challenges and opportunities for russian city brands

Keith Dinnie, PhD

Head of Destination Branding Group

Breda University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands

Branding nations, cities, and regions

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Complexity of city brands

Wide range of stakeholders

A spectrum of fundamentally different target audiences

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1. Sustainability of the city brand a) Adequate budget allocation

b) Long term commitment

c) Specific objectives

2. Sustainability of the city itself a) Creating new green spaces within urban

environments

b) Roof gardens, vertical gardens, rivers and urban bays

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Clarifying identity and image

Importance of tangible evidence

Hosting events

Partnership working

Creativity, innovation and boldness

Repositioning the city brand

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Domestic and international markets

Internationally, Russian cities can offer something new and exciting to potential audiences

Little existing awareness of cities except Moscow, Saint Petersburg and more recently Sochi (Winter Olympics)

Architecture, cuisine, cultural events

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A brand partnership should be taken

seriously as the main body that is tasked with

developing, implementing and managing the

brand of an area, a city, a region or a country

When this is the case, it is essential that the

partnership is effective and does not waste

time infighting with other institutions or

plastering the city with logos or slogans

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Inclusive and representative

Long term commitment

Shared vision

Trusting each other

Communicate progress and achievements

Willingness to evaluate impact and effectiveness

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Destination Edinburgh Marketing Alliance (DEMA), a multi-stakeholder organisation

Edinburgh ‘Inspiring Capital’ Brand launched May 2005

£1.8m invested in Brand over five year period 2003 to 2008

Promoting Edinburgh globally as a place to visit, invest, live, work and study

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Visit

•The world’s greatest stage for the world’s

greatest festival

•Boutique city – high class, independent,

human scale

•You’ll never have the same experience twice

•Real, authentic people and place

Invest

•A global financial centre

•Knowledge & R&D = innovation capital

•‘In good company’ (with the world’s most

successful companies)

•Creative, competitive, & connected

• A skilled - talented workforce

Live & Work

•A dynamic career in one of the most liveable

cities in the world

•An active city embracing world class

heritage, culture and sport

•Compact and cosmopolitan

•Full of green spaces and with easy reach of

countryside

•A place to love and raise your family

Study

•World class academic pedigree

•Graduate job opportunities in a diverse

knowledge economy

•Vibrant, friendly student life

•Compact and accessible

•Culturally diverse

‘Knowing our customers’ - market intelligence

Maximisation of digital platforms for building customer database, relationships and communication

Leading destination promotional messaging and cross-selling

Building effective collaboration, facilitating and co-ordinating

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Selection process for citizen ambassador programmes: Who should be invited to participate? How to reach those individuals?

Role specification for citizen ambassadors: What should the citizen ambassadors be asked to do? What interaction should occur between the citizen ambassadors and the campaign organisers?

Evaluating the effectiveness of citizen brand ambassador programmes: What metrics could be appropriate?

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Citizens have been directly involved as brand ambassadors

People from Berlin are encouraged to contribute their own personal story of Berlin, as a ‘City of Change’, and to become ambassadors for the city

At the centre of the campaign is a large online portal, www.sei.berlin.de

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All participants had to submit a story to Berlin Partner GmbH in which they demonstrated how they had changed Berlin in one way or another

The stories can be accessed and evaluated through the online portal

Although this network allows consumers to engage with the branding campaign, it does not serve as a means for internal interaction or communication within the ambassador network

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Lack of focus ◦ Few brands can be truly global; targeting of specific

markets is required

Unhealthy obsession with logos and slogans ◦ A city brand is more than simply its visual design

Failure to collaborate ◦ Different departments, organisations, and

individuals work isolated from each other

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Limited insight ◦ Little or no research conducted into understanding

the target audience

Internal rather than external focus ◦ Excessive attention given to the city’s attributes and

not enough attention given to the values and beliefs of target audiences

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Russian city brands should avoid making the same mistakes as cities in the West

Put less emphasis on logos and slogans

Put more emphasis on quality of life, visitor experience, stakeholder collaboration, and targeted communications

Establish customized, flexible metrics to evaluate what works and what doesn’t

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THANK YOU

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