Branding...

City Branding
Sren Smidt-Jensen Urban & Landscape Studies Forest & Landscape Denmark

City Branding - a tool for change?

Sren Smidt-Jensen Urban & Landscape Studies Forest & Landscape Denmark

 What is branding? What is place-branding? What is city-branding?

 Is city-branding relevant for SMC? Is it particulary relevant for cities in transition (cities searching for or achieving a new role)

 What kind of branding, placemarketing, image-building, identity-building is taking place in the MECIBS cities? What experiences have been made?

What is brandning?
A proces that makes it possible to sell a product to new customers, and also still can be sold to old customers This takes place by having a clear and consciuos profile, that creates an emotional image, and by using marketing and advertising finds new and old loyal customers The brand is the whole entity of the product, and the STORY about the product

What is brandning?
Something more than just marketing Adding stories, values, emotions, pictures to a product (or building it into it)

Place brandning
Country branding City branding City-area branding (Tourist) Destination branding

City brandning
A proces that makes it possible to sell a city (or city products) to new customers, and also still can be sold to old customers (e.g. old inhabitants, investors, cityproduct buyers) Something more than just city-marketing Adding stories, values, emotions, pictures to a city
dig up old stories about the city create new stories, fairytales building it into the city, fx also in the urban space

Branding MECIBS cities

Randers and Nykping Pskov, Nakskov, Jterbog, Herning-Ikast-Brande, Lappenranta

Branding Randers
City of violence City of scandals A city that has lost its identity

Branding Randers
Persuading people to stay in Randers (not so much about selling Randers to outsiders, mainly people in rhus) Needs to get beyond the (post-)industrialisation image Citizens should be proud of the city again - they have lost their faith in constructive dialogue because of scandals at Laksetorvet

 Is it necessary to brand Randers when we could use the money for a lot of other things, especially now when we need to cut spendings in the municipality budget? To my mind it is of great importance not to stop development in a period when you need to save money. When the bonds are tightening, when we feel economic pressure more than usual, creativity and new ways of thinking is perhaps more important than ever, and a need to profile Randers internally and externally. (Mayor of Randers, Michael Aastrup Jensen).
Speech at the citizen meeting in Randers 09-12-03 where the branding-campaign was presented.

[Involvement of the residents] that is the most important, that this will be a project where all inhabitants are involved 100%. I hope that this will result in that all citizens are good ambassadors of the city. (Mayor of Randers, Michael Aastrup Jensen).
Speech at the conference Branding, Urban Identity and Housing Politics, Randers, 27-11-03.

Branding Nykping
In-house model - the municipality has a marketing department Branding campaign to attract new inhabitants from Stockholm Co-branding with Ryanair

Branding Nykping
Co-branding: Ryanair & Nykping 55-mio SEK aggreement (10 years)

Branding Nykping
The co-operation with Ryanair has opened the door to an enormous European market.The deal is an investment in Nykpings future. 200 jobs today, 1000 jobs tomorrow is just the beginning of a fantastic development.
(Gran Forsberg, Mayor, Nykping).

Today, the Ryanair-brand is worth several millions that Nykping now has the chance to hook up on.
(Ulf Dahlqvist, Director of Information & Marketing, Nykping Municipality).

Branding Nykping
Nykping - the attractive alternative (to Stockholm) Newspaper adds in STK papers Adds at housing/real estate websites A special website presenting Nykping as a place to live (with added life-value) Open city activities

Branding opposition
Branding! Just the word shines of advertising, and more or less conscious attempts to blow up things to look better than they are. [In the branding-report on Randers made by ElevenDanes] Randers is compared with a 50 year old man, who drinks cheap red-wine. I would prefer not to have that predicate pulled down over a city that I very much like to live in. What is the point of all this besides entertainment?
(Uffe Thorsen, member of Randers City Council for Beboerlisten).

Useful city-branding?
City-branding seems to be increasingly necessary, also for SMCs Potentially, it can expand the reach of the city, and cityprodcuct, outwards Searching for city stories, city values, city pictures (images) and city visions, can be especially relevant for cities that have lost their identity during a phase of transition (Inward-branding) It can create joining visions (and missions), and bring citizens and local actors together - but it can also create split-visions How much resources (money!) should be used, and is it necessary for all SMC?

City Branding
Sren Smidt-Jensen Urban & Landscape Studies Forest & Landscape Denmark

City Branding
Sren Smidt-Jensen Urban & Landscape Studies Forest & Landscape Denmark