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The ingredients that constitute a city’s identity in the general public discourse are manifold.

A city-identity has usually evolved over decades or centuries, shaped by historical events – or the

lack thereof. Historical events, the political and economic history, sporting triumphs, disasters,

famous and infamous sons and daughters, the products made in a city, cultural institutions and the

city milieu are all among the essential ingredients contributing to a city’s identity. Indeed, a city may

have not just one but many identities.

A city brand is more than a mere slogan or an

ad campaign; rather, it represents the totality

of thoughts, feelings, associations and expectations

that come to mind when a prospect or

customer is exposed to an entity’s name, logo,

products, services, events, or any design or

symbol representing them.

City Brand

Features:

Economic

Cultural

Personal

Physical

Aspiration

deceit

As globalisation and competition among cities

and regions in the Baltic Sea Region intensifies,

many local decision-makers choose to

strengthen place-promoting activities. Today,

tourist destinations and major cities are not

alone in recognizing the potential in placemarketing,

city branding and major cultural

events as means to strengthen their competitive

position. Increasingly, municipalities of

medium sized cities engage in these activities

as a response to the new challenges they are

facing.

Below, the case of Nyköping in Sweden

shows how city branding can enhance the

competitive position of a medium sized city in

the housing and tourist market in a metropolitan

region, while the example of Randers

in Denmark shows how an internal focused

branding campaign has been set up to give the

citizens a more positive belief in the future

perspectives for their city.

The processes of globalization and economic

transition challenge not only the economic

foundation, but also the identity and image of

local communities throughout the Baltic Sea

Region. For a medium sized city the sudden

loss of a major employer can be a blow, not

only in terms of lost jobs, but also in terms of

a lost identity. Especially small and medium

sized cities owe their identity to one or a few

local companies. When an important employer

moves away citizens often feel that a part of

the city’s »soul« disappears. Of course, this is

particularly pronounced among former employees

and their families.

Besides the loss of jobs, economic restructuring

usually marks a city with empty buildings

and brown-fields screaming for revitalisation.

This, added to a lack of investments, high unemployment

and out-migration, may result in

a state of collective depression and a loss of

hope for better times. This may give the city a

negative image. As the case of Randers shows,

(below) it is extremely difficult to get rid of

such an image once it has been created, even if

conditions in the city actually improve. A negative

city image is »sticky«, not just for outsiders,

but also for the citizens themselves.

Regional enlargement is another process

that put many medium sized cities in a new

position and, hence, in search for a new role

and identity. Some of the mechanisms that

have spurred this competition are improvements

of physical infrastructure and improved

mobility hereof, as well as the escalating housing

prices in metropolitan cores. This process

intensifies the competition among cities in

metropolitan regions, especially as regards the

housing market.

Around the Nordic metropolises it has become

common that cities try to build themselves

as brands in order to become the residential

city of preference for people searching

for alternatives in the metropolitan housing

market. These cities try to define a sharp profile

and make a great effort to ensure a consistent

communication about the city. In this

way they hope to obtain a distinct position in

the market with a clear city brand. For the

»average« medium sized city in a metropolitan

region producing a sharper profile and promotion

in various media (typically newspapersads,

TV-commercials, internet-banners, etc)

may be a necessary fee to pay in order to get

more attention than neighbouring cities from

potential residents.

The city brand, however, requires real action:

A spectacular development project like a

new major indoor arena for top cultural and

sporting events may send the positive signals

to the outer world that the city offers outstanding

entertainment, that it is ambitious and

that it has resources. A strong political line in

environmental issues and a support for the

local Agenda 21 work may signal environmentally

consciousness and a strong commitment

for public participation on different issues.

Indeed, such kind of »real action« and »city

values« are important for building a city brand

as well.

Straightforward city marketing is about selling

a city on measurable and tangible assets such

as physical infrastructure, location, nature,

public services and the level of taxation. Indeed,

place promotion hardly represents a new phenomenon.

For example, in the 1850s in USA,

place-selling became a distinct feature of

attracting settlers to the new frontier areas of

the »Wild West«. Nor is it a new phenomenon

in the Baltic Sea Region, not even among

medium sized cities. Randers in Denmark

launched one of the first marketing campaigns

for a Danish city in 1932, accompanied by the

slogan »Randers – where the sea route meets

13 roads«. Today most cities market their

tangible assets in e.g. newspapers, their website

and they produce various forms of information

material about this for the citizens and

tourist – this is standard.

City branding as a method of place promotion,

however, is of more recent date and it

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differs from straightforward city marketing.

City branding is about adding an emotional

level to the image of a city and about promoting

intangible qualities, e.g. the »soul« and

»values« of a city, as well as the »feeling« or

»mood« one experiences when visiting or living

in the city. Successfully established, a city

brand will be the totality of thoughts, feelings,

associations and expectations that come to

mind when a city’s name, logo, products, services,

events or any design or symbol representing

a city, is somehow exposed.

City branding is particularly relevant for

cities competing in markets where consumers

not only make their choices based on prices,

but to a considerable degree make their

choices based on emotions; a soft factor.

This is often the case in suburban housing

markets where the »products« are more or less

the same. City branding, however, is less relevant

for cities competing in markets ruled by

the price-factor. These cities have to promote

factors like a low tax-level, cheap labour force

and land, smooth municipal administration,

etc.

When the first signs of a massive increase of

housing prices in Stockholm could be noticed

and a massive increase in commuting in the

Stockholm region began in the late 1990s, a

strong belief in promoting Nyköping as a residential

town for people working in Stockholm

got hold of local decision makers. Since

then, the decision makers in Nyköping –

situated about 75 km from Stockholm and

hosting close to 50,000 inhabitants – have

been convinced that developing and promoting

Nyköping as an attractive place to live is

more important for the city than trying to

attract new companies and jobs.

Today it is acknowledged that Nyköping

has developed into an integrated part of Greater

Stockholm despite the rather peripheral position

in the metropolitan region. It has also

been realised that benefiting from this situation

requires that the city is able to stand out

from its competitors in the regional housing

market. Thus, it has become crucial to reach

for the »point of difference« where people

choose Nyköping instead of a neighbouring

town. One precondition for making this happen

has been spending time and resources on

changing the outer world's perception of

Nyköping. The city simply needed to replace

the former image of a »civil servant town«

(Nyköping hosts several public administration

offices including the county administration of

Sörmland) with an image of a city with living

conditions beyond what an average Swedish

town offers.

Today, Nyköping is regarded as a pioneer

among medium sized cities in Sweden when it

comes to city branding. The anonymous city

image has been transformed into a sharp city

brand. The three core qualities of the town –

the good life, the sea and limitlessness – are

displayed in advertisements in various Swedish

media, e.g. Stockholm-newspapers, life-style

magazines and websites for housing and living.

The aim of the various campaigns launched

by the municipality is to draw the attention

of potential residents, especially from Stockholm.

The City Council regards this task to

be of such importance that a permanent marketing

department with an annual budget of

above 5 million Swedish kroner (ca 0.5 million

Euro) has been established.

Besides promoting the town as a residential

alternative to Stockholm, Nyköping has received

plentiful attention since the municipality

signed a ten-year co-branding agreement

with Ryan Air, an air travel company using

the Skavsta Airport just outside Nyköping as

their gateway to Stockholm. For the price of

55 million Swedish kroner (ca 6 million Euro),

the city of Nyköping gets e.g. a banner on the

Ryan Air website, advertising material in the

aircraft seat-pockets, and www.nykoping.se is

written on the outside of the aircrafts flying to

and from Nyköping. Of course, the intention

is to make the Nyköping brand unavoidable

for passengers flying with Ryan Air, many of

whom are Stockholmers. Furthermore, the

hits on the official Nyköping website have increased

more than 200% since the banner was

first placed on the Ryan Air website. The media

attention that Nyköping has been getting

after signing the agreement with Ryan Air, has

Attracting Ryan Air to Nyköping in the

first place happened after the city in the late

1990’s chose to sell the majority of shares in

the municipal owned airport to a foreign private

investor developing secondary airports

close to metropolitan centres. Ryan Air was

the first low-budget company to use the airport

which later has expanded considerably,

physically as well as in terms of passengers and

flight-companies using the airport. Today

numerous flight-companies, mainly low-budget

companies, use it and the airport is currently

the fastest growing airport in Sweden

and one of the fastest growing airports in

Europe.

Today, after 2-3 years of intensive marketing

the municipality has one of the highest numbers

of in-movers in the Stockholm region,

especially in-movers belonging to the target

group – 25-35 years old and +55 years old.

Many of them move into new attractive housing

areas close to the bay and in the former

harbour area in central Nyköping. Many newcomers

are from Stockholm and still work

there. Today there are about 800 daily commuters

from Nyköping to Stockholm by train,

while just a couple of years ago one could feel

quite lonesome standing on the platform

Furthermore, the local tourist-industry in

Nyköping has grown with more than 55%

from 2002 to 2004, mainly because of the

growth of the Skavsta airport. In 2004, the

industry had a turnover of 804 million SEK

and employed approximately 580 persons and

the numbers are increasing. Further, the retail

sector in Nyköping is booming. Now you

hear foreign languages spoken in the streets

of Nyköping, and Rosvalla Event Centre

– the new publicly financed major indoor

arena – has hosted several major cultural and

sporting events which have had much media

attention.

Not only has this apparent success in promoting

Nyköping meant a boost for the city

in economic terms and in the physical development

of the city. It has also meant a lot for

civic pride. Of course, there are other reasons

to why Nyköping has had this success, but the

intensive marketing of Nyköping – as a residential

town as well as a town for short touristvisits

– has without doubt been one precondition

for the success.

»Find the soul of the city. Find the values and

the vision that can serve as the foundation for

the development of the city in the years to

come. Find ways to strengthen the identity of

the city and create a profile that symbolizes

Randers for its citizens, the business community

and the outside world«.

This was the assignment given to the consultant

asked to brand Randers in 2003. The

strategy chosen by the City Council to fulfil

this assignment has been an inward focused

branding project.

For many years, Randers has represented a

»perplexed city without any self-conceit«, as a

board of 25 selected Randrusians expressed in

an attempt at articulating the soul of the city

and the reason for the identity- and imagecrisis

disturbing the city.

A series of political scandals towards the end

of the 1990s is one of the reasons why citizens

in Randers have had troubles with their city

identity and were generally not proud of coming

from Randers. Here, the former mayor

was heavily criticized because a number of

municipal employees were fired on what was

said to be questionable grounds. Consequently,

widespread mistrust in the local political sy-

stem and city administration took hold of the

Randrusians, and belief in constructive

dialogue was consequently undermined.

Furthermore, Randers has had an image as a

»city of violence«, among other things because

of a significant media focus on a range of incidents

of street violence and because Hells

Angels have a stronghold in the city. In spite

that statistics refute that Randers is more

violent than other cities of similar size, many

inhabitants, especially families with children,

feel unsafe in Randers.

Moreover, the closure of identity-creating

factories such as the Thor Brewery and Randers

Rope also brought into question the

identity of Randers as »an industrial city«.

In sum, there were several reasons why Randers

had been heading for an identity crisis for

many years. The previously proud self-concept

as a successful industrial and commercial city

gradually slipped into »Randers, an industrial

city in crisis, plagued by violence and scandals

«. A post-industrial city identity was required.

Today, the former city emblem has been

placed in the background in favour of a new

symbol for the city – an »R« partly shaped by

11 city »soul-markers«, many of which date

back prior to Randers’ industrial history. This

R now appears on all kinds of municipal products

and properties and it is also presented in

various forms in the public space, e.g. painted

on spots in the pedestrian area of inner Randers.

On the official Randers Municipality

website a design manual explains the colours

that the R should be depicted in and how

local organizations and enterprises may cobrand

their own logo with the R.

Furthermore, Randers has developed a set

of values which citizens, politicians and municipal

employees are urged to follow – a set of

corporate values for the city. Among them is a

guideline for how to behave when participating

in public debate:

»We want to have an open dialogue, where

anyone can state their opinion, and where the

tone of debate is such that one is chasing the

ball and not the man, and where dialogue

prevails over monologue«.

Randers also has a »branding think tank« consisting

of the Mayor, three City Council

members, and five local business leaders. This

group comes up with suggestions for the City

Council on how to develop and exploit the

new city brand in the best possible manner.

Until now, the group has proposed a

thorough conversion of large parts of the

harbour area in order to make Randers the

»trade city full of experiences«. Here, city conversion

is being closely connected to the newly

designed brand. At the same time, the idea is

to use the conversion of the harbour area to

further develop the new city brand.

Together with the already existing attractions

like the indoor Randers Rainforest, built

in 1996, the harbour area may very well turn

into a regional centre of the experience economy

and as such add to the new city brand for

Randers.

It is important to stress that cities are more

complex than companies and that there are

several considerations to be made when it

comes to setting up a branding strategy for a

city compared to a company. First, a city

branding process run by a municipality is to a

degree subordinated to law, which makes the

scope for action limited. Secondly, a city consists

of competing actors who need to cooperate

and understand the possibilities by standing

together, at least throughout a branding

campaign. And third, a city has a higher social

responsibility than a company. Local decision

makers cannot just think of profit, but also

needs to think of providing welfare.

What is perhaps the most important outcome

of city branding – whether external or

internal focused – is that it often sets off a

process of reflection of what kind of city the

city used to be, what kind of city it is at present

and what kind of city it should be in the

future. It is a process where a city’s identity,

history, soul and values, prides and shames,

and of course aspirations can be reflected

upon.

A thorough process of reflection, however,

requires that the entire community participates

in the process, not just politicians, civil

servants and consultants, but also local organisations,

firms and citizens. As expressed by the

Mayor of Randers, city branding is about initiating

a process in which multiple groups and

interests in the local community participate

and express their voices regarding the kind of

city they would like to have:

»Branding is primarily about initiating

things, getting the good ideas and thinking

the right thoughts. To figure out what you

want to put your focus on, and what you

don’t want to put your focus on. To find the

inherent soul of the city – and, very importantly:

to do something. Branding is not just

about telling how great you are. It is about

focusing on the things you are good at, and

taking concrete measures that improve the

city. Listening to the citizens about what they

think of their city. What they feel is good and

City branding is particularly relevant for cities

competing on markets where consumers not

only make their choices based on prices, but

to a considerable degree make their choices

based on emotions and soft factors. This is

Sea Facility) and the Danish Organisation for International Co-operation.

(1) understanding urban restructuring based on comparative and concrete examples, (2) forming recommendations for the interplay between local and

national strategies based upon a bottom up process, (3) forming recommendations within an integrated perspective on economic, environmental and social

development and (4) forming a network of medium sized cities to facilitate exchange of experiences and mutual learning.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry Herning-Ikast-Brande; Centre for Forest, Landscape and Planning, KVL (lead partner); Dep. of Marketing, Southern

Denmark University; Dep. of Geography, University of Copenhagen; SWEDEN: Municipality of Nyköping; Dep. of Regional Planning, Royal Institute of

Technology; FINLAND: Municipalities of Salo, Kokkola and Lappeenranta; Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, Helsinki University of Technology;

NORDIC COUNTRIES: Nordic Centre for Spatial Development, Nordregio, Stockholm;

Kronstadt and Pskov; Leontief Centre, Sct. Petersburg; ESTONIA: Municipality of Sillamäe; Public Science Academy; LATVIA: Municipalities of Valka,

Kuldiga and Bauska; Department of Geography, University of Latvia, Riga; POLAND: Municipality of Chojnice; University of Gdansk.

Lead partner

Rolighedsvej 23, 1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark

Tel: +45 3528 1500, e-mail: SL@kvl.dk

Medium Sized Cities in Dialogue

around the Baltic Sea

European Commission

ISBN 87-7903-226-5 Structural Funds

Municipality of Nyköping, personal communication,

March 2005

June 2005

often the case in suburban housing markets

where the »products« are more or less the

same. Thus, cities who wish to gain market

shares in these kinds of markets should consider

adding an emotional level in their promotion

work – to make the city into a brand.

Cities competing on markets ruled by the

price-factor should tailor their promotion

efforts in a different manner, e.g. highlighting

an attractive geographical location, low taxlevel,

cheap labour-force, smooth municipal

administration, etc.

Using internal city branding as a way to

strengthen the self-perception of the citizens

and their pride should be considered in cities

in transition marked by collective depression

and loss of faith in endogenous resources to

change things to the better. Crucial for this

process to succeed is »positive re-focusing« –

focus should be kept on the existing positive

and valuable local assets and on how they can

be developed further.

A sense of ownership to a city brand is necessary

for internal branding to succeed. Citizens

must be able to relate to the symbols and stories

that build the city brand. Citizens should have

the opportunity to contribute throughout the

brand-building process, especially in the

process of finding the soul, values and

aspirations for the city.

If a city only focuses on marketing instead of

embedding the brand-values among its citizens

as well as companies and local organisations,

there is a risk of divergence between the

real experience that e.g. a tourist or new inhabitants

get of the town, and what has been

»promised« in the branding campaign. If the

promise is »openness« and »dynamics« and the

experience is a closed local community

without activities, then the city is a disappointment.

A strong city brand needs to be thought

of holistically – the entire city is the brand.

City branding requires long-term commitment

on the grounds that it involves longterm

effort that yields incremental results. A

precondition for successful city branding,

therefore, is that decision-makers are not

merely seeking short-term results.

A competent »in-house agency« in the city administration

is important in the implementation

phase of a city brand. If branding is to

succeed, it is important that the persons working

with branding and marketing are high

skilled in communications and marketing.

Municipalities ought to take notice of the

need to explain to their own citizens why and

how city marketing proceeds and how money

is being invested in the external marketing of

the city. This can be done e.g. in public meetings

or local newspapers, providing information

about the activities taking place.

City branding ought to be accompanied by

real action, e.g. urban development projects,

activities to improve the inner city environment

or training in hospitality for people

working in the retail and tourism sector.

Show it, don’t just tell it.