Monetary Fund, World Bank,
Administration of the USA; The Hague some international courts of justice- (Netherlands)
Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change (Japan); Maastricht Treaty on European Union (Netherlands);
Davos annual meeting of the World Economic Forum- (Switzerland)

Eindhoven Philips- (Netherlands);Leverkusen Bayer- (Germany); Wolfsburg Volkswagen(Germany); Torino FIAT- (Italy); Toulouse aeronautical industry- (France); Ulsan Hyundai- (S.
Korea); Seattle Boeing-aeronautical, Microsoft-software- (USA); Detroit automobile industry- (USA)
Car racings: Montecarlo Formula 1, Rally (Monaco), Le Mans 24 hours race (France);

Indianapolis 500 miles- (USA), Wimbledon tennis (Gr. Britain); Wimbledon tennis- (Gr.
Annual events
Britain); Paris tennis: Roland Garros, cycling: Tour France final stage- (France);
St. Andrews golf- (Scotland, Gr. Britain); Augusta golf- (USA)
Summer Olympic Games: Sydney presentation like one of the best cities of the
Oneoff events with long term world - (Australia), Barcelona urban remodelling, world promotion -; Beijing
Cities and
returns.
places with
-presentation and promotion of the city but also of China as a new superpower-.
They
attract
investments and
sporting events
Winter Olympic Games: Salt Lake City (USA), Calgary (Canada), Lillehammer
boost tourism
of international
(Norway), Albertville (France), Torino (Italy)
repute
Football World Cup: Germany 2006, South Africa 2010.
European Football: Real Madrid, FC Barcelona (Spain); Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Sports clubs that provide
Torino (Italy); Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands); Bayern Munich (Germany);
international reputation to the
Manchester United, Liverpool (Gr.Britain)
cities that shelter them
Basketball NBA: Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls (USA)

Cities with a
religious
significance

Jerusalen Judaism, Christianity, Islamism- (Israel, Palestine); Rome Catholicism, Vatican- (Italy); Santiago de Compostela
pilgrim way of Camino de Santiago- (Spain), Mecca Islam- (Saudi Arabia); Varanasi Hinduism- (India)

Singular cities

Venice singular urbanism channels- (Italy); New York singular architecture, skyscrapers- (USA); Las Vegas city of the game
and gambling in casinos, original architecture of the hotels and casinos (USA); Paris beauty and monuments (France)

Source: self compilation.

These attributes or potentials can be capitalized on by cities taking full advantage of them. In this sense
there is a parallel with the approaches of strategic management and marketing in the world of business.
These qualities would be equivalent to the concept introduced by M. Porter, competitive advantage, a
capacity which if developed by an enterprise would allow it to achieve better results than competing
businesses. In the same way, when a city is able to capitalize on its resources and potentials, or is
remodelled and promoted, as Barcelona and Sydney were through their organization of the Olympics,
then it achieves international fame and reputation that facilitates attracting investments and visitors.
Figure 1. CITIES WITH INTERNATIONAL REPUTATION ACCORDING TO SOME ELEMENTS

Florence, the city of the Renaissance

Benidorm (Spain), massive popular tourism

Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroianni into the Trevi

Fountain, Rome

Sequences of the film "La Dolce Vita

The influence of cinema
in the promotion of cities

Festival of Wagners music

in Bayreuth (Germany).
Front page of the influential
German magazine Der Spiegel

Tourism in the
Fontana di Trevi,

Rome

New Orleans, a city associated

with the origin of Jazz music

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The Royal Guard, tourist attraction of London

Leverkusen
,Copyright:
la ciudad
sede
2001 de
Der
Spiegel
empresa
Leverkusen
(Germany),
a la
city
linked to

Kyoto in the
international
press due
to the
Climate
A city and a football team with the name of a pharmacist
Change
Protocol

the Bayer
company

Russia saves the Kyoto agreement

The Russian Parliament gives final support to the international treaty

Sao Paulo: over-excited and unplanned

growth, favelas and skyscraper

Santiago de Compostela (Spain), the historical and religious pilgrim route of

the Way of Santiago Camino de Santiago -, also attracts much tourism

There are no taboos in the heart of

the Netherlands. The homosexuals
seal their love in the court, the old
men die when they do not want to live
any more and the lovers of the
marijuana buy It in the bars. An island
of tolerance of uncertain future

Mecca (Saudi Arabia),

the sacred city of the islamic religion

Brussels,
the capital of the lobby
Lobbyists have close ties with the EU authorities

Brussels, the city that host the European Union,

European Commission headquarters

The capital
Amsterdam,
of the Freedom
avant
garde and
singularity
urban city

Building of the UN
headquarters, New York

Las Vegas imitates landmarks of other cities

Luxor Hotel, in the shape of pyramid Imitation of the channels of Venice
and Gizeh's Sphinx of Cairo in Egypt

Hotel New York, New York; Imitation of the Eiffel Tower

imitates its skyline

Empire
State
Building

Chrysler
Tower

Statue
of
Liberty

Rio de Janeiro, city of great natural beauty

with its mountains, bays and beaches
Chamonix (France) joins his name on posters
such as Copacabana or Ipanema
and postcards with its natural attraction, the
mountain Mont Blanc
Zermatt (Switzerland) has its main asset in
the beauty of the Matherhorn mountain (in
German language - Cervino in Italian)

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The profile of a city can be influenced greatly by major public works. These can include new airports, as in
Hong Kong, or extensions to existing airports, like Barajas in Madrid or London Heathrow; ports as in
Yokohama; new museums like the Guggenheim in Bilbao, the area of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, or the
Picasso Museum in Malaga, or renovations, such as the Louvre in Paris, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam or
the Prado in Madrid; facilities for artistic activities, like the Sydney Opera House or the new Alexandria Library
in Egypt; buildings for conventions; skyscrapers like Taipei 101 in Taiwan or the Petronas Towers in Kuala
Lumpur in Malaysia or the Freedom Tower project at the site of the ill-fated towers of the New York World
Trade Center; sports facilities, like olympic parks or stadiums that are innovatory in their technology and
design such as the Allianz Arena Munich, or the Olympic Stadium in Beijing; renovation of waterside areas,
as in Barcelona, of riverside zones, as in Bilbao, or of historic centres as in Santiago de Compostela, all three
in Spain; theme parks like Eurodisney near Paris. These constructions equate in modern times to what
cathedrals represented in mediaeval Europe. Many cities commission major works of this sort from star
architects who create structures that become new urban icons, symbols advertising the city. Mention may be
made of N. Foster, J. Nouvel, R. Koolhaas, R. Rogers, F. Gehry, Herzog & de Meuron, A. Siza, R.Moneo, S. Calatrava.
Figure 2. BIG BUILDINGS and SKYSCRAPERS AS URBAN ICONS and LANDMARKS.

Skyscrapers of the world, landmarks of cities

World Trade Center with its Twin Towers,
before its tragic collapse, and the new project
Freedom Tower

New
New
Skysrapers
IninShanghai

Sears
Tower

Petronas Twin Towers

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Empire State Building and

Chrysler Tower, two historic
skyscrapers and landmarks
of New York City

The influence of cinema,

movie King Kong
Taipei 101
(Taiwan),
Tornado Tower,
the worlds tallest
Doha (Qatar)
Skycraper
(in 2007)

It has the name

of the city. Its
design suggests
the form of
the bamboo

Burj Tower will be the tallest building of the world

Burj Tower,
Dubai

Burj
Al
Arab
World's first
rotating tower
Dubai

A luxury hotel;
its design evokes
a sailing ship
on the sea,
landmark of Dubai

AGBAR Tower, new horizon in the skyline of Barcelona

Chromatisms of the Agbar Tower at night

-5-

Figure 3. THEMATIC BUILDINGS THAT BECOME NEW URBAN ICONS

Buildings of artistic
manifestations and museums

Guggenheim
Museum Bilbao,
Museum of Contemporary Art
New symbol
MUSAC. Len, Spain
of this city, that
European Union Prize 2007 for
Auditorium, Ciudad de las Artes
has changed its
Contemporary Architecture
y las Ciencias. Valencia (Spain)
Mies van der Rohe Award
urban positioning
and regenerated
Big sport Innovators in technology and design
its riverside
stadiums

Opera House,
Sydney icon
and a symbol
of Australia

Allianz Arena (Munich, Germany); Sponsored

by this insurance company. Here the Football
World Cup Germany 2006 was inaugurated

Tourist attraction in itself

Innovator
in design:
quilted
bubble
Innovator in technology: translucent multi-chromatism

Olympic stadium
of Beijing (China),
popularly called
The Nest

View from the Aquatic Center,

at the Opening Ceremony of
the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

Wavy forms design, which suggest

the the wings of the birds flying

Big international airports

New Beijing Airport,
by Norman Fosters & Partners

New Terminal T4

Entry gates to a country and image Madrid-Barajas

of a city; one of the keys to the
airport
competition among international cities
by Richard Rogers &
Lamela Architects Cabinet

Modern architecture
and traditional one

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Diaphanous and wide spaces,

colours, natural light

2. Strategic Management in the Running and Management of Cities

This section looks into the advisability of cities basing their management decisions on a broader system of
strategic planning that will allow the steering of urban strategies and policies, and the guiding of marketing
strategies. The adoption of principles from economics, business and marketing in a city context may be set
in a wider framework (Figure 4). An integrated city study should draw on conceptual contributions from a
range of disciplines: town planning and architecture, sociology, economics and business, among others. The
line being proposed here concentrates on the approaches of Strategic Management and Marketing.
Figure 4. MODEL FOR STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING OF CITIES
ANALYSIS of the DIAGNOSIS of a CITY

The CITY like SYSTEM of EXCHANGES

City Councils

Potential and
National State
+ Positive points
Current
and Town Halls
eventual
residents
residents
and strenghts
INSTITUTIONS
Regional
International
for
CITIZENS
INTERNAL -Negative points
Institutions institutions
eac
Neighbourhood
hc
ANALYSIS and weakness
communities Resident workers
oll
Educational and cultural
in nearby localities that
institutions; universitities
of the city
Search of the differentiation. ective
g
move to diary to the city
rou
To identify the unique and
p
distinctive features and
characteristics of the city

+ Oportunities
- Threats
Socio-cultural

Environment Economic

EXTERNAL
ANALYSIS
of the city

tive
llec
o
c
h
eac

Political

of

Demand

up
gro
Urban tourism
Business
Shopping visitors
visitors

Local
Public
institutions companies

INVESTORS

Competitors: to identify
rival cities

TOURISTS

Employer associations
and working unions Multinational
corporations

Perception of
residents

Perception of
investors

Cultural tourism

Tourism of
Sun and beach
Conferences
linked tourism Business and
leisure
tourism
Perception of
tourists

Perception of
institutions

Perception of the city on the part of the diverse public groups

SYSTEM of URBAN STATISTICAL DATA

MEASURE of the IMAGE of the CITY

What the city really is

Current positioning

IDENTITY

The way in which

the city is perceived
PERCEIVED IMAGE

(in relation with the statistical information)

defining a
STRATEGIC POSITION

(perception of every group, of every person)

How do we see the city

STRATEGIC
MANAGEMENT
and
URBAN GROWTH
COMPETITIVE
AND
COOPERATIVE
STRATEGIES

MARKETING
STRATEGIES

Model of physical growth: urbanism, infrastructures, collective equipments

Economic model: specialization versus diversification
Social model: social services, employment, social relationships
Identification of the citys competitive advantages; search for differentiations
To create and develop networks among cities to cooperate with; examples:
- Sustainable Cities, committed to urbanisation based on ecofriendly features
- CittaSlow network: promote a slow, balanced and Mediterranean type of lifestyle
- Metropolis: network of global cities working towards urban planning and development
Definition of the city as a product and a communication strategy
Eventual creation of a city brand mark and logo. Some cities turn into brands

How we want the city perceived

and to promote it accordingly
COMMUNICATION of the IDENTITY
and of the BRAND IMAGE

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The principles of economics and business studies can be applied to cities because cities are places, but
they are also entities and systems of relations. The complexity of the interchanges and relationships
between the various groups (citizens, institutions, investors and tourists of various sorts) justifies studying
these approaches with an eye to identifying what is the best possible thing the city can offer, whether
internally in accordance with the needs of its citizens and other component groups or externally, meeting
the demands of outside groups and markets. This would allow appropriate selling of what can be offered
by a city in the more and more complex and internationalized markets in which cities increasingly compete.
Defining and developing Strategic Management and Marketing in an urban context, implies making a
diagnosis of the situation of the city, and also requires to be undertaken and should include an internal and
an external analysis. The internal analysis would cover the strengths and weaknesses the city may have
for each group, so that those involved may differ over this aspect, in the sense that what for one group
may be positive may not be so for another. The external analysis should consider opportunities and
threats that might arise from various sources (Fernndez Gell, 1997): the surroundings, whether seen
from a political, economic or socio-cultural angle, the demands different groups make on the city, and
study of possible competitor cities.
Before applying marketing approaches in the area of cities, it is necessary to analyze the concepts of
identity and image of the city. The identity has been analyzed in the field of corporate brand (1992). The
identity can be defined as the set of traits items and attributes that define the essence of the city, some
of which are visible and others are not. The image of a brand is the set of mental representations, both
emotional and cognitive an individual as a set of individuals associated with a brand or an organization
(Lambin, 1991). Thus, it is very important to link these two concepts, because one will be expressing a
defined personality (identity) and another with the perception of that personality (image). In the case of a
city, identity is what the city is, and its image is the perception.
The reality of a city can be compared with its image. One step is to investigate what the city is, that is the
identity, its objective positioning, by means of a set of urban indicators that allow observation of the relative
position of a city as a function of a range of variables. Ideally, rather than being restricted to one given
moment, this methodological tool should be able to extend over time, so that it would be a question of a
permanent observatory permitting analysis of the evolution of the position cities held. This objective
analysis should be compared with study of how the city is perceived, in other words how it is seen by the
various groups related to it. In this case it would be a matter of a subjective positioning obtained by
measuring the image of the city. Detecting differences between what the city is and how the city is
perceived would help in determining the current position of the city and serve as a base for the
construction of a future positioning, confirming or modifying previous plans and actions. In its turn, the
image of a city may differ from one to another of the groups involved in it. Even the image one person has
of a city can come from various sources: stereotypes lodged in the collective imagination, personal
experiences, what other people say, information drawn from the mass media (radio, television, the press,
the cinema, and similar), opinions formed about national and international events, and so forth.
From these steps it would be possible to define what it is desired a city should be, its corporate philosophy
and the strategic principles on which to construct it. All of this is strongly determined by aspects that
cannot be adjusted, like the physical geography and location, or the climate, history and socio-cultural
values of the city. Strategic approaches and marketing may be applied at three levels. Firstly, a definition
for the strategic and growth management of a city would include a model for physical development (town
planning, infrastructures, socially owned facilities, services in general, and other features); an economic
model, in which it would be possible to choose specialization or diversification of economic and business
activities (as may be seen in some sections of Table 1); and a social model, which would include social
services and employment and should shape the general pattern of social relationships. Secondly, when
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applying strategies for competition and co-operation, the competitive advantages of the city should be
identified; with a view to seeking differentiation both in itself and in relation to the cities that are its most
direct competitors. It would be useful at this stage to use the methodological tool of benchmarking (Font,
2003), in other words comparison of cities through the key activities that each city does best, in an attempt
to achieve urban improvements in the cities under study. An example would be the comparative analysis
carried out in the context of the Eurocities network covering the cities of Antwerp (Flanders) in Belgium,
Bilbao (Basque Country), of Spain, Bologna (Emilia-Romagna), Italy, Eindhoven (North Brabant) in the
Netherlands, Lisbon in Portugal, Munich (Bavaria) in Germany, Rotterdam (Mouth of the Rhine zone) in the
Netherlands and Turin (Piedmont) in Italy (Van den Berg, Braun and Van der Meer, 1999).
Networks of Cities: Competition and Co-operation
The challenges of globalization imply major economic, social and cultural changes in the flows of exchanges
in the modern world. In this context, cities develop numerous networking relations, either horizontal with
other cities (whether competitive or co-operative) or vertical with other institutions (the central state, regional
authorities, international bodies, or businesses).
Modern approaches in Strategic Management and Marketing stipulate that besides competing there is a
need to co-operate and establish strategic networks so as gain a good position in markets. Some authors
(Brandenburger and Nalebuff, 1996) call the converging of relationships of competition and co-operation by
the portmanteau acronym term co-opetiton. Among cities it is also increasingly common for networks to be
established. While horizontal strategic alliances and networks for co-operation with other cities are set up to
defend common interests and collaborate, vertical connections with national authorities and with regional or
international institutions are of importance because of the political and financial support they provide for
urban management. Collaboration, associations and networks linking cities are of a range of types, as may
be seen in Figure 5.
Collaboration may take many different forms. Sometimes it is economic in nature, as in the case of the
Metropolis network of 81 cities around the world intended to develop solutions for the problems of great
world cities, Cities Project, a network for identifying the competitive advantages of the cities forming it, for
urban innovations, aiding other cities around the world to spot their strategic opportunities. There is also
collaboration of a cultural type, such as, for example, the co-operation on matters of a historical and
cultural nature between the UNESCO World Heritage cities in Spain, or the localities that co-operate over
the Pilgrims Way to Compostella, promoting tourism and culture. There are networks of cities that
concentrate on collaborating to support values, like the group of cities that encourage the creation of music
within the framework of cultural diversity, or the network of cities that promote solidarity, backing and
refuge for threatened writers from around the world.
Alongside the dimension of co-operation, cities compete in many ways: to attract investment; to be the
headquarters for institutions or businesses; to organize sports events like the Olympics, World
Championships of a particular sport (especially football, but also basketball, athletics, swimming and
others), various other sports competitions, or events not of a sporting nature, such as Universal
Expositions; to be centres for economic activities (for example, the struggle between Hong-Kong and
Shanghai in China to be financial and commercial centres in the Far East), for cultural activities (like the
competition among the larger cities of Spain through their museums of contemporary art) or for mixed
economic and cultural activities (like the competition between cities in the USA to host the Grammy music
awards).

-9-

Figure 5. NETWORKS OF COOPERATION AND COMPETITION BETWEEN CITIES

Cities
cooperating
Beat San Francisco
as the candidate de USA

Beat Sevilla as
the candidate Spain

(Gr. Britain)

(Russia)

(Gr. Britain)

Toronto

(Turkey)

Competed for hosting

the Olympic Games 2008

(Germany)

(Canada)

Santiago de Compostela
Salamanca
San Cristbal de la Laguna
vila

Paris
Barcelona
(Spain)

Competed for hosting

the Olympic Games 1992
Brisbane

(Yugoslavia)

(Australia)

Paris, Besanon, Blois Berlin, Frankfurt

Bonn (Germany)
Caen, Strasburg
(France)

Barcelona, Gijn
Sabadell (Spain)

Ibiza

Amsterdam
(Netherlands)

Madrid, Barcelona
Belgrade

Cities of Spain
World Heritage

Cuenca
UNESCO
Cceres
Segovia
Baeza
Toledo
and beda Crdoba

Osaka (Japan)

(France)

(Cuba)

Birmingham

Istambul

Leipzig

Rio de Janeiro La Habana

(Brazil)

(China)

(Spain)

Competed for
hosting the
Olympic Games 2012

Moscow

Beijing

Madrid

New York (USA)

London

Cities
competing

Munich, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe

Zaragoza (Spain)

(Germany)

(Spain)

Helsinki
PANEL
(Finland)
European Network
Lyon, Grenoble
Alpes Maritimes aimed at rewarding the creation,
innovation
and
business
(France)
Stockholm,
excellence
Southern Swede
Milano, Torino
(Sweden)
Emilia-Romagna
Oxford, Cambridge

They competed
tor hosting
the Expo 2008

Trieste
Thessaloniki
(Italy)
Oporto(Portugal)
(Italia)
(Greece)
(Gr. Britain)
Cities Refuge
Network of cities and regions
Gteborg
(Norway)
promoting performances of
(Sweden)
Bergen, Oslo (Norway) Reykjavik Helsinki, Oulu, Tampere, Turku (Finland)
solidarity, shelter and support
Ithaca-Cornel
(Island)
Viena, Salzburg
Copenhagen (Denmark)
Varsaw (Poland) Talln (Estonia)
writers threatened
Las Vegas (USA)
Vorarlberg
in the world
Dublin
Dubrovnik, Split, Zagreb (Croatia)
Londres, Liverpool, Glasgow
(Ireland)
Graz (Austria)
Mexico City
Birmingham, Jersey (Gr. Britain)
Olomouc, Praga (Czech Rep.)
Puebla (Mexico) Lagos
Venice
Helsinki
Amsterdam, Rotterdam (Netherlands)
Sarajevo Ljubljana, Maribor
(Nigeria) Procida (Italy) (Finland)
(Bosnia)
(Slovenia)
Bruselas, Gante (Blgica)
European
Budapest (Hungary)
Cities Tourism
Malta Luxemburg
Network which defends the
Zrich, Ginebra, Bern
Mnaco Andorra
interests of the tourist
Basel, Lausanne, Lucern (Switzerland)
Compete because they point
Graz, Innsbruck
European cities
link between markets
Madrid
Salzburg,Viena (Austria)
Miami
Genova, Turn (Italy)
(Spain)
(USA)
Latin American, the
Lisboa (Portugal)
Sevilla, P. Mallorca, Zaragoza
Aachen, Dsseldorf, Leipzig
United States and Europe
Aix-en-Provence, Dijon Tarragona, Lrida, S. Sebastin
Dresden, Bonn, Heidelberg
Niza, Metz, Nantes
La Corua, Mlaga Valencia
Nrenberg, Kln, Berlin
Lyon , Paris, St. Etienne
Barcelona, Madrid, Bilbao
Munich, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart
(France)
Oslo, Stavanger
Kristiansand

(Spain)

London

Frankfurt, Munich

(Gr. Britain)

Paris

(Germany)

(France)

Airport Regions Conference

Madrid
Barcelona

Network cities committed to the

improvement of major airports
and competing for hegemony
in Europe

Subnetwork Access,
incentives urban mobility
108 cities, chairs Leeds
Committee Environment
promotes sustainable development
Eurocities
60 cities, presides over Seville
Platform claiming
Committee Culture
cities in European
promotes cultural exchanges
construction
40 cities, presides Stockholm

(Italy)

Amsterdam
(Ntetherlands)

Reykjavik

Tby

(Island)

(Sweden)

Quebec

Hmeenlinna
(Finland)

(Canada)

Mitaka

Phoenix
(USA.)

Compete in Spain for being centers:

Headquarters of multinacional companies
Trade fairs (Gaud and Cibeles fashion),
sporting events and cultural activities
intercontinental air transport

(Spain)

Milano

Brussels
(Belgium)

(Germany)

Cities of Tomorrow

(Japan)

Network encouraging
innovations in local
development

Christchurch

presides Leipzig

Committee for Social Welfare,

the social cohesion and inclusion
30 cities, presides Malm

(New Zeland)

Mnster, Essen

Subnet Telecities drives

cooperation with businesses
the information society
120 cities, Barcelona chairs
East-West Committee
Develops exchanges
Among European cities
40 cities, presides Bratislava
Economic Development Committee
& Urban Regeneration
40 cities, presides over Lyon

Delft, Tilburg
Bilbao, S.Sebastin, Vitoria
(Holanda)
London Lewisham
(Basque C. Spain)
Toronto (Canada)
Liverpool, Braintree (Gr. Britain)
Miami, Filadelfia
beat Palma de Mallorca
Genova, Torino (Italy)
Boston (USA)
as the candidate Spain
Singapur
Lyon
(France)
Project
Cities
Berlin (Germany)
Dakar (Senegal)
Network to identify competitive
Medelln (Colombia)
Valencia
Marseille
advantages cities members, urban
Dubai
(Spain)
(France)
World triangle of
innovations, helping other cities
(Arab Emirates)
Monterrey (Mexico)
electronic music
around the world to identify
Arriyadh
Montevideo (Uruguay)
They competed for
strategic opportunities
(Saudi Arabia)
hosting the America's Cup
Miami
Curitiba, Rio Janeiro (Brazil)
Ibiza
Shanghai
Sailing 2007
(USA)
(Spain)
Santiago (Chile) Sydney Kuala Lumpur Hong-Kong
(World's oldest

(Germany)

(Australia)

(Malaysia)

(China)

Napoli
Leewarden

Brighton, Telford

Postdam

(Gr. Britain)

(Germany)

(Italy)

Eskilstuna (Sweden)

(Netherlands)

Shanghai (China)

Eurotowns

Hasselt
(Belgium)

Network which promotes

cooperation among European
cities between 50,000 and
250,000 inhabitants

Manresa, Gerona, Vigo

Jerez de la Frontera (Spain)

Seinjoki
Mikkeli
Jyvskyl

Comptete in the East China for

being financial and commercial center

hosting entertainment theme parks

(Finland)

Reggio nell Emilia

Hong Kong (China)

(Italy)

-10-

Sporting competition)

Lisboa

(Portugal)

3. The Contribution of Marketing to the Management of Cities Identities

Marketing is an area of knowledge within economics and business studies that has the basic philosophy of
analysing and managing the relationships of interchange that occur in markets between what firms have to
offer and the demand from clients and consumers. Although originally marketing was applied to business
sectors alone, its principles later began to be brought into play in non-business environments, non-profit
organizations (Amnisty International, Human Rights Watch), environmental concerned organizations:
Greenpeace, World Wildlife Fund WWF-), healthy organizations (International Red Cross, Doctors without
Borders-Medecins sans Frontiers), sport institutions, and politics. This was on the premise that in all cases
there are relationships involving interchanges between one party that is offering something (products or
brands, but also ideas or values) and another party that is seeking something or is likely to do so, allowing
the principles of marketing to be extended to cover these contexts. Marketing of an urban nature would thus
be a matter of cities developing an ability to offer what will match the demands of the various groups within
them: citizens, institutions, tourists and visitors, investors.
The marketing of a city must start from its identity. Every city has its own identity: its name, geography,
climate, history, culture, infrastructures, installations, monuments, and people. The great challenge for cities
is to get different publics to see these elements as of value. From the point of view of marketing, this
represents an opportunity, since these individual characteristics mark out and differentiate each city.
Marketing can provide its ideas for improving the management of this identity, for meeting the needs and
wants of the various groups. A city is what it is because of what politicians and municipal managers decide
over the course of time, but also because of the physical and emotional space that it represents, because of
the behaviour of residents and firms, and because of what is said about the city, either by those who visit it or
by those who do not. All of these contribute to building up and developing the identity of a city.
Towards the 1990s the principles of marketing were extended to the context of places and particularly on
cities (Ashworth and Voogd, 1990; Kotler, Haider and Rein, 1994; Noisette and Vallerugo, 1996; Rosemberg,
2000). This was because there are also relationships of interchange between what a city has to offer (a
place to reside, quality of life, social and economic structure, work, infrastructures and installations,
transport and communications, services, leisure and culture, education, events, and so forth) and what is
sought by the various publics related to that city: citizens principally, but also tourists, institutions,
enterprises and others. Transactional marketing tried to create a supply meeting the profile of the various
publics or users; relational marketing attempts to develop stable and satisfactory relationships. Following the
latest tendencies in collaborative marketing, cities should concentrate on collaborating with their publics and
institutions, building up principles and values. In the modern socio-economic relationships that have been
emerging since globalization, cities can also be understood as products competing one against another to
attract investments and visitors, or to organize events of various sorts. Managing a business and
managing a city can have points in common (Table 2).
Table 2. PARALLELISMS BETWEEN THE MANAGEMENT OF CORPORATIONS and THE GOVERNANCE OF CITIES

Aspects

Business companies

Cities or towns

Ownership
Top management
Products
Clients
Competitors

Owners, shareholders
Boards of directors; executive management
Manufactured goods or services
Consumers
Other business companies

Citizens and institutions

City councils
Public services, diverse offers
Citizens, investors and visitors
Other cities or towns

Source: adapted from Fernndez Gell (1997)

Despite the application of such a philosophy of business management and marketing, the governance of
cities cannot be directed simply by transferring over these principles. This is because of the social and
human function that should guide city management with priority over financial profitability. It is also because
of the great complexity of the multiple interchanges that take place in a city. Cities have certain attributes that
-11-

cannot be modified, such as their nature, climate, or geographic situation. They have others which are
modifiable, relating to infrastructures, leisure, culture and education, health, economy, businesses and
employment, public safety, government and politics, social atmosphere and the development of civil society.
Aguilera and Perales (1994) conceive of the city as an open project, developed by public administrations, the
private sector and civil society. This view is based on three criteria:
What the city has: natural resources, such as landscapes, or attractive features of the climate, and
created items, like green spaces, town planning, historic and artistic treasures, local dishes and so forth.
What the city does: social, organizational and institutional relationships, economic, cultural and
educational activities, artistic and sporting events, and the like.
What the city represents: for a given national or cultural identity or for symbols of affiliation (national,
iconography, history and legends, famous figures, celebrations and festivals, and similar).
The process of strategic management and marketing should culminate in communication of the urban
strategies and policies, which would attempt to broadcast the image of the city among the various groups
and markets, whether national or international. A plan for ways and means can be drawn up, which would
include publicity, promotion at tourism or business fairs, public relations, and the like. Communication
campaigns based on massive publicity reach out a long way and may produce more immediate results.
Communication campaigns involving public relations are more direct and credible. Influential figures, such as
artists and sportsmen from the city itself or other famous people, transmit a positive view of the city.
One of the principal ways of ensuring external projection and communication of cities is the organizing of
events that bring international fame and transmit values. They also have positive effects for the citizens
and institutions of the city, since they involve projecting values relating to the pride of belonging to a city or
living there, to innovation and change. In a word, they generate collective enthusiasms. Spanish cities are
active in this way. Barcelona, Vittoria, Gerona and Santiago de Compostela have received international
awards. Besides this, a number of international events have been organized in Spanish cities. These
include the World Swimming Championships in Madrid in 1986 and Barcelona in 2003; the Olympics in
Barcelona 1992; the Expo in Seville 1992; European Cultural Capital status for Madrid 1992, Compostella 1995
and Salamanca in 2002; the World Athletics Championships in Seville in 1999; the Americas Cup sailing
contest in Valencia in 2007; and the Expo in Zaragoza in 2008. Marcos Blanco (1993) considers the study
carried out for the Barcelona Olympics in 19921 to be one of the greatest large-scale applications of city
marketing, and taking the Olympic Games into a new prestige on a global scale after some previous failures.
For this, a great deal of energy was brought into play by citizens and businesses, together with an extensive
communication campaign, well programmed in time, for which four types of sector were assigned as the
target publics2, and this led to the designation of Barcelona as the site for the Olympics. After this Barcelona
1992 successful Olympic Games, most of the mayor international cities are willing to host this biggest sport
event, which bring global reputation, investments, visitors, media attention, etc.
The distribution policy of a city can be conceived of as how it makes available services and brings them
closer to citizens and users.

Barcelona gained international exposure through the 1992 Olympics. This city is a host to trade fairs, congresses, sports events and urban tourism, as well
as being a major stopping point for European and transatlantic cruises (in the Western Mediterranean especially after the 11 September 2001 terrorist
attacks). The next major project by Barcelona was the Universal Forum of Cultures in 2004, involving further world-wide promotion of the city, and
remodelling of urban areas including prolongation of the renovated seafront beyond what had already been done in 1992.
2
Target Sector I Extraordinarily Important: members of the International Olympic Committee; Target Sector II Important: members of national Olympic
committees, international federations, sports federations for Olympic sports, specialist international press, world and national opinion leaders, Olympic athletes;
Target Sector III Further Interest: ex-Olympic sportspeople, participants in sports, sports clubs, artists, national and local press; Target Sector IV Associates
and participants: professional organizations, businesses, students, citizens of Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain.

-12-

For its part, a price policy of the city as a product may be seen as the set of costs of using the services offered
by the city. These comprise the cost of land for residential or industrial use, the price of services (social and
municipal, of various sorts), transport, education and culture, health care, sports, leisure and tourism, and so forth.
Some of these will depend on decisions taken at a municipal level, others on the market. Many cities already have
cards allowing discounts for residents or tourists using public services, similar to what is also done by retail
companies with their payment cards that are intended to generate customer loyalty.
Figure 6. CARDS FOR USING URBAN SERVICES

Also in recent times, the marketing principles are extending into territories such as countries and
regions, to implement strategies in order to market their offerings and compete better. Eventually, a
strategic management or governance approach and city marketing process would go into a more or less
advanced stage of brand creation in a city or a place or territory, then one also speaks of -place
branding-, an emerging concept in recent literature (Dinnie, 2004; Kavaratzis, 2004; Kolb, 2006; Skinner
y Kubacki, 2007; Morgan, Pritchard y Pride, 2007; Anholt, 2007; Moilanen y Rainisto, 2009).
This is a consolidating burgeoning academic literature in the last three decades, on marketing cities
and more advances stages of branding, either for geographical scope of cities, regions or countries.
We may consider these approaches as a natural extension of the strategic management or territorial
building planning process. Thus, considering this sequence, and applied to three geographical
areas: cities, regions or networks of cities, and countries and international spheres, so the following
table embodies some outstanding research in these senses.
Table 3. ACADEMIC RESEARCH ON PLACE STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OR TERRITORY BUILDING, MARKETING and BRANDING,
AT THE GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE OF CITIES, REGIONS, COUNTRY and INTERNATIONAL LEVEL.
Research covering different
geographical scope
Research relating to various
management concepts,`
place marketing or branding
Related concepts

Geographical scope
Region, nation, places:

City, urban or
metropolitan area:

Territories which are intermediate

between city and country
Strategies of economic
institutions or business sectors

City Council / Town Hall

Urban institutions or
related to a city
Urban areas or spaces

(tourism, industrial clusters)

Strategic management: Planificacin estratgica de Strategic management

policy of good governance

and planning of an institutional
territory, networking between
public administrations and
civil society (corporations
and other institutions
and groups), to improve
competitive positions.

Concept

ciudades (Fernndez Gell 1997/2006) -resund region- (Berg 2000)

Gestin de ciudades. Local Regional strategy and govery Global (Borja & Castells 1997)
nance (Stephenson & Poxon 2001)
Urban regeneration
-Glasgow and Bilbao- (Gmez 1998) Institutional competition and
The Creative City (Landry 2000) collaboration California and
Baden-Wrttemberg - (Raco 1999)
La Citt Postmoderna
(Amendola 2000)
(Vegara & de las Rivas 2004)

Territorios
inteligentes
Eg.: urban regeneration, building
Urban regeneration,
Clusters and competition
infrastructures, promoting values
image reconstruction and Competitiveness of locations (Porter 1998)
city marketing (Paddison 1993) Marketing metropolitan
Selling the city. Marketing in
regions (Van den Berg et al. 1990)
Marketing: process
urban planning (Ashworth & Voogd 1990)
of developing and

Regional marketing (Pellenbarg

Tourism Marketing for cities

Country; international
scope; urban networks:
Country or Nation-state strategy
International perspective
Thematic partnerships between
cities (national or international)

Competitive advantage
of nations

(Porter 1990/98)

European cities in competition

(Jensen-Butler et al. 1997)

Capital Cities in Europe (Wusten

1993)
The Global City (Sassen 1991)
Global networks, linked cities
Creative Class;

(Sassen 2002)

Global competition for Talent (Florida

2005)
...attracting foreign investment

Marketing a country... (Wells &

Wint 2000)

Marketing of Nations (Kotler et al.

1997)
Marketing Places Europe

et al. 2005)
communicating urban,
(Kolb 2006)
(Kotler et al. 1999)
regional or national offerings, Marketing turstico de ciudades, regiones, lugares y pases (Chas 2005)
Place marketing; Northern
in its marketing exchanges Marketing des Villes Place promotion; Publicity and Marketing
Europe and USA (Rainisto 2003)
(Noisette & Vallerugo 1996)
(sales, promotion) with
to sell towns and regions (Gold & Ward 1994)
Place marketing; Britain
the demands of different Marketing de ciudades
Positioning (also applied to places
(de Elizagrate 2003/08)
and North America (Ward 1998)
audiences and institutions
place positionings-) (Ries & Trout 1986)
From city marketing to
Country marketing and

city branding (Kavaratzis

Branding: a more or less

advanced stage for branding
a city, a region or a country,
considered as products
or objects of consumption
(being travel destination,
improving image awareness,
attracting investments,
boosting exports, etc.),

according to their identities

2002)

Branding territory (van Ham 2002)

brand management (Kotler &

Brand Management for Cities, Regions and Nations. Competitive identity (Anholt 2007)

Gertner 2002)

Branding nation (Olins 2002)

Hauben et al. 2002; Mommaas 2002; Jensen Brand Ontario and New Zealand
Nation Branding (Dinnie 2008)
& Richardson 2005) (Lodge 2002)
Marca ciudad
(Moilanen &
(Puig 2009)
Branding Cities, Regions and Nations Rainisto 2009) National and cultural identity,
and place branding (Skinner &
Museum Brands British
Brand Wales (Pride 2007)
Kubacki 2007)
Museum, Guggenheim- (Caldwell 2000)
Brand 100% Pure New Zealand
Brand Louisiana (Slater 2007)
(Morgan et al. 2002)
Branding Cities (Greenberg 2000;

Brand lands, hot spots &

cool places

(Mikunda 2006)

Destination branding (Morgan et al. 2007) Brand Singapore (Seng Ooi 2007)

Source: personal compilation.

-13-

While some of these researches could be framed specifically at a city level, others in a regional level,
and others in national or country level, some other research includes various areas simultaneously.
Some research can be considered more strategic management or territory planning or building, while
others relate more to the field of marketing or branding. We can find research that relate to different
phases of the strategic process. For example, as shown in Table 3, Paddison (1993) includes concepts
of 'urban regeneration', which could be included on the first phase of the table, prior to city marketing in
the second stage of marketing. In the area of countries, Wells and Wint (2000) speak of "Attracting
Foreign Investment ', which could be framed more in the first phase of a country's economic management,
together with 'marketing a country" of the second phase. On the phases of marketing and branding, other
studies raise an evolution from a city marketing approach to a phase of city branding (Kavaratzis, 2002), or
the relationship between country and brand marketing management (Kotler & Gertner, 2002).
Alongside this academic level shown in Table 3, also in recent times numerous cases of marketing and
place management initiatives are being developed worldwide, whether at the level of cities, regions or
networks of cities, and countries (Table 4).
Table 4. MARKETING & BRANDING CAMPAIGNS and STRATEGIES for CITIES, REGIONS and COUNTRIES

City marketing
and branding

Regional marketing and

branding; urban networks

Land of Taste campaign. The

region of Castilla and Leon (Spain)
try to improve the marketing
of agro-food products
This
region
of South
Barcelona Batega campaign
Spain invest in tourism
Olimpic (in local
with good communication campaigns
Games Catalan

Branding
strategy
between public and private institutions
to promote Amsterdam in the World

Country marketing
and branding
Germany has a strong
international reputation in
technology and reliability

of its products. Leveraging 2006 Football

World Cup, tried to extend its image to
promote culture music, education, sports-,
tourism and landscape, creativity
South Korea boosts its tourism;
Barcelona 92 language):
Interbrand designs a new
means:
visual and verbal identity
Barcelona beats
Slogan: A cool glance Country Brand Index 2006 Report,
is inspired by artist Dal
I love New York is
to Australia as the best
Tourism of Catalonia; campaign emphasi- refers
certainly the most
zing the uniqueness of its landscape and art global development in
recognizable citys logo in
tourist country brand
the World. It has inspired
Queensland (Australia) created the stunning After the Apartheid,
many imitations and
viral campaign
South Africa is marketing
campaigs of all kinds
The Best Job in
leveraging 2010 Football World Cup
Logo ad slogan, the World to
India,
Malaysia
culminating a good promote the
show thematically
strategic plan to position Islands of Grand
fauna
segmented tourism
Seoul as a reference Barrier Reef
spa
campaigns
Asian city The region of Quindo developed
standard
shopping nature spots
Medelln (Colombia) bet
rural tourism with the theme
Colombia seeks to improve its
for culture and education
coffee, and became in short
image, boost its tourism,
to overcome its past
time the second tourism destiincrease exports and gradually
nation of Colombia. The brand Juan
of violence and
overcome its problems
Valdz is consolidating
drug trafficking
Spain repositions as the
Ferrari
World
Abu
Dhabi
,
leisure
Johannesburg, the largest
second tourism destipark,
co-branding
between
the
city and economic center
nation in the World;
automobile brand and the Emirate, and try to improve its economic
South Africa, made a
which
will
generate
tourism
marketing campaign to
and corporate reputation with
football World Cup 2010 CittaSlow city network for
the strategy Made in/by Spain
promoting a kind
Sweden seeks to strengthen
Mlaga (Spain), birthplace
of slow life-style Amsterdam, Rotterdam,
its presence in the World,
of artist Picasso. Logo
through international
The Hague and Utrecht
is inspired by
have implemented a relations and public diplomacy in areas
artist's signature
network to promote art of culture, society, education and science

Source: personal compilation.

With regard to the phase of place branding, in recent years numerous initiatives of logos and slogans
have been developed as a final part of a management and marketing strategy. However, this phase
should be designed together with the previous one, as part of a long-term strategy and not as mere
campaign to promote a territory short-term; to be effective and visible and eventually provide national
or international reputation, would be much more advisable to plan a long term strategic approach.
-14-

The communication strategy may culminate in the creation and projection of a brand image of the city related
directly to its identity. Just as businesses have brands, slogans, logos or emblems can be designed for a city
or for an event organized by it. A good slogan or symbol may communicate the identity of an event or of the
city itself and transmit values, whether these are current or those it is desired to project as an image.
Figure 7. LOGOS OF CITIES AND URBAN EVENTS
I love New York: arose
spontaneously in the Tshirts. It is probably the
best known city logo in
the world
I love NY has inspired
numerous imitations
and advertising
campaigns of all kinds

Vienna presents this logo

in several languages

Logo of the network Slow Cities: the initials consists of the Italian word
citta (which means cities in English) and slow. Combined the ItalianEnglish term reflects a new concept of Mediterranean style way of life,
which is fast catching. The snail symbolizes slowness, and the shell
reflects traditional architecture and profiles a historical city

Logo of the London

Olympic Games 2012.
It has caused controversy
for his abstract modernism,
but it is an innovative and
daring logo and represents
a step forward in the
design of Olympic logos
The logo of the Olympic Games in Barcelona 1992. Based
on the paintings of the artist Joan Miro, suggests an athlete.
It was innovative with respect to the traditional past drawings,
somewhat infantilized, in previous decades Olympics. It was
imitated by the logo of Sydney 2000, which includes as local
element a boomerang on the legs of the athlete

Barcelona late means

in Spanish Castilian
language:
Barcelona
beats,
vibrates

The City Council of Barcelona decided to replace

the historic heraldic emblem for a more modern
logo, but a heraldic society complained in court
and then the City had to kept the old with the new; Barcelona Batega means
a 'B' light blue evoking the Mediterranean and the
in Catalan language:
bottom line with a stroke curve suggesting a smile Barcelona beats, vibrates
A logo, climax of a
W ebsite Copenhagen
of the city shows the statue of
good strategic plan,
for positioning Seoul
The Little Mermaid,
Tourism
as a key capital of Asia.
symbol of the city
site
Pun with Seoul and Soul
Berlin launches an image campaign and stress its cosmopolitan
reputation. A little verse is made
with the verb 'to be' and the first
two letters of the word Berlin,
and in the middle of the logo the Brandenburg Gate is placed,
its most famous monument and landmark of the city

-15-

First named Temasek

('sea town'), Singapore
comes from Malay
Singapura "Lion-City.
Thus the lion inspires
the logo of this City-State
the author Norberto
Muiz
Martnez
inside the mouth
of the lion statue

The Merlion,

landmark of the city

Many posters on the

streets makes this
emblem visible and
creates urban image

Singapore
organizes
the first
urban night race Formula 1,
clearly promoting the city

Mlaga (Southern Espaa) was the birthplace of the artist

P.Picasso, who was more related to Paris and Barcelona.
To boost its offer, Malaga builds the
Picasso Museum, and designs a logo
Elche (Southest Spain) is an industrial city,
inspired by the signature of the painter
boosting its offer to tourism; designs a logo
based on the historic statue
La Dama de Elche
In the Spanish language
Spanish adjective
(The Lady of Elche).
means great, cool or genious City
Genial: great"
was also used
by the campaign
of tourism
Catalonia

New Logo, in Spanish language

means I love Elche; again,
inspired in I love New York

Catalonia suggest
the artist Dal
Forest of palm
trees. World
Heritage
UNESCO

A cool glance

-16-

'I amsterdam' is the new motto for Amsterdam. It is the city marketing initiative as
a means for Amsterdam to profile itself assertively on the international arena

Logo in front of
the Rijksmuseum
Picture by
Edwin van Eis

City marketing has been created in co-operation of several public

and private institutions to help position Amsterdam globally.

The Hague (Netherlands) is the

first city in the world with its own musical logo.
The audio logo was revealed to the public for the first time during a City Marketing Conference
The logo of The Hague (Den Haag in Dutch) is a visual combination of the different characteristics
of the city. The wave line symbolises the dunes, as The Hague is a seaside city. The green and
yellow lines are the traditional colours of the city and besides that they represent the parks (green)
and the beaches (yellow) of The Hague. The red dot is actually the city outline. The three lines
inside the square are a reference to the famous painting 'Victory Boogie Woogie' by Piet
Mondriaan, one of the pioneers of abstract painting. The other lines are for completing the square
The Hague properly uses new
communication technologies.
The Peace Palace is shown on
its website and in a version
of the song Viva la Vida,
by the band ColdPlay

'Victory
Boogie
Woogie'
by
Piet
Mondriaan

The Peace Palace houses the

International Court of Justice of
the United Nations

-17-

4. Evolution in the Key Dimension of Cities: from Infrastructures to Values

Once cities reach high levels of development and have largely covered their essential needs in
terms of infrastructure, installations, housing, water and power, health, education, transport and
similar, they tend to move away from phases building up projects for investment in such
infrastructures, towards an emphasis on values emanating from civil society. This is an aspect of
civilization that evolves from the urbs towards the civitas, as it would have been expressed in Latin.
Although the necessary nature of infrastructures is recognized, as cities achieve high standards of
installations, both now and in the future the consideration of values will be of growing importance.
These include education and culture; quality of life and balance with nature; tolerance and social
co-existence; generating energy and enthusiasm among citizens; creativity, creation of an image,
differentiation and leadership with respect to a citys own identities, and even a brand image for a
city, or, to sum up, an adequate marketing of intangibles and non-material aspects. Thus, while
infrastructures are necessary, there comes a time when carrying out further public works will not
always improve the quality of life. They can even become counterproductive when there is excessive
construction to the detriment of the environment.
Some cases of networks of cities concentrating on values can be quote. One very interesting instance is
the network called Cittslow (literally Slow City; figure 3), which started with 26 Italian towns that attempted
to unite economic progress and cutting-edge technology with a Mediterranean quality of life. They called
for a quieter lifestyle than in big cities, one which would protect the environment and preserve the rich
aesthetic heritage of Italian architecture. This would be done by encouraging skilled craftsmen and small
shops, defending Mediterranean cookery traditions and exploring new ways of drawing benefit from
tourism that did not involve massive numbers. This movement has now become a federation of more than
100 cities around the world, which according to the magazine Newsweek is laying the foundations for an
urban transformation after a century marked by speed and acceleration in metropolitan life (Cueto, 2005).
A further example involving city values is the grouping Sustainable Cities based on Aalborg in Denmark,
subscribed to by 85 cities that are committed to environmentally friendly town planning. They encourage
participation by citizens and social equality, plan for energy efficiencies and better public transport, and
minimize the generation of waste and emissions of pollutants.
This evolution away from infrastructures towards values highlights a broader paradigm shift, in
which the economy evolves away from the primary sector towards the tertiary and fourth phase
sectors, this being within the framework of a change from an industrial economy to the information
society (Castells, 1998). In effect, the economy has evolved with changes in peoples lifestyles, with
social developments and in relation to natural resources. In general, stages founded on basic activities like
mining, agriculture and farming are termed the primary phase. After that industry and services develop,
while in the tertiary stage it is the turn of technology and communications. Trade is present in all these
phases.
There have been various interpretations of these changes; one of the most accurate may well be the
views put forward by Verd (2003, 2005). This author calls the final phase of the development fiction
capitalism, following production capitalism and consumption capitalism. The first phase of capitalism
was oriented towards the production of goods, industrial transformation into manufactured items, and
supplying markets with utilitarian products. At a later stage trade and services predominate, with the
thrust of marketing being aimed at sales; attempts are made to communicate the quality of products and
encourage their consumption. According to Verd (2003), the most modern stage should be called
fiction capitalism because it is now no longer just a question of what businesses offer being able to be
sold, but also of it pleasing people. An appeal is made to the emotional and the immaterial. This
development is illustrated in figure 8.
-18-

Figure 8
EVOLUTION AND CHANGES OF THE ECONOMY AND THE MODERN CAPITALISM

CREATIVE ECONOMY,
MARKETING OF VALUES
ANCIENT ECONOMY
Overcoming stages of
subsistence, hunting and
fishing to agriculture,
extraction of raw
materials,
Explorations, discovery
and conquest of new
territories, colonizations,
trade
Social and economic
transactions

PRODUCTION

CONSUMPTION

Industrial revolution

Trade and services.

Technology, information

Manufacturing, industry.
Production technology

Orientation towards sales

and advertising

Orientation towards
output, production.
Supplying markets with
goods

Emphasis on
communicating
features and qualities of
articles, triggering a desire
for material items

Emphasis on the
qualities of the articles
produced, the useful and
real

Creativity, talent, technology,

tolerance, art and culture
Fiction capitalism:
consumption of experiences,
communication and
transmission of values
Winning people over through
their emotions,
create emotional ties
It is a question of selling, but
also pleasing. Appeal is made
to the immaterial and
sensorial; types of fictions
are communicated

It may be asked what implications this socio-economic process has for the evolution of cities,
conceived of as places to live and seen also in their relationships of exchange and trade with those
who seek things from them: citizens, visitors, investors, institutions. Cities rose up as structures of
refuge (Mitchel, 2007), and as sites where trade developed, then later services in modern
economies, and throughout the history of urban settlements cities have been meeting points for
culture in its various differing manifestations. Many historic cities have survived from ancient times
to this day, while many others have disappeared or been transformed.
Figure 9

EVOLUTION OF THE ECONOMIC CONCEPTION OF THE CITY

Ancient cities emerge as
structures of refuge and
protection. Meeting places,
exchange of ideas and
culture, commerce
Origin and development of
architecture and urbanism
Generation of urban
economies: water and energy
supply, waste disposal,
transportation

The city as a system

of interchanges

The city as a place

of production

Centres for trade,

retailing, and services.
Places for buying and
selling

The site for industry

Predominance of labour
relations

Cities are where the

desire to consume is

Cities as a network of
creative connections.
Multiculturalism
The search for quality of life,
urban aesthetics and beauty,
leisure
Cities as objects of
consumption in their own
right
Some cities become brands

In the industrial period, a city was a place where industrial production took place; in it there was a
predominant presence of capital and labour for production. Cities are where trade and services are sited;
they commercialize the wish to consume. At the present day, cities are centres where there are multiple
flows and networks of connections generating innovation and economic progress. In a sense, a city may
be seen as an object of consumption in itself. It is no longer just the place where exchanges are carried
out, but rather is itself an object and subject of them. Additionally, some cities become brands in their own
right, objects for consumption to which people travel, where people wish to live, and which offer
experiences or monuments that can become urban consumption icons. This development is shown in
figure 9.
One city that brings together infrastructures and values is Munich in Germany. In this capital of the region
and of the Federal State or Land of Bavaria, there is a balance and harmony between industries at the
cutting edge of technology (such as BMW or Audi nearby in Ingolstadt, and Siemens), institutions (like the
Government of Bavaria, or the European Patent Office) and traditions and social life, with a good quality of
life, sociability in the beer-gardens, natural surroundings of great beauty (Alpine lakes and mountains). It
was the first large German city to be reconstructed as it had been before the Second World War.
-19-

Figure 10. MUNICH (GERMANY), A CITY THAT COMBINES INFRASTRUCTURE AND VALUES
Entreprises: BMW,
Siemens, Audi (in
Ingolstadt, near Munich)
Top technological
industry
Government
of the region
of Bavaria
European Office
of Patents

Big international
airoport
Fairs and exhibitions

MUNICH
Infrastructures
and equipments

Mass media
(Tv, press,
publishing editorials)

Universities and
research institutes
(i.e. Max Planck)

The breweries outdoors Biergartens,

places of meeting. Oktoberfest: the party
of the Beer of world reputation

MUNICH
Values of the
civil society

Museums:
Deutsches Museum
Alte Pinakothek
Neue Pinakothek
Haus der Kunst

Urban tourism,
Knot of roads of conferences,
of capacity,
business,
high-speed train
leisure
Reconstruction of
Festival of music
Beautiful nature
the historical center
Summer pera
in the southern part
as it was before
Sports: Bayern Munich
Olympic Parc
Alps, lakes
the World War II
Football Club

Munich
and the

beer
Oktoberfest,

the great beer party

The capital of Bavaria,

to the South of Germany,
lives during the summer
in the breweries outdoors
through the prelude of the
great beer party of October

Further examples of cities in the vanguard would include Curitiba in Brazil, which has set up participatory
environmental management; Vancouver in Canada which is a model multicultural city, with a good quality of
life and beautiful surroundings. Others would be Singapore, which is a multicultural Asian City-State, a
financial and communications centre, with one the largest port in the world and a major airport serving
Southeast Asia and Oceania; or Sydney in Australia, which presented itself through the 2000 Olympics as
one of the best and most beautiful cities in the world. Barcelona is cited as a model of town planning; it
brought back into use its sea waterfront thanks to the urban revitalization and promotion brought by the
Olympics in 1992 and the Universal Forum of Cultures in 2004. The modernist or art-deco style associated
with Gaud lends enchantment to the city; it has been chosen as the best city in the world by a programme
that selects the 20 best destinations worldwide under various headings (20 WORLDS TWENTY BEST 2004). The
evolution of the key dimension of cities from infrastructures to values is reflected in figure 11.
Figure 11. EVOLUTION OF THE KEY URBAN DIMENSIONS

Infrastructures

Values

Regeneration and urban renewal

To generate and develop social values

Projects, public works, budgets

Processes of ideas, principles, collective energies

Management by few people (polititians,

administrators, staff officials)

More participatory management

(consensus, cooperation, commitment)
Exchanges with other cities, urban networks

Planning a city; strategic metropolitan plan

Urban regeneration
in Guayaquil (Ecuador)

CittaSlow -slow cities-

-20-

International network of towns to improve quality

of life for citizens and visitors. Is a way of thinking,
and urban philosophy for protecting the
environment, also about promoting local goods,
food and architecture, and avoiding the rushy
urban life that afflicts many towns in the
modern world. There is an assessment
to be admitted as a city member

If values are becoming the new key factors in the pattern of urban development, creativity, talent and
tolerance stand out as generators of economic progress.

5. The Rise of the Creative Economy. Creative Cities Worldwide.

One of the most innovative works in the theory of economic development is The Flight of the Creative
Class: The New Global Competition for Talent, by Richard Florida (2005). This author puts forward the
view that the terms of worldwide competition are no longer grounded in natural resources, the direction
taken by industrial production, or military domination, but rather that the decisive factors in the creation of
wealth and economic progress will lie more and more in the ability of countries, regions and especially
cities to generate and attract creative talent. It is on this that leading international economic positions will
be based. For this author the keys are three features beginning with T: technology, talent and tolerance.
This author argues that technology and talent have been recognized by economists as key factors in
economic development, but that extra synergies in progress and wealth arise when these flows in
movement have added to them creativity in places that offer conditions of tolerance toward social
openness and human diversity. In cities where people of diverse origins come together, they form a
hotbed that produces economic growth and technological innovation. When a city is a meeting point for a
range of socio-cultural interchanges, arising from a diversity of human types, from people from different
places, bringing varying cultural outlooks and lifestyles, if this wealth is brought together in an atmosphere
of tolerance, then these forces will combine positively and generate creativity that translates into progress.
Generally it is in multicultural cities where there are more sources of creative inspiration. These are places
where differences are not just tolerated, but rather people are included by integrating them proactively.
Florida states that various studies confirm that places that are open to emigrants, artists, the gay community,
or bohemians of all sorts, and where there is racial and socio-economic integration, there is a stronger
positive correlation with high-quality economic growth.
The approach adopted to confront problems, creativity and adaptability may vary between the natives of
one country and those of others, so that, when they mingle, their contacts may bring about learning on
both sides. Florida cites as an example the arrival in the United States of people as different as, for
instance, an Italian stylist, a Mexican cook or a Russian dancer, who bring with them differing views on life.
This variety adds richness, provides a range of shadings and produces synergies that increase the value
of production in the economy. Indeed, the United States historically has welcomed people from many
places, immigrant workers but also scientists such as Albert Einstein or Enrico Fermi who fled from
Fascism in Europe, raising the standards of research and contributing decisively to the development of the
atom bomb by that country. This author muses on the social evolution of the United States and the West
as a whole. He states that the original American dream was to have a good job, educate ones children,
save, buy a house and attain security. However, once the middle classes gradually achieved these
targets in terms of work and material goods, there began to arise artistic movements or creations that
symbolized a certain rebelliousness, freedom, attraction, even eroticism. Hence the appearance in the
cinema of idols like James Dean (Rebel without a Cause), or Marlon Brando (A Streetcar Named Desire),
or, in music, rock and roll and pop with stars like Elvis Presley, the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. These
are aspects showing the evolution in social motivations, from mere subsistence and seeking to earn
money, towards aspirations to creativity and personal self-realization.
According to the author in question, enterprises have always looked for the best talents; the difference is
that nowadays instead of bring these talents to their own bases, businesses are setting up facilities where
the talent already exists. There is a small but growing number of highly skilled workers who first seek the
city or urban area in which they want to reside and after that look for employment. Florida mentions the
revitalization of SoHo in New York or the SoMa zone in San Francisco; areas which after suffering decline
took on a new lease of life with the arrival of artists, immigrants and creative people settling into empty
-21-

factory and warehouse buildings, followed by gay and unmarried folk, then later families, urban
professionals (yuppies and similar categories); technological companies and small shops gave a final
consolidating touch in these districts. There are firms that gain additional advantages from the fact that
they are located in a given place, particularly when this implies attracting talent. It is not just a question of
creating employment: people seek work but also keep in mind in what location this work is situated.
Successful places take the shape of complex, multisided ecosystems, like those to be found in the natural
world. Among them are cities in environments that do not just provide work but offer the crucial conditions
for residing with a high quality of life: the ability to find like-minded people and friends, pleasant
surroundings, in some cases being in areas of great beauty. These are attractions that permit people to a
build a life of the style they wish, taking all these features as a whole.
Economic and business thinking and strategic analyses have gradually evolved. In general the dominant
line of thought in the 1980s was to investigate inside companies, gauging strengths and capacities, while
studies of nations and regions concentrated essentially on national economic policy. After having
introduced the concepts of strategies and competitive advantages in the 1980s, Michael Porter concluded
in the 1990s that a large portion of the competitive advantages enjoyed by firms did not lie within them, or
even necessarily in their sector; but was to be found in their geographical sitting or location: nations and
regions, but especially cities and urban areas. In other words, a considerable part of a businesss chances
of success may depend on whether it is located in a particular city or region.
This is a wide-ranging and dynamic theory of the enterprise. It is wide-ranging through not being restricted
to the internal features of enterprises and dynamic because it can evolve over time. The globalization of
the economy has contributed decisively to expand the internal zone of businesses by increasing the
availability of production factors to a larger number of countries. This focuses the capacity for
improvement not so much on internal processes or on vertical integration within the firm as on the quality
of the economic environment. In certain geographical locations, notably cities and metropolitan zones,
accumulations or clusters arise, geographically dense groupings of enterprises and institutions with shared
characteristics, networks of creative connections. Porter states that the majority of the members of these
clusters or networks of businesses do not compete directly with one another, but target different sectors, in
accordance with the strategic groupings that form, and hence share many common characteristics.
Geographical proximity brings them closer to production factors like access to suppliers, technology,
information and personal communication with other enterprises and institutions. In this way relationships
of shared interest and consciousness arise, networks of civic commitment, of capital and social adhesion.
A collective reputation grows up and joint marketing can be brought into operation. This was how the
technological vanguard formed in the famous Silicon Valley in California and in Austin in Texas. A similar
process led to the concentration of the chemical industry in south-western Germany around Freiburg, with
its university dating back to the Middle Ages, and in the northern cantons of Switzerland near Basel; the
high positioning car industry in Stuttgart and Munich, or the cinema in Hollywood.
While huge countries like China or India are certainly going to become great political or economic powers,
if considered from an aggregate or macroeconomic standpoint, their advantages will come more from a
capacity for low-cost industrial production than from leadership in core managerial skills. According to R.
Florida, world economic leadership will lie in the hands of small European countries, such Finland,
Sweden, Denmark, Holland and Ireland, or English-speaking countries like Canada, Australia or New
Zealand, which are able to combine a capacity for technological excellence with the ability to attract
creative talent from round the world. Hence, although the large countries like India and China are building
up technologically advanced cities such as Bangalore in India or great commercial and financial
metropolises such as Shanghai in China, as are other emergent states such as Brazil, with its economic
centre in Sao Paulo, the true vanguard will be found in the leading-edge cities in the former countries.
These will be cities such as Helsinki in Finland, with Nokia leading research into telecommunications,
-22-

Dublin, concentrating the economic and technological growth of Ireland, Vancouver as a Canadian city
that is multicultural and offers a good quality of life, Sydney or Melbourne as the front runners in Australia,
or Florianopolis or Curitiba as improved alternatives to the sprawling Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
They may also include Singapore and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia as multicultural Asian cities, centres for
trade and finance, but of a more balanced size than the overgrown and chaotic Bombay or Calcutta in
India, Karachi in Pakistan, Jakarta in Indonesia, Manila in the Philippines, or Bangkok in Thailand.
The true cause for the flourishing of these cities is their capacity to combine technology with talent and
tolerance. According to Florida it is possible to identify in the United States cities that bring all three
together. There is San Francisco and its nexus of San Jose, Silicon Valley and the universities at Stanford
or Berkeley; Boston with Harvard or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); or Seattle con
Microsoft and computing, and Boeing the aeronautics industry. All three are open, multicultural, tolerant
cities. Cities with one or two of these three variables would include Pittsburgh or Cleveland, which have
excellent universities with a good research record, but have little attraction for people of diverse sorts; or
Miami, which attracts immigrants, especially South Americans, and is a showcase for a lifestyle related to
sunshine and good weather in beautiful coastal surroundings, but has little technological capacity and few
people involved in this field and in research.
At a world level, it is possible to distinguish, on the one hand, Asian cities which are becoming outstanding
technologically but have relatively little diversity and tolerance. Examples are Bangalore in India, Seoul in
South Korea, Taipei in Taiwan, Shanghai in China and Tel-Aviv in Israel with its geopolitical conflicts. Only
Singapore would escape this trend. It is a city-state and former British colony where communities of
Chinese, Indian and Malay origin live, together with westerners. Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia,
also presents a diversity of cultures, races and religions in an Asian context. On the other hand, mention
may be made of avant-garde, multicultural cities, basically English-speaking, in countries formerly
colonized by Great Britain, which offer good levels of tolerance and security, without the racial conflicts and
inequalities of many cities in the United States. These include cities with surroundings of natural beauty:
Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, Vancouver and Toronto in Canada, Wellington and Auckland in New
Zealand, Cape Town in South Africa. Florida explains the curious case of Wellington and how it was the
place where the Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed, attracting many people related to the world of the
cinema, its special effects, graphic design, and similar. This tendency was strengthened later when the
director Peter Jackson brought the production of the new version of King Kong to the city. All this
encourages the development of creative industries, just as the saga of Star Wars by George Lucas gave
an impulse to the development of videogames and cinema marketing in California.
The new cities that mark trends in the world are setting their influence and marketing through the
following dimensions (International Conference of Metropolitan Capital Regions; Madrid, 2006).

Managerial
dynamism

Political and
economic power

Figure 12

Key dimensions of
influence and attraction
of the metropolitan
cities

Culturalcreative

Leisure and
Tourism

The creative cultural dimension is based on elements of intangible culture, with large interrelationships, as can
be seen in figure 13.
-23-

Sydney 2000

-24-

Salzburg
Prague Wagner,

Mozart-

rallye of Montecarlo

Monaco Formula 1

J.Joyce, S.Becket

F.Kafka

Munich
Brussels
Dublin
Prague

Beers:

Dublin

Prague

Wines:

DRINKS

Bordeaux (France),
La Rioja (Spain),
GASTRONOMY
Tuscany (Italy)

Whisky:
Scotland

W. Shakespeare

MUSEUMS

Van Gogh, Amsterdam

Beirut, Baghdad
Wars in the Middle East

Medelln, Cali
Drug traffic, crime

Bayreuth
Elvis Presley
Rum (cocktails): Spanish
Verdi
Verona
Ham
La Habana
Liverppol- ARTISTS Carlos Gardel
Rio
Janeiro
Opera Samba, Bossa Nova
Bob
Buenos
Beatles
Tango
Marley
Aires
MedellnMUSIC
New Orleans Jazz
Jamaica
Juanes,
Salvador
Reggae
Hiroshima
F.Botero
de BahaVienna
SicilyMafia;
atomic
bomb
Carlinhos Brown Michelangelo,
Classical
NapoliCamorra
Picasso
Leonardo da Vinci,
music
Belfast
Mlaga,
Negative reputation
Florence
Barcelona Andy Wharhol
conflict
Renaissance
of Ulster
wars, crime
Pittsburgh

Memphis,
Las Vegas

Americas
Cup -Sailing-

Valencia

(book and film)

H. Hemingway

Carnival
Rio de Janeiro,
Salvador de Bahia
New Orleans,
Venice

Horse race

Siena

Sanfermines

Pamplona
POPULAR
CELEBRATIONS

Stratford-upon-Avon
Verona

The Da Vinci Code

La Habana

Paris

(beer party)

CorleoneThe Godfather LITERATURE

Notting Hill

Tour of France (final stage),

Roland Garros-tennis
Wimbledon
Olympic Games
tennis
Barcelona
1992
SPORTS

Paris

film Casino

Las Vegas

TV series CSi Las Vegas

Munich

Fallas
Oktoberfest

Valencia

New York
The Godfather,
Manhattan,
King Kong, etc

London

CINEMA and
TELEVISION

Los Angeles

Las Vegas

Roman Holiday
La Dolce Vita

Rome

Hollywood

Elements of intangible culture that give international reputation and promote a city

Figure 13

Conclusions
It is in cities where the multiple interchanges of the new world socio-economic order flow together. At the
same time they are becoming subjects or products for consumption, brand-names with identities and
values. To manage the complexity arising from modern relations between what urban areas can supply
and the various demands made on them by people and institutions, cities are increasingly adopting
marketing approaches. The progress of cities has moved away from the economic aspects of
industry and infrastructures towards an emphasis on values, creativity and intangible cultural
elements.
Recently successful cities around the world tend to be of a moderate and balanced size, bringing together
economic development and quality of life, proactively integrating people of different sorts, accepting a
multicultural nature as a treasure leading to cultural and artistic creativity, which translates into social and
economic progress. They are cities in which urban life harmonizes with the natural surroundings: indeed,
many are set in areas of great beauty. They care about town planning, and urban design and aesthetics.
Marketing as a management philosophy can aid in becoming aware of and orientating the needs of
citizens, tourists, and sources of investment. It can develop offers adapted to the needs of these groups
and ensure adequate promotion and communication. Marketing in the broader sense can also provide
those institutions related to cities, such as councils, businesses, or states, with a conceptual framework,
bringing together approaches from various fields, like town planning, sociology, environmental protection
and culture, such as to identify the competitive advantages of a city. It can seek out creative ways of
differentiating it, create values of tolerance, multicultural integration, balance with nature, and excellence in
physical configuration and urban landscapes. At the same time that they need to be better places to live,
cities are becoming products competing among themselves, brands and items for consumption in
accordance with their identities.

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