2006 Tayebi

CITY BRANDING
ABSTRACT
KEYWORDS
INTRODUCTION
Literature Review
Abstract
Introduction
Literature
Contemporary city : International view of the context

Urban regeneration
Cultural city
Management of Cities in the new Global Economy
Branding
Definitions
Corporate brand, product identity, brand product
Business Identity
Can be the place brand compared to a product brand? A corporate brand?
City branding
Between sameness and difference: the dilemma
Objectives of city branding: economic or social?
Perception of the city: a personal experience
Causes of the complexity of city branding
What are the risks of city branding?
Conclusion
Comments
In-Depth Interviews
Malcolm Allan Director of Placebrands
Case study
Edinburghs case
Description of the website : design and content
Analysis of the design and the content
Hong Kongs case
Description of the website : design and content
Analysis of the design and the content
Comparison Interpretation
Global conclusion
Recommendations
References
How to design the brand of the contemporary city

Sarah Tayebi | 2006, Sept.
ABSTRACT
City branding is an up-to-date issue, even if a little literature has until now paved the way of the
understanding of this subject. This research aims at getting an overview of this issue to provide
a better visibility of the different questions that it raises.
In a first part, I go through the literature to have a sight of how it deals with this issue. The
literature review also gathers different relevant information to provide a good understanding of
the subject through the international context, branding, and last on city branding itself.
Next, I relate words, which stems from interviews of people with different profiles to get an
understanding of how practitioners perceive this concept, and whether exists a gap between
practitioners and scholars.
Last, I carry out a case study, which compares two websites presenting the brand of two
cities: Edinburgh and Hong Kong. A first analysis gives the positioning of the city, and then a
comparison of both to observe and interpret differences.
These three sources of information help me to build up my own understanding of the subject
and develop my recommendations in designing a city brand.
KEYWORDS
city, urban competition, branding, identity, image.
INTRODUCTION
I imagine I am in the street right now. People are walking all around me. Children, adults, they
have all a good reason for being here. They were born here, they came for jobs, for their
companion, no matter: they are habitants. Or maybe they are tourists; they just came because
something pushed them to come here to visit. A travel agency? Friends? What motivated them
to come in this city and not another? Whatever the link that unifies this people to the city, people
experience it and have inevitably an opinion.
In operating within any environment, man is involved in the image system . He perceives,
selectively, certain information by means of his various senses and adds this information to his
store of mental images. (GOODEY, 1974)
The image of the city is also conceived by the experience, but not only.
People can have an image of a city without going there. Different kinds of communications
influence on their perception. Perception is also what influences the representation of the city.
To help people to have a good image of the city, the institutions attempt to influence them in
a good way and give good arguments for coming and/or staying here. Economical dynamism,
habitants welfare, best places to visit In an increasing competition between cities, the leaders
are looking for new solutions to improve the image.
In a private context, companies are using the marketing concept of brand . Corporate brand,
product brand, service brand Brand seems to be part of the new solutions to help companies
to get an added value to struggle competition.
The issue analysed here looks at knowing whether we can use this brand concept for cities
and how can we design these brands efficiently for the contemporary city.

LITERATURE REVIEW
ABSTRACT
This literature review explores the literature about contemporary city and focuses more precisely
on the notion of branding a city. This issue involves a huge set of elements that have to be
considered and highlighted. That is why in a first time, I address the notion of contemporary city
through an international view of the context, then the concept of cultural city and the
management of cities in the new global economy.
Next, I focus on branding. A review of the notion of branding and identity is discussed
before exploring the concept of city branding.
Finally, I conclude with whether the literature answers my research question: how to
design the brand of the contemporary city. Indeed, the objectives of this document are not to set
a framework but rather to identify how the literature deals with this issue and to what extent the
issue is developed.
INTRODUCTION
The conscious attempt of governments to shape a specifically-designed place identity and
promote it to identified markets, whether external or internal is almost as old as civic
government itself , argues Kavaratzis and Ashworth (2005). Indeed, the concept of place
promotion and identity are not new issues. Almost as old as civic government itself exists,
cities are promoting themselves to achieve different aims : business development and leisure
enhancement, what calls Short the city of work and the city at play . But more and more
both are interrelated (Short,1999).
This promotion is acting on the image of these cities and, as Short argues, the naming of
cities, the mapping of cities, the written and spoken descriptions of cities all constitute acts of
urban representation. But we will go through this concept later. First, lets have a look on a
small overview of how the literature addresses this issue.
Literature
By the beginning of the 1990s, researchers started to write on the concept of place marketing
(e.g. Ashworth & Voogd 1990; Berg et al. 1990; Kotler et al. 1993)(Kavaratzis, Ashworth 2005).
But city branding is a new issue (Parkerson, Saunders 2004) and, hence, little literature exists
on it. Kavaratzis and Ashworth add that there is a recognisable gap in the literature with
regard to the branding process of cities in general (Hankinson 2001) and real case studies in
particular (Anholt 2002; Rainisto 2003). Little empirical research was found to identify how to
brand city successfully (Parkerson, Saunders2004). It is, therefore, more difficult to work on this
issue in the extent that theories are quasi non-existent. Hankinson(2003) supports this idea
when he argues: as yet, however, no general theoretical framework exists to underpin the
development of place brands apart from classical, product-based branding theory.That is why
several authors start their research with the support of general branding theory, and marketing
theory, especially urban marketing, even if this issue is quite new as well in literature.
We can notice that the researchers carrying out this literature, are coming from different
backgrounds. Most of them have their roots in business, for example marketing and have a
vested interest for urban issues. The others have roots in urban planning and are focusing on
marketing. The discourses are not inevitably conflicting but the approach of the subject is quite
different. Hankinson (2003) adds that several academic domains have their own perspective.
Surprisingly, a review of the literature from both domains, which is acknowledged, can never
be totally comprehensive, indicates an absence of conceptual articulation between the two
domains. Such a link it is argued, could advance the level of place brand conceptualisation
considerably.
Ashworth and Voogd (2005) state that place marketing in general has suffered of the
misunderstanding of places from marketers and of the markets from place managers.
Kavaratzis (2004) adds that the limited implementation of place marketing is due to the lack of
knowledge of marketing among city administrators.
As a graphic designer and design manager, the identity issues concern me due to the fact that
graphic design belongs to the identity conception process. Just passionate about the urban
issues, I am neither specialised in marketing nor in urban planning but I am sensitive to both
and that is why I think that I can have a different insight, apart from professionals on this
domain.
This multiplicity of backgrounds brings wealth to the debate and allows having a global overview
of the subject. As a designer, I want to gather all kind of literature for an attempt of a rich and an
apposite literature review.
CONTEMPORARY CITY:
International view of the context
How can we design the brand of the contemporary city. This question raises some
interrogations, involved themselves in this question. One of those is: what has happened to the
contemporary city? What are its particularities? What is changing in the urban world
surrounding us? The following international view of the context gives clues to grasp these
evolutions. Literature here helps to understand why this question is a current question and
represents a consequence of this changing world.
Urban regeneration
The society has changed these three last decades as it seems it has never occurred (Jensen,
2005). We are in fact witnessing the fastest and most wide-ranging urbanization process in
history (Borja & Castells, 1997). Authors consort to say that a keen competition between cities
soared for a few years, this due to the internationalization of the world. Cities are all attempting
to reach awareness of people all around the world, to be promoted and ranked as the best
places to go, to visit, to invest, and to live in. As cities were promoting in one specific way city
of work or city at play , they now have to meet the needs of everybody to be on top.
History is complex and whether it is a trigger for creativity, learning and innovation is open to
question. An historical track record in generating creativity and learning capacity can both hold
back or push forward. (Landry,2000). Indeed, as some cities have a favourable heritage from
the past, others, as old industrial cities, have to reinvent the city completely since the era of
mass production is over. Maybe the challenge is more difficult for this kind of cities, which have
to deal with creativity to renew the urban environment, but maybe in a long term they will be
more successful than old traditional cities, which are maybe more resting on their laurels.
The renewal of cities is today more accentuated on the Western countries agenda. Cities are all
looking for a new way of creating the city of tomorrow. Urban planning, modern buildings,
cultural edifices, cities are in mutation, in order to present another face, as if, sometimes, reborn
from the ashes. As Short (1999) argues, to be seen as industrial is to be associated with the
old, the polluted, the out of date. These cities have to reconstruct totally their image, but as say
Anholt (2006), cities have brand images which rise and fall very slowly, and this is a double
edged sword.
Moreover, the difficulty is that the de-industrialisation affects the population and the
representation that they have of the city. The social-environmental relationship has to be
restructured (Short,1999).
So, a hard job is in process to get a place in the crowded market of cities. In the era of intense
place wars, cities need to maintain as high profile, if not higher than other cities. In the
deregulated global economic context, of contemporary place wars, all cities need to be
noticed. (Short,1999)

Cultural city
As cities have to re-imagine a new environment, culture becomes today one of the most addedvalue. A new famous museum, events, a well-known personage born in the city, a famous sport
team, all can be now a subject to be developed to promote the city. Culture is going to be the
new gate were creativity, art, music, can come in to promote the new modern city. Look, No
More Factories! says Short, as a motto from the cities. The era of old industries is definitely
over and the place is done for the culture. Culture belongs now to the strategy of a city. Short
argues that cities now represent themselves as fun places. Evans adds that the designation
of the cultural city and the use of the arts and entertainment as tools in urban regeneration is
now a universal phenomenon which accelerated in the era of the city of renewal.
Jensen (2005) argues that there is a discourse about the creative city which gains currency
among cities stakeholders. According to Landry, innovation, art and creative capacities gain
currency in the cities contemporary concerns. Also there is an increased awareness to the
notion that art and business are joining forces in the new urban competitive economy
(Caves2000, quoted by Jensen, 2005). Landry introduces the concept of milieu as a place
that contains the necessary preconditions in terms of hard and soft infrastructure to
generate a flow of ideas and inventions. Such a milieu is a physical setting where a critical mass
of entrepreneurs, intellectuals social activists, artists, administrators, power brokers or students
can operate an open-minded, cosmopolitan context and where face to face interaction creates
new ideas, artefacts, products, services and institutions and as a consequence contributes to
economic success.
We increasingly speak now of the creative class, concept first introduced by Richard Florida
(2004), which explained the fact that exists a new social class which gathers innovative people,
with a creative potential. One of the new topics in the agenda of the current policies in urban
and planning development is how the urban environment can be designed for this new creative
class. (Jensen, 2005) Jensen argues that the increased focus on the importance of creativity
and culture in urban development has led to a discourse of cultural planning . According to
him, the concept of locally produced culture can add weight in the balance of the global
competitiveness.
Management of Cities in the new Global Economy

The difficulty for cities is developing a global and international awareness, but at the same time
to keep a local concern with what is going on in the city. The challenge is, therefore, to manage
with both, as to manage with all the manifold stakeholders.
The new global economy is articulated in territorial terms around networks of cities (Sassen,
1994, quoted by Borja and Castells, 1997).
Cities depend on how they are articulated to this global economy. They need a solid base in the
citizens to navigate then in the global circuits. Thus, the welfare of the local societies is
indispensable to get global. Global and local are not antagonists but complementary. ( Borja,
Castells, 1997).
According to Borja and Castells, competitiveness properly understood in the new informal
global economy does not primarily involve cutting costs, but rather increasing productivity.
They argue that this productivity depends on the connectivity, innovation and flexibility of the
city.
These three points are of course non exhaustive and aim at giving a global overview of what are
living cities today. Theses arguments explain why the question of city branding raises more now
than earlier.
We have seen first that the cities are today in a struggle to reach awareness in an international
competition. History of each one has a strong impact on the way cities are coping with this
change. The renewal involves social mutations as well as planning transformations. The
deconstruction and reconstruction of the city disturbs city life.
Then literature informs us that culture is now belonging to the modern city improvement and is a
key factor in the strategy because of its high potential in added value. Cities want now to be
recreational and to be seen as fun places. Culture accelerates the city renewal. I quoted some
authors who argue that the city has now to be creative and to generate innovation and attract
the new creative class researched because of its potential in creativity.
In the last part we grasp that one of the main difficulties for cities is to go global and to cope
efficiently with the local priorities. They have to be connected, to innovate and to be flexible in
order to raise productivity.
The aim of this part is to understand the question and why it is relevant to ask this question
now. This analysis helps to be able to go further in the question recommendations.
But now, lets see the description of the branding concept in order to understand exactly what
this concept means.
BRANDING
Definitions
A successful brand is an identifiable product, service, person, or place, augmented in such a
way that the buyer or user perceives relevant, unique added values which match their needs
most closely. Furthermore, its success results from being able to sustain these added values in
the face of competition. (de Chernatory & McDonald, 1992)
This citation sums up briefly but efficiently what is a brand. In this sentence, we can understand
that according to these two authors, a place can be branded, and the differentiation is done with
the other kind of brands. We can read as well that the target is not always a buyer but can be
just a user. In all cases, the brand aims at giving added value in a competitive market.
Corporate brand, corporate identity, brand product

According to Balmer and Gray (2003), many schools of thought exist on corporate branding and
more generally on branding where brands are seen as:
. marks denoting ownership;
. image building devices;
. symbols associated with key values;
. means by which to construct individual
identities; and
. a conduit by which pleasurable experiences may be consumed.
A wide variety of corporate entities have brands including corporations, their subsidiaries, and
also groups of companies (corporate branding networks). Moreover, corporate-level brands can
also apply to countries, regions, and cities. (Gray and Balmer, 2003)
Balmer (2001) has developed the mnemonic CCITE (or C2ITE) in order to define the different
attributes of corporate brand. These attributes are:
- cultural
- intricate
- tangible
- ethereal
- and commitment
According to Balmer and Gray (2003), the C2ITE illustrates the growing consensus in literature.
- Corporate brand/ brand product

This table, from Balmer, illustrates the key differences between product brands and corporate
brands.
We can see here that the person in charge of each item are not similar in function of the nature
of the brand.
We can notice that whereas the values in corporate brands are grounded among others in the
values of the company founders, product brand values are artificial. These values are merely
created by marketing and advertising creatives.
Balmer and Gray add that employees have a crucially important role in the extent that they
reflect the brand values.
We can see here that product brands focus on specific targets, corporate brands have to deal
with all the stakeholders.
Last, we can add that while the management of the product brands can be assigned to a middle
manager, corporate brands are the concern of the CEO.
- Corporate brand/ corporate identity

The confusion between corporate brand and corporate identity is frequent and that is what
Balmer tries to brighten. The table on this page illustrates these differences.
The first and most fundamental difference is that the identity concept is applicable to all
entities. Yet, not every entity has, plans to have, wants or even needs a corporate brand. As
such, a corporate identity is a necessary concept whereas a corporate brand is contingent
(Balmer and Gray, 2003).
They explain that whereas a corporate brand is defined, static and is part of the corporate
strategy and personal behaviour. The values of the corporate brand are a specific choice among
all the values of the corporate, which represent the corporate identity. This one is constantly
evolving.

Business Identity
In 2001 Balmer wrote a paper to attempt to define, and to gather information from different
scholars, about the concept of identity. Corporate identity, corporate branding and corporate
marketing: seeing through the fog, is a good title to sum up this attempt of clarification. Without
resuming the whole paper, I am just going to explain the concept of business identity which
is the unifying theme all along the article.
According to Balmer, the business identitys umbrella covers three concepts :
- corporate identity;
- organisational identity; and
- visual identity.

It should be noted that business identity is viewed as encompassing institutions in the public,
not-for-profit and private sectors as well as supra and sub-organisational identities such as
industries, alliances, trade associations, business units and subsidiaries.
(Balmer, 2001)
He explains, then, that even if this triumvirate embraces the main theme, it is not enough to
describe the concept of business identity. Indeed, this term embraces as well the concepts of:
- Corporate identity
- Organisational Identity
- Visual Identity
- Corporate image
- Corporate Communications
- Corporate personality
- Corporate brand
- Corporate reputation
Each concept raises a question, which can help to define it. They allow a better understanding
to improve the efficiency of the management.
Can the place brand be compared to a product brand? A corporate

brand?
This question is for me one of the most discussed by scholars and practioners. Different point of
view are diverging, whether we can compare place brand to product or corporate brand. As I
have explained before, place branding is a new issue and marketing has not yet developed any
theory. The only solution is to attempt to adapt previous tools from marketing. But before using
these tools, it is important to define what is the nature of the place brand. and this is on this
precise question that opinions are different. And this question is fundamental in the attempt of
developing theory.
Conclusion
This part aims at identifying what is a brand in its general term and then to specify in each case
what it means. We have seen that a successful brand is an identifiable product, service, person
or place, augmented in such a way that the buyer or user perceives relevant, unique added
values, which match their need most closely. (de Chernatory & McDonald, 1992)
Then we learn that the differences between a corporate brand and a brand product are in the
fact that different people in the company are in charge of the brand, but also that the grounded
values stem from different sources.
Whereas corporate brand is defined, static, and non applicable to all entities, corporate identity
is constantly evolving and applicable to all the entities.
Business identity is an umbrella, which covers the concepts of corporate identity, organisational
identity, visual identity, corporate image, corporate communication, corporate personality,
corporate brand and corporate reputations. To define the business identity is efficient for a
better management.
The question, which still remains is whether the place brand can be compared to a brand
product or a corporate brand. Authors dont agree yet on the answer and the fog still exists here.
This part of the dissertation is very important to identify what we are talking about. In the first
part I explained what we can understand by contemporary city and here the focus is done on
the branding concept and the question of place branding raised. We can see here that the
branding is a very young concept and it is important to define and explain bases to have a
relevant interpretation of the question.
The research question is now better defined thanks to these two parts. We know what we are
talking about and where we are going. The next part tries to give us clues to answer the
research question and to explain why it is so difficult to give solutions.

10
CITY BRANDING
Between sameness and difference: the dilemma
I will introduce this part with the point of view of Florian (2002) who argues that urban centres
seem only able to develop in accordance with uniform thinking and traditions of global market
concepts. Florian adds that there is a huge paradox, in the extent that at a time where people
show a keen interest in diversity and claim their difference, what is offered is just sameness and
monotony. [Cities] are becoming impersonal, anonymous and, in the end, uninhabitable ()
Cities need a soul! (Florian, 2002). Speaks (2002) adds that the construction of identities is
disappearing at the same rate that grows the global sameness. People are expecting a
residential environment, which can reflect their own personality. (Mommaas,2002).
According to Florian, cities have to develop original and inimitable identities and to provide the
unique experience , an experience which can be lived in any other city.
He explains that the dilemma is in the fact that to live in a more uniform framework can maybe
help to understand each other better, all around the world. But he argues that on the other
hand, we see that the global culture that has been manifested so far in the world a superficial
monoculture is only inspiring and durable on a limited scale.
Objectives of city branding : economic or social?

Many researchers who debate and dont always agree discuss the aim of city branding.
According to Parkerson and Saunders (2004) as many others, the objectives of branding a city
are to increase the flow of visitors by improving attractiveness, to stimulate business
investments, and to foster people and students to live in. They state that the bottom line is
economic.
Kavaratzis(2004) explains that the first aim was to attract inward investments and that is why a
lot a people criticised acutely this procedure, arguing that city marketing emphasises social
conflicts.
City branding is understood as the means both for achieving competitive advantage in order to
increase inward investments and tourism, and also for achieving community development,
reinforcing local identity and identification of the citizens with their city and activating all social
forces to avoid social exclusion and unrest (Kavaratzis, 2004).
Mommaas (2002) is much more virulent when he asserts that nowadays city brands are
only managed in an economic way and not to achieve social and cultural objectives. According
to him, they serve only external cash-rich groups. The same author argues that city brands
have to improve city pride and sense of community. It is relevant to link city branding to
broader and above all internally-oriented socio-cultural goals, precisely because there is more
need for this than ever in the context of a diffuse urban life.
Speaks (2002), through the words of Ibeling, explains that the public space is now more
experienced as a commercial environment than a social one.
Perception of the city: personal experience.

Kavaratzis and Ashworth (2005) state that people encounter places through perceptions and
images. Indeed, they argue just before, that the orientation of the resident depends on how
they experience the city, through the physical and symbolic elements that they encounter. They
add that three processes influence the building of a place mental construction, what they call
mental map : the planned intervention, the way in which they [people] or others use
specific places, and finally through various forms of place representations such as films,
novels, painting, news reports, and so on.
This is with this mental image that branding is dealing with. The place brand management tries
to influence this image (Kavaratzis and Ashworth, 2005). The object of city marketing is not the
city itself, but its image.(Kavaratzis, 2004).

11
Causes of the complexity of city branding:

Most of the authors admit the fact that city branding is a very intricate issue. We are going to
see what are the arguments that stress this statement.
- the city :a networking organisation
The uniqueness of a city brand lies primarily in its form as a network rather than an
organisation with clear boundaries and internal structures
(Parkerson and Saunders, 2004). The same authors explain that the interests of all the
stakeholders of this network are different and most of the time competing. They cite Castells
when they argue that the network is a set of organisational nodes where each node is
interrelated to the others. They add that the problem with networks is that they are good in
decentralising but not at coordinating the decision-making process or at allocating resources.
Consequently, that is why they argue that there is an inherent lack of stability and consistency
in a city brand. According to these authors, the management of the city branding has to be
decided by a network of organisations instead of one strategic decision-making body.
- the large extent of the stakeholders
One of the main reasons of the difficulty to brand a city is that the users are multiple
(Kavaratzis, 2004). The city is an intricate network of individuals, businesses, public services,
local governments and partnership. (Parkerson and Saunders, 2004).
Parkerson and Saunders explain that city brand elements can be divided into the tangibles and
intangible elements of the city. They use one of Jafaris models to study Birminghams case.
Jafari identifies two kinds of audiences which are expecting two different brand promises. This
segmentation differentiates the ordinary world of the residents, from the non ordinary world of
the tourists. (Jafari, 1987, cited in Jafari, 1995). They argues in their case study that the
ordinary world of the resident and non-ordinary world of the tourist are dialectically
opposed (Parkerson and Saunders, 2004).
In opposition to a corporate brand, the targets cant be chosen but are imposed. The question
remains, can we really create a brand that can answer to all promises?
- Political factors.
Parkerson and Saunders (2004) admit that the political dimension is a hurdle to the strategic
branding of cities. They explain further that the political process restrains the efficiency of the
strategic decision-making because of the man-making of the politician and the concern about
their self interests : visible project for a good reputation, personal ambition, and so on. They add
that there is a lack of leadership among decision makers means there is no one to infus
appropriate values, align interests and overcome inherent conflicts between managers,
bureaucrats and politicians.
What are the risks of city banding?

Mommaas (2002) argues first that the problem with brands in general is that it elevates the
product about itself and gives them more importance that they have.
Secondly, he states that the aim of the brand is to give a coherence to something which doesnt
have one normally. The risks with applying this technique to a city is that the city can become
subject to rationalization, cleansing and the creation of clichs.
Therefore, he asserts that the city brand emphasises the social inequality because of the
economic-oriented dimension and recommends an orientation more social in order to raise the
civic pride.
The detractors to city branding as Koolhass condemn what he calls the Flagship syndrome
that he defines is this words:
a megalomania accumulation of the obvious that eliminates the last elements of surprise and
mystery that cling to the brand, imprisoning it in a definitive identity (Koolhaas, cited by
Speaks, 2002).

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CONCLUSION
This last part of the literature review deals with city branding itself and it tries to identify whether
it is possible and how. The first paragraph explains the paradoxical context of the will of
uniqueness and the sameness movement of cities. Then, I explore the objectives of city
branding to define whether they have to be economic or social. Next, I address the notion of
perception and experience of the city to pursue with the causes of the complexity of city
branding. At the end of this part the question is asked about the eventual risks of city branding.
At the end of this literature review, the doubt persists whether we can really brand a city
efficiently, due to its complexity. If it is, how can we avoid creating dramatic consequences on
our future cities?
Thanks to literature, it is still difficult to answer the question : how to design the brand of the
contemporary city? A lot of questions are still
in abeyance and manifold difficulties are not facilitating the work and no theory seems to be
really setup. Frameworks are essentially helping to understand the city and how it is working but
not really to give keys and tools for developing efficient brand strategies...
COMMENTS
Whereas I was starting with some personal assumptions, as for example the fact that a city can
be obviously a brand, I quickly understood with the literature that it is a more intricate question. I
saw here that this is important to have hypothesis but as researcher I have to accept that I could
be wrong and I have to analyse seriously all the different cases. Hence, my opinion constantly
changed and more I read, less I had certainty on my convictions.
The literature review is also really interesting in the extent that it gives manifolds opinions about
the same subject. In this case, it was first really hard to find literature because of the little
literature on city branding. I had to investigate in a lot of different sources of journals and
personal possibilities.
Finally, this literature is obviously exhaustive even I tried to bring there the most relevant
information to allow the reader to get a good overview of this intricate issue. The literature never
answers to my research question and gives only clues to understand this phenomenon to
analyse it efficiently. It answers my research question in the extent that it shows that it is not
now really possible to give a solution to my problematic but that we can however give cautions
and recommendations. Literature helps me to think about the question itself.

13
IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW
As it was explained before, the aim of interviews is to gather information and opinions from
different people. Even if it is not always easy to reach them, some professionals accepted to
meet me.
The interview is open-ended. I had ready prepared questions but I rapidly saw that it is
difficult to follow them in this kind of interview: answers before I ask to other questions,
answers going in others directions because of their concerns, etc. But I will explain later what
are my conclusions of this meeting.
The framework of the presentation of this interviews is: first (in the headlines), I present the
title (date, name, status in the organisation and organisation), the place of the organisation,
and context of the meeting, and the time spent talking. Then, I precise his background when
I can. Then, I relate the most relevant information and I comment or interpret his or her
discourse after each argument. Finally I conclude with my global opinion and feelings about
him/her and the meeting. At the end of this chapter, I give my opinion about my
interviewsand how they helped me to answer to my research question.
11th August : MEETING WITH MALCOLM ALLAN,

Founding director of Placebrands.
Placebrands is based close to London in UK.
I met Malcolm Allan with another student from Salford who is working on the same topic
as me. We went to London together and interviewed him in the Institute of Directors. We
talked during 2hours.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Malcolm qualified as an urban and regional economic planner and has worked in the
public and private sectors; as the CEO of a number of government-funded enterprises,
training and investment agencies and as an economic development consultant in the UK
and other countries. Malcolm has extensive experience of city and region branding and
the development of leadership in public-private partnerships. (Placebrands.net)
All the following notes come from Malcolm Allans interview. They are subjective and are his
opinion. I dont use quotes marks because it is a resume and not his direct discourse, except
the part called the most difficulties in design branding . These extracts come from how me
and the other student understood him.
Main arguments
Until now, city branding has most of the time been advertising, propaganda without real
roots and fundamental base. According to Malcolm Allan, advertising, on the contrary of
branding, can be manipulation and a lie in the extent that it doesnt reflect the reality of the
city but, instead, a general illusion. City branding aims to telling a story about the city and
bring people into the story. It is not only to create an attractive city, but also engage the
interaction between the city itself and residents, visitors. A well-branded city should get
better value for both of them.
What Allan explains about advertising and branding is an argument I have already read in
literature. I found interesting to compare advertising and branding, in the extent that
advertising is according to me, belonging to the branding strategy. Advertising is a kind of
communication which promotes a product or a service. Advertising implies that the city is just
promoted like a simple product, and as a product the life cycle is shortI think I agree with
Malcolm Allan, in the extent that we cant just advertise. We have to conceive something
stronger and more durable. I think I cant state that city branding has always been
advertising, because of the young interest and experience in this domain, but I believe easily
this idea.
Moreover, I like this idea of stories, and the will to bring people in these stories. I think that
the city is already a lot of bad or good - stories for everybody, but the aim here is to write a
collective story where everybody has his place and is a part of this story.
14
Even if is very complex, we can brand a global brand. This brand can gather many sub
brands but we have to carefully define these sub brands not to confuse people. Define the
first target group and design suitable/effective brand strategy to work out. A city can have
several sub-brands and be promoted with sub-strategies.
Again, I agree with this idea, even if it is still a bit confused to me. We find here, as well,
ideas which have always been found in literature. I mean that some authors already
suggested to divide the global brand in manifold sub-brands. I have nothing against this
idea, even if, I think, we have to carefully define the sub-brands.
City ranking cant be rooted on valuable items but are just an evaluation, which changes
function of the referential and the poll company.
I think, as well, that city rankings are very relative to the company and the culture of this
company which carry out this action. If I would like a real ranking, I think I would look to
different rankings from different countries. I dont think that one is really better that another
but it is important to compare to have a relevant overview.
The main difficulties in place branding are:
1.Getting the governors of places to realize that they need to involve other key stakeholders
from the private and civil sectors in the development of the place;
2.Getting the leaders of governments, (local, regional and national) to share the leadership of
the development of their place;
3.Getting key stakeholders to join together to undertake joint leadership of their place in
partnership;
4.Getting key stakeholders to understand the difference between place marketing, destination
marketing and place branding;
5.Getting key stakeholders to realize that place branding has more to do with economic
development and public governance than advertising, logos and strap lines;
6.Getting key stakeholders to realize that place branding takes time and is not an advertising
campaign of a few months duration;
7.Getting key stakeholders to understand the principles of place branding (as set out on our
web site).
The leadership has to gather different kind of members. The city administrators are
obviously part of the group but not only. They have to share the decision with other kind of
stakeholders, as for example, representative of the local media, the companies, and so on.
The leadership for this kind of project is very hard to set, due to the difference of interests.
Last, the team members have to be less than fifteen otherwise it would be too difficult to
manage.
I think that these main points are essential to carry out city branding. But, I am afraid that to
fulfil all these conditions is very a hard job. City branding is such a new concept, that people
have first to understand what it is and then to accept the conditions of development. The
mission is to teach, first, what it deals with and then how to have an efficient collaborative
work. But most of the time the decision makers, are not really the easiest public to teach to
and are very closed to innovative ideas and a way of thinking sharing decision power.
Conclusion
This interview was really interesting, in the extent that it reassured me that I was in the good
way and that I understood the main concerns of this issue. I did not learn more, but it was a
good way to encourage me in this direction. I agreed with most of his ideas.
However, I was very frustrated by the language barrier. Indeed, even if I understood all the
main ideas, I was not so comfortable than for an interview in my own language. But I am still
happy to have had this interview with him because it is very difficult to find specialists of this
question.
Malcolm was very friendly and helpful, and I thank him a lot for all this time he spent with us,
even if it was quite complicated to meet him.

15
CASE STUDY
Introduction
The difficulty here was to find out what kind of case study can be the most relevant, taking into
account the difficulty and the time constraints. In a first time I wanted to analyse the case of my
city: Lyon and in the second time, the city of Clermont-Ferrand. But I thought that I would need
more time to have a real relevant work, and did not want to have a superficial view of the city.
We cant conduct this work without researching a lot on all the issues belonging to the city
intricate system. That is why I preferred to look after websites of city brands. First, I did not
know what to expect, whether it exists or not. Indeed, few cities have a city brand website. I
found two of those: Edinburgh and Hong Kong. I would have found websites of cities quite
similar by the size or the history. But I did not really have the choice, and took these ones as
example. It is not really a matter, in the extent that if these websites exist it already means that
those cities have a powerful brand strategy and that they are precursor. It was a sufficient
reason for me to study these cities.
Analysis methodology
I analyse these websites as communication tools for cities to make people aware of the
existence of the brand. It is already a finished and collaborative work, done in a special way. I
try to see how they conducted and how they are going to manage their brand, how they define it
and present to the audience.
The methodology I am using can be briefly described by a little study of the website, then a
description and an analysis of the content, to finish with a conclusion.
The second part of the case study aims at comparing these two cities through common
items. A framework is carried out, to observe first if we have the information or not available on
the website, and then to look at the difference/sameness of these cities brands. An
interpretation of the results is conducted to see how the presence or absence of information are
influencing the reader, and then to understand how the brand is researched, set up, managed
and presented. In a conclusion I explain how these interpretations are answering to my
research question and interpret how, according to them, we can design the brand of the
contemporary city.
My hypothesis is that the brands of these two cities cant be similar because of the so large
differences they are looking to have. The continent, the countries, the culture are completely
opposite and we have to feel it in the strategy. That is why I want to verify thanks to the
comparison of both cities if the brand is really specific to the particularity of the city itself.

16
Part 1. Separated analysis

HONG KONG | www.brandhk.gov.hk
Website analysis
Graphic design
The graphic design of this website is, according to me, the minimum they can do to present
their brand. Even this kind of website has to be simple, I found that it is here a bit weak, and
should be better designed and attractive. A website can be clear and modest without being
poor. There is here a lack of personality, and the brand name, visual identity and baseline is
not sufficient to constitute a strong graphic design. I find that the graphic design is not really
appealing and does not give the will to read all the content. We cant understand what is the
essence of the brand without reading the text.
Ergonomics
The ergonomics is quite bad, we are rapidly lost in the website, even there is not a lot of
content within. The links are present without being explained, designed: it looks like a word
file used to design a website. I find that is a shame to show a well-designed brand in this
kind of website because it does not emphasise the work done.
Technical conception
The website is not realised following the international recommendation W3C (World Wide
Web Consortium). These technical recommendations are aiming to improve the compatibility
between technologies to guarantee the validity of the source code. In France for example, all
the institutional websites have to match with this recommendation. We dont have here any
information about the map of the website and who has created it. It does not look as an
important tool of communication for the brand.
Conclusion
I think that this website is a first step to give the first guidelines of the brand and to make
people aware of it. It is functional but neither graphic nor ergonomics. According to me, it is
not a good strategy to present a brand with a so poor brand website. It already influences the
reader and does not give a good credibility to the public. I would recommend them to
improve this website to give the will to go through easily.

17
Content: the brand strategy

Description
In this part, I try to have an overview of the brand description, without interpreting any data.
This is first only an objective work, where I take inventory of the different points
characterising the brand from the website.
History
The website informs us that the decision to carry out a brand for Hong Kong was a response
to the specific recommendation of the Commission on Strategic Development, a body of
senior public and private sector representatives advising the Chief Executive on Hong
Kongs long-term development needs and goals. The main objective of this project was to
help to give a positive image of Hong Kong to external audience. The new positioning was
launched in 2001.
Research
The positioning was developed thanks to qualitative and quantitative research among
business and government leaders in Hong Kong and internationally.
Problematic
The website informs us that even if Hong Kong is well known all over the world, people from
abroad are not really aware of the huge change of the city the last few years, the modernism
and the natural assets.
Brand management
The management of the brand Hong Kong is co-ordinated by the Information Services
Department in accordance with the following strategic objectives:
- Create initiatives that communicate Hong Kong's competitive positioning
- Associate the Brand with activities that represent the Brand values
- Build an understanding of Hong Kong's position as Asia's world city
- Strengthen the Brand culture within the private and public sectors
The Government works closely with the public and private sectors to ensure that the Brand
is used effectively to promote Hong Kong worldwide, and that Hong Kong continues to
enhance its assets to retain its position as Asia's world city.
The Government asked then to many international communication agencies to build up the
strategy for the Brand Hong Kong programme.
Methodology
Focus group tests in Hong Kong, North America, Australia and Europe.
Interviews of opinion leaders.
Baseline: Asias world city
Hong Kong is seen as a natural gateway to new economic opportunities in the mainland of
China and the rest of Asia, a regional business hub. It is explained on the website that as a
world city, Hong Kong has defining characteristics. As world city, it has to include a
strong, internationally oriented service sector and a workforce with specialised skills and
knowledge that, in turn, attract others with skills and specialised resources. World cities are,
by definition, very cosmopolitan and this enables them to attract the international capital,
business and skilled individuals that make them centres for global commerce.
Brand Hong Kongs Core Value
Progressive
Free-Stable
Opportunity
High Quality

18
Personality (expresses the core values)

Innovative
Cosmopolitan
Enterprising
Leader
Connected
Visual Identity System (influenced by the personality)
The website argues that consistency is the key to a good awareness to the brand and a
good understanding of personality and core values.
It presents the Hong Kong visual identity as a powerful and energetic dragon is a modern
design, which communicates Hong Kong's link to an historical and cultural icon. The body of
the dragon includes both the Chinese characters for 'Hong Kong' and the letters 'H' and 'K'.
This dual expression symbolises a blend of East and West that characterises Hong Kong.
The dragon's smooth, fluid shape imparts a sense of movement and speed, communicating
that Hong Kong is forever changing.
The visual identity's dynamic and contemporary rendering captures Hong Kong's passion
to be daring and innovative, and a can-do approach towards bringing visionary ideas to life.
Primary and secondary colours
There are three primary colours for Hong Kong's visual identity.
These are:
Dragon Red,
Dragon Yellow
and Black.
Like the visual identity, the primary colours use art and colour to suggest dynamism and
forward movement. The choice of black also reflects the essence of Chinese calligraphy.
In addition to the primary colours, a palette of secondary colours has been chosen to
complement the identity.
Primary and secondary Typefaces
As with the colour palettes, the primary and secondary typefaces refer to the past, but point
clearly towards an exciting, successful future for Asia's world city.
- Frutiger, a simple and modern typestyle that evokes the traditional Chinese imagery.
- Frutiger was chosen for its clear balance and strong contrast.
- Eurostile. It is a striking contemporary typeface but does not compete with Frutiger.
- The Hei style of typeface is stable, balanced and harmonises with both English typefaces.
BrandAsset Valuator
We learn from the website that the BrandAsset Valuator is used to measure current brand
performance and to evaluate brand potential.
In order to diagnose a brand's health, four primary dimensions are considered: its
Differentiation, its Relevance, its Esteem and its Knowledge.
Hong Kong as a brand
Internationally, there is moderate knowledge of the Hong Kong brand. While Hong Kong is
seen internationally as innovative, up-to-date, dynamic, intelligent, glamorous, progressive,
energetic, trendy, prestigious, high performance, unique, distinctive, it is not seen as a
"friendly" brand, an area where locations like New Zealand and Canada can claim strength.

19
Analysis
As I argued for the website, I think that the content presented here is the minimum they can
show. We understand briefly the aim, the origins of the project, the positioning through the
values, the personality and the visual identity of the brand, and some research findings.
Without going in a lot of boring and excessive details, I find here a lack of information, which
can give the will to know more and maybe to visit. I am not convinced here enough. The tone
is not very appealing and sounds like a survey report where an enumeration of
characteristics is done like product form. It sounds economic oriented and we find this
feeling in the core values : progressive, free, stable, opportunity, high quality, hence in the
personality and the visual identity. I understand here that it is a good place to invest, maybe
to reassure people after a long time of chaos there and to change the image of cheap and
low quality. I think we cant blame them to try to improve this image of quality, but, according
to me, this brand remains cold and impersonal. It emphasises my personal view of Hong
Kong (before the analysis of this website) as a city, which is swarming with people in streets,
individualistic and high consumerism oriented.
I understand here that the city is connected, can be the gateway or the hub whatever the
word- between Western countries and Asia and I dont deny this.
But I dont find in this brand presentation any place for people. The positioning was
developed thanks to qualitative and quantitative research among business and government
leaders in Hong Kong and internationally. And what about cultural roots? Habitants? It is all
the more surprising that they argues while Hong Kong is seen internationally as innovative,
up-to-date, dynamic, intelligent, glamorous, progressive, energetic, trendy, prestigious, high
performance, unique, distinctive, it is not seen as a "friendly" brand. And even they are
conscious of this weakness they dont try to improve it. Maybe to emphasise only the
economic orientation belongs to the strategy but I think that it hide completely the strong
cultural heritage of Hong Kong. And I wonder to find, then, the dragon, symbol of the Asian
tradition.
Even I like the graphic design of the dragon and the typography, I think that is a shame to
use the dragon just to show, in fact, the innovative, up-to-date, dynamic, intelligent,
glamorous, progressive, energetic, trendy, prestigious, high performance, unique, distinctive
and not all the friendly we can have here. As an European woman, the dragon looks like an
aggressive symbol and the colours emphasises this feeling. Even the colour of the typeface,
the black remains a strong and violent colour. The choice of the colour palette is coherent
but maybe a bit risky.
The brand is consistent and all its attributes are going in the same direction. But I am afraid
that the aggressiveness of this strategy emphasises this image of cold and technological city
where the expression high quality of life and citizen welfare is not belonging to the
strategy of the city at all.
We have seen in the literature review that the risks of the economic-oriented city brand are to
reinforce the social inequality (Mommaas, 2002) and that a lot of people criticised acutely
this procedure (Kavaratzis, 2004). Mommaas (2002) added that city brands serve only
external cash-rich groups and Speaks to say that the public space is now more
experienced as a commercial environment than a social one.
All these arguments quoted from the literature review are criticising what is especially
conducting the Hong Kong city brand: an economic oriented strategy where inward
investments seem to be the first objective. The Chinese society is in a changing era and I
think that branding can help then to get a common pride and recognition in an urban identity
to link each other. Instead of that, the economic-oriented strategy risks to emphasise social
inequalities and to strengthen the gap between people. City branding aims to telling a story
about the city and bring people into the story. We dont find here any story that Malcolm
Allan presented or any city way of life that Jack Dumont was talking about.

20
Edinburgh
Website analysis
Graphic design
The graphic design of the Edinburghs brand website is welcoming. Well designed, the layout is
consistent and clear. It is a kind of website where the visibility is preferred to a chaotic stylish
graphics. But even the graphic design looks simple, it is well managed and each element has
its place in the webpage. The unique colour here and the pictures are giving clues about the
content. They are not too clich and are communicating values.
Ergonomics
Ergonomics is well managed here. All the most important information is given in the first page
(HOME) and gives enough clues to go further in each part if we want. This page is enough to
understand all the construction of the website, how to navigate and how to access to the
information. We dont loose time with searching everywhere and this is the one of the most
important problem to solve on a website.
Technical conception
When we look at the source code we see that this website follows the international
recommendations W3C and is done by professionals. We can have the access to all the terms,
conditions and privacy policy. It is not difficult to conclude through the technical aspects of this
website that the Edinburghs brand wants to reflect a serious and professional image.
Conclusion
I find this website professional, relevant to the brand strategy we are going to explore. We have
from the homepage enough clues to get a good understanding of the values and personality of
the brand. When we go then through, we get new clues that we finish to understand with
reading the text, not too massive, nor light but rather sufficient to grasp the information.

21
Content: the brand strategy

Description
The city branding is a complex concept that is now understood and developed in different
ways. Edinburgh city region brand is the name given originally to speak about Edinburgh
and its neighbourhood, and now called Edinburgh, Inspiring capital. I will explore here in a
first time the strategy described on the website.
Why a brand?
This part identifies clearly the will from the brand management to justify this new concept of
city branding. The aim is to communicate and build a strong and meaningful identity that
accurately encapsulates the unique attributes, values and personality of the Edinburgh City
region. The brand management department states here that city branding is the key to
success in the competitive environment of cities.
We learn here that the benefits are for everybody:
- People. The brand will help to attract even more, to improve chances in the career,
renew the pride in the city and to enjoy even more as well.
- Business. The brand will help to encourage inward investment- as well as increased
numbers of visitors and international events.
- Tourism. The brand will help to shape the peoples experience of the city and to make
them return to Edinburgh.
History
It all started in 2002. The Edinburgh Partnership Group did some preliminary research into
the development of an Edinburgh City Region Brand. Researches started in 2004 and the
launch happened in 2005.
Research
The initial research was to talk in-depth to people in order to know what they think about
Edinburgh. They were from New York, Tokyo, London and Madrid. The conclusions were
very positive in direction of Edinburgh. The conclusions of the researches confirmed
Edinburghs strengths : perceived to offer a great quality of life to its residents, an
extraordinary heritage in innovation and boasts one of the worlds leading and most
influential education systems, a safe place to live, work and visit.
Problematic
The city is not internationally well-known or understood. What could we to say that would
get people from outside the city to open their eyes to Edinburgh and shout about the
obvious pride that Edinburgh people have for their city?
Methodology
We learn here that they started to work with workshops to have an overview and then they
tried to refine the brand positions. They conducted:
- 16 in-depth interviews from the different sectors of business, academia, conferencing,
creative industries, tourism and sport.
- 7 focus groups with around 8 participants in London and Edinburgh including tourists in
London, young professionals in London, brand practitioners, residents, students,
tourists in Edinburgh and the Brand Steering Group.
- and a public exhibition held in a location in the central Edinburgh. 280 questionnaires
were completed over two days. 66 per cent of respondents were from Edinburgh and
surrounding areas and 34 per cent were visitors.
The brand management
- The Project Team: the Edinburgh City region Brand project is a partnership between the
public and private sectors.
- The Steering Group: made up of senior representatives of the major sectors within the
city region.
- The Working Group: oversees and manages the development, introduction and
marketing of the brand through the work of the project manager and project consultants,
22
Interbrands. This group is made up of representatives from the same representatives as

the Project Team.
Monitoring and measurement
To ensure the brand is successful they need to keep measuring their progress, through
tangibles increases as visitors numbers and inward investment, as well as shifts in how
Edinburgh is perceived and represented in Edinburgh and overseas.
The brand essence or baseline
The baseline for Edinburgh Brand is Inspiring Capital.
This means that Edinburgh is a dramatic city bursting with ideas and life. There is a drama
and magical quality to the city for many people, and it is a place that stimulates the senses
and imagination. It is a city of contrasts with a special atmosphere as a result. Its natural
beauty and intellectual tradition have been a springboard for invention and creativity. From
the Festivals to the telephone and from Dolly the sheep to Harry Potter - Edinburgh clearly
inspires.
The brand personality
The brand personality underpins the brand essence : Edinburgh as a world influencer in
science, education, the arts and business, whose stunning physical beauty and magical
atmosphere always inspires.
The brand values/ tone of voice
- Inventive visionary
Edinburgh excels in the arts, science, business and education.
- Rich diversity
Edinburgh has a vibrant and cosmopolitan culture with a great mix of people
and skills - all within a setting of inspiring architecture and natural beauty.
Tone of voice: imaginative and vibrant
- Striving for excellence
Edinburgh and Scotland share this work ethic, which drives the city's past successes and
future
ambitions.
- Understated elegance - Edinburgh is not boastful or arrogant about its achievements,
but quietly confident in everything it does.
Tone of voice: determined and confident
- Sincere warmth
Edinburgh people extend a helpful, genuine welcome to all.
Tone of voice: authentic
All the brand story can be summarised in this pyramid.

23
Visual Identity
The visual identity of the brand stems from the simple idea of inspiration and influence; how
Edinburgh over the years has inspired many people, from all walks of life, to do great things.
This has been captured not only through the phrase 'Inspiring Capital', but also through the
use of lines as a graphic device. The 'lines of influence' create a sense of the energy and
direction of the past, present and future ambitions of the city. Residents also feel the lines
gently echo some of the distinctive physical characteristics of the city region - from the
dramatic arches of the Forth Rail Bridge to the undulations of Arthur's Seat and the lines of
the nation's saltire.
Colours
Our chosen colour palette was inspired by Edinburgh and its surrounding areas. The
colours reflect not only the culture and history of Edinburgh but also the vibrancy and energy
of modern life in the city region.
- Warm and rich : these colours reflect history, richness of culture and warmth.
- Lively and Vibrant : these colours reflect the vibrancy and energy of Edinburgh life.
These descriptions are those used in the brand identity guidelines.
Typography
The style of type we use to bring our communication to life sets the tone of our brand; clean,
modern and stylish. creative identity. The Edinburgh City Region brand uses Myriad Roman
in all uses; titles, headlines and body text.
Photography
Photography is a key part of the Edinburgh brand. Our images should be thought-provoking
and inspiring. They should demonstrate a knowledgeable perspective of Edinburgh and the
region, not just a tourists eye view. We want to show a unique, unexpected and surprising
angle on Edinburgh. They should be warm with an element of vibrancy, depicting natural
actions and emotions of people within them. Images should create a sense of place and
capture all aspects of Edinburgh from modern science to ancient history. It is important to
show the mystical side of Edinburgh as well as a refreshing and modern side.
We have divided our photography library into 4 main sections:
- iconic
- detail
- abstract
- and people.
Brand strategy: complementary attributes
Edinburgh brand emphasises three points: it is a good place to live, to invest, and to visit.
Here we can find all the arguments, which can push to go in the Edinburghs direction. The
personality of the city, the welcoming of the people, nice landscapes, the urban
environment, the culture, way of life, for the place to live, attractions, place ranking, fullservice to visit, and economical assets, business and research opportunities, ranking, to
invest. All the arguments are goods to go there.
24
Analysis
This website is presenting a good holistic view of Edinburgh. Even the words sounds
sometimes a bit too much strong, it is obvious that they try to emphasise the image of the
city. The organisation of the information is good and we can get to the main points we want.
Some parts are not really surprising: it is a good place to live, to visit and to invest. It is
important to see that they build their brand strategy around these three uses of the city and it
shows that the concerns of this brand are economics, social and touristic issues. But the
content remains common and expected. Nothing here gives me the will to go absolutely
there.
However, the strategy is poetic and soft. Inspiration is needed for creativity and it involves
that this city can give you the inspiration for your creations. And we know that creativity
belongs to the researched skills because of the potential it represents. With this strategy,
Edinburgh does not try to attract all the kind of habitants, visitors and business. The palette
of colours is relevant and well defined: soft or punchy. But the palette is not very common
and it makes the choice interesting and controlled. The graphic design is delicate and
consistent with the strategy. The guidelines guide gives all the information needed and well
justified. The logo remains in the same idea, with its three lines over the Edinburghs name.
The website is well informed and pleasant to navigate within. The brand management looks
fair and the people involved in the brand building (through the interviews, focus groups and
questionnaires) very different from each other.
To conclude, I would say that this city looks and sounds pleasant and with a lot of different
kind of resources and potential. However, I feel always a bit sceptic with the beautiful
paintings given by branding and maybe I would be a bit more critic to get credibility instead
of selling a dreaming place where everything is nice and beautiful. What about, for example,
the weather, which is one of the first intangible characteristics of a city? Instead of hiring it,
why not to try to turn it in an humoristic way for example? I know that to show is to hide but
sometimes the things that we try to hide are so obvious that they should be showed in the
same level than others. Maybe it is still a bit too early to cross this barrier
City branding is understood as the means both for achieving competitive advantage in
order to increase inward investments and tourism, and also for achieving community
development, reinforcing local identity and identification of the citizens with their city and
activating all social forces to avoid social exclusion and unrest (Kavaratzis, 2004). I find that
the Edinburgh Region Brand is not very far from what argues this extract from the discourse
of Kavaratzis in the literature review. It seems that the will of Edinburgh City Brand is to,
obviously, develop the local economy, and to develop the social life as well. The graphic
design, the discourse and the strategy in general through values and personality are going in
the same direction: an holistic care of the different activities and actors of the city.
As Florian argues in the literature review, there is a huge paradox, in the extent that at a time
where people show a keen interest in diversity and claim their difference, what is offered is
just sameness and monotony. According to him, cities have to develop original and
inimitable identities and to provide the unique experience , an experience which can be
lived in any other city. I think that Edinburgh Region Brand has to make sure not fall in the
trick of sameness and monotony. The city has to take care of everybody but this discourse
seems so nice and idyllic that they have to stay unique and show what is very special
there. The brand has to explain what is the unique experience, this thing, which makes this
city unique. Without visiting the city, I dont now really what is specific to Edinburgh even if
there are efforts to give a personality to the city in the strategy. However, we start to feel
here a story or a way of life but Edinburgh Region Brand has to be careful to not fall in the
second trick of propaganda and advertising that Malcolm Allan criticise in the interview.

25
Part 2. Comparison
The website
Attribute
Graphic design
Hong Kong
Edinburgh
poor
good design
gives very little clues about the strategy gives clues about the strategy brand
brand values
values
does not look professional
looks professional
Ergonomics
not good: we are quickly lost
Technical
conception
does not follow the W3C

recommendations.
lack of legal information
good: we already see all the information

needed from the first page.
follows the W3C recommendations.

all the legal information are mentioned
The brand strategy

Attribute
History
(of the brand)
Research
Problematic
Brand
management
Methodology
Hong Kong
Edinburgh
response to the specific recommendation

of the Commission
on Strategic Development
the new positioning was launched
in 2001.
started in 2002. The Edinburgh Partnership

Group did some preliminary research into the
development of an Edinburgh City Region
Brand. Researches started in 2004 and the
launch happened in 2005.
The positioning was developed thanks to

qualitative and quantitative research among
business and government leaders in Hong
Kong and internationally.
The initial research was to talk in-depth to

people in order to know what they think about
Edinburgh. They were from New York, Tokyo,
London and Madrid.
Even if Hong Kong is well known all over

the world, people from abroad are not really
aware of the huge change of the city the last
few years, the modernism and the natural
assets.
The city is not internationally well-known or

understood. What could we to say that would
get people from outside the city to open their
eyes to Edinburgh and shout about the
obvious pride that Edinburgh people have for
their city?
The management of the brand Hong Kong

is co-ordinated by the Information Services
Department
The Government asked then to many
international communication agencies to build
up the strategy for the Brand Hong Kong
programme.
The Project Team: partnership between the

public and private sectors.
The Steering Group: made up of senior
representatives of the major sectors within the
city region.
The Working Group: oversees and manages
the development, introduction and marketing
of the brand through the work of the project
manager and project consultants, Interbrands.
Focus group tests in Hong Kong, North

America, Australia and Europe.
Interviews of opinion leaders.
16 in-depth interviews
7 focus groups
and a public exhibition held in a location in
the central Edinburgh.

26
Baseline
Core values
Personality
Visual identity
Colours
Monitoring and
assessment
Hong Kong, Asias world city

HK is seen as a natural gateway to new
economic opportunities in the mainland of
China and the rest of Asia, a regional
business hub.
World cities are, by definition, very
cosmopolitan and this enables them to attract
the international capital, business and skilled
individuals that make them centres for global
commerce.
Edinburgh, Inspiring Capital

This means that Edinburgh is a dramatic city
bursting with ideas and life. There is a drama
and magical quality to the city for many
people, and it is a place that stimulates the
senses and imagination. It is a city of
contrasts with a special atmosphere as a
result. Its natural beauty and intellectual
tradition have been a springboard for
invention and creativity.
Progressive
Free-Stable
Opportunity
High Quality
inventive visionary
Rich diversity
Striving for excellence
understated elegance
Sincere warmth
Innovative
Cosmopolitan
Enterprising
Leader
Connected
Edinburgh as a world influencer in science,

education, the arts and business, whose
stunning physical beauty and magical
atmosphere always inspires.
an energetic dragon is a modern design

which communicates Hong Kong's link to an
historical and cultural icon. The body of the
dragon includes both the Chinese characters
for 'Hong Kong' and the letters 'H' and 'K'.
symbolises a blend of East and West that
characterises Hong Kong.
The dragon's smooth, fluid shape imparts a
sense of movement and speed,
communicating that Hong Kong is forever
changing.
The dynamic and contemporary rendering
captures Hong Kong's passion to be daring
and innovative, and a can-do approach
towards bringing visionary ideas to life.
The visual identity of the brand stems from

the simple idea of inspiration and influence;
how Edinburgh over the years has inspired
many people, from all walks of life, to do great
things.
The 'lines of influence' create a sense
of the energy and direction of the past,
present and future ambitions of the city.
Residents also feel the lines gently
echo some of the distinctive physical
characteristics of the city region - from the
dramatic arches of the Forth Rail Bridge to the
undulations of Arthur's Seat and the lines of
the nation's saltire.
Dragon Red, dynamism and

Dragon Yellow movement
and Black Chinese calligraphy
dynamism and forward movement.
In addition to the primary colours, a palette of
secondary colours has been chosen to
complement the identity.
Warm and rich : these colours reflect history,

richness of culture and warmth.
Lively and Vibrant : these colours reflect the
vibrancy and energy of Edinburgh life.
BrandAsset Valuator is used to measure

current brand performance and to evaluate
brand potential.
In order to diagnose a brand's health, four
primary dimensions are considered: its
Differentiation, its Relevance, its Esteem and
its Knowledge.
To ensure the brand is successful they need

to keep measuring their progress, through
tangibles increases as visitors numbers and
inward investment, as well as shifts in how
Edinburgh is perceived and represented in
Edinburgh and overseas.

27
Before starting this comparison, it was obvious to me that the brands had to be really different
because these two cities are thanks to my personal hypothesis- opposed.
The image I had before starting this case study was quite similar to what I found out. It confirms
the idea I had in mind and the brands are effectively different.
But first, I want to start with an interpretation of both website analysis, I mean, the technical
framework.
I was very surprised to see the website for Hong Kongs brand so weak and poor. Asia has got,
in general, the image of the high technologies continent. And to see a website looking so
cheap for a city surprised me, whereas the Edinburghs brand website was professional, well
designed and relevant to the strategy. According to me, Hong Kong has to improve his
communication of his brand even if it does not represent the key point of success. All kind of
communication tools have an impact on peoples understanding of the brand.
If we look at the strategies, we can recognise two different styles. The first one, the Hong
Kongs case, shows the will to shine as Asias world city. They want to position the city has the
city to interact with if we want to go in China. But we dont really understand that this is for
leisure and good time. We really understand Hong Kong with his business life to get new
opportunities in Asia. But we never understand in this strategy that we will enjoy its landscapes,
people and local traditions. Even the colours are strong and express this will to go further, and
quick! On the other side, Edinburgh looks like a city which is proud of itself, does not want to
change anything with its image but want only to be more understood in the world as a good
place to come and stay. We dont feel the same strength but rather a sweet serenity and a
modest place which has a lot of surprises to offer. If we look at the colours we can see this shift
and in a way, all is coherent with the context of both cities and their history, where they are and
where they want to go. I dont think that we can really blame the first one or the other, but rather
to differentiate how the strategy, through the personality, values, and the visual identity succeed
in giving a face to the cities ambitions. We can see here that the brand reinforces a desire but
does not really try to change the whole city image. We can agree or disagree with these
strategies, but anyway we can objectively say that they are consistent and clearly identified.
Then, the most difficult task remains to have a good operational management to ensure a good
branding implementation and monitoring. No need to have a good strategy if the operational
level is not efficient.
Conclusion
This case study has to be seen has an attempt to understand how cities are starting to sell their
brand to the audience. 2002, 2004, all these projects remain very new and it is hard to have a
relevant insight on the real usefulness of these projects. Anyway, it is interesting to observe how
other cities have dealt with this issue and what kind of result it can give. This practical example
gives a good view of the phenomena in the real world and helps to come out of the theory and
to see that cities have already started to manage with city branding. I hope these examples will
give keys to understand, to see what can be done and what mistakes or succeeds we have to
know.

28
RECOMMENDATIONS
Resume
I started this dissertation with a lot of doubts regarding the way to build up and to conduct my
inquiry. I had the intuition that something was going on with this issue but I did not know really
how to deal with. This issue is so new that it was very difficult to know how to start and how to
find relevant literature. But as soon as I started to find literature, it was easier to have an
overview on my work. I started to build up my literature review and in the same time the
methodology. I tried to conduct my inquiry as logical as possible to allow the reader to
understand clearly what I want to stress and how the different techniques are relevant and
useful to finally go in the same direction and to draw an accurate conclusion. I wanted this work
to be an attempt to gather information about this intricate subject to make the reader aware of
this issue and to give him clues to look at his/her environment actively. This issue concerns
everybody and that is why the possibility of sharing is wide.
In the methodology, I make choices about the way to conduct my research. I pitch on the
subjective paradigm to describe the reality, what drives me in an interpretive methodology. The
qualitative method leads the way of my work through the techniques of secondary data, in-depth
interviews and a case study.
The secondary data are my literature review. After reading a lot of different kind of books and
papers about urbanism, perception, sociology, branding and place marketing, I gathered the
mains ideas to draw up an overview of the subject and to show how this literature refines and
answers to my research question. In this literature review, I address the question of the
contemporary city through an international view of the context, what does mean the cultural
city and then the management of cities in the new global economy. Next, I explain briefly the
concept of branding through different definition and comparison about the corporate brand, the
product identity, the brand product and the business identity. I ask the question whether we can
compare a place brand to a product brand or a corporate brand. In the last part, I focus more on
city branding and how the two first parts are helping to understand this one. City branding is
addressed though the dilemma between sameness and difference, the objectives of city
branding, the perception of the city, the causes of the complexity of city branding and the risks
of this concept realisation.
The in-depth interviews were a good pretext to meet people and to share about this issue. I
report here two interviews: the first with one of the two directors of the company Placebrands
based in London, and the second one, the Assistant Director of the Communication and the
Information in the Greater Lyon (France). Both were different and very interesting. I keep here
just the main ideas as well and comment each idea respectively.
Last but not least, a case study presents the comparison between the Edinburgh Region Brand
and the Hong Kong Brand through the website dedicated to their strategy. We can find on these
website the information needed about the brand and the document to download to use correctly
the brand. I conclude here that both strategies are very different: whereas Hong Kong Brand
seems to be very economic-oriented to reflect an image of world city, Edinburgh Region Brand
presents a more humble city where it is good to live, to visit and to invest.
In the following part, the last one, I develop my recommendations and, in other words, what I
advice to do at the time of branding a city.

29
Recommendations
All the techniques used here are showing that this issue is not simple and any real framework
exists to brand a city. I think that the first difficult and fundamental work is to carry on a good
and relevant audit. This audit has to draw up the portrait of the city: what are the strengths, the
weaknesses of the city, the opportunities and threats and what is the essence (as used in the
strategy of Edinburgh) of the city. The essence is what makes the city unique and different. All
these key points have to be researched in the business life of the city, but in the tourism life and
dwellers life as well. These key points are the foundations of each use of the city.
According to me, the city brand has to be human oriented and has to take the human in the
centre of the concerns of the brands. For a long time in companies, there were a productoriented strategy, where the product where the centre of the researches. And more and more
products are thought to be human-oriented, to design the product in function of the human use
and real needs. And that is why increasingly companies are developing this kind of process in
the new product development. According to me, as in companies, the city has to be humanoriented and instead of concentrating on the business itself or the features of the tourism rates
themselves, or the best museum to construct to show that we are in a cultural city, the city has
to be more human-oriented. It has to help to foster for example the participation of the people in
the life of their city to improve social involvement and then, last, the outcomes will be sent back
in the economical life of the city, because people are employees, directors, visitors A cluster
of researchers will accept to come to work in a city only if they can have there good reasons to
come in: good level of life, a good education system for children, a good health system, and so
on. I really believe that if the complete alchemy is there to fulfil needs of habitants, the impact
will be assured everywhere. People are building up the city, and the city is nothing without the
habitants melting pot.
Once these three points are drawn up, we can define the essence of the city and what make it
unique. The brand has to define values, feelings, concepts and not physical words. We define
here stories, ways of life and values. These values stem from these three points. And then
the brand has to be constructed around these values and the whole graphic guidelines.
After all these reading, meetings and debates, I keep in mind that city branding tricks are:
- advertising and propaganda instead of real communication about values and reality of
the city
- lack of consistency: the brand has to manage the respect of the guidelines and to
monitor efficiently the use of the brand.
- a leadership steered by elected people who are just defending their own mandate
- copying instead of concepting
- fostering sameness instead of uniqueness
- ascribing identities without links with a urban reality
- confining the city brand in a static identity
- to want to foster the business image without thinking of the people within the city.
City brands should:
- chose carefully the leadership of the brand with a mix of people coming from different
background, with different experiences of the city
listen to the city and the real life within it
- increase pride of people in the city and take care of the social equality
- be creative to foster the new way of the urban life
- be an umbrella gathering the whole identities of the city: economical, social and touristy
- segment the identity without dividing
These guidelines are the main conclusions I keep from this research. The objective here is not
to pretend to build up a framework of city branding but more to stress the points to look after.
Branding companies have to learn a lot about cities and cities from branding. I think this
research topic is still very young but I would not be surprised if it will be developed more in
depth the next few years. I met in France some students who were working on this issue as well
and more and more literature are developing it (i.e. the new academic journal place branding).
30
I hope that researches will be developed in a way that allows bringing benefits to the city life and
reducing inequalities in the cities. This research was also a good pretext for me to meet and
contact people, in England, in Netherlands and in France as well: students, researchers,
professionals and institutional. It seems that the interest in this issue is growing increasingly.
This research was a good opportunity for me to go in depth in a research topic, which captivates
me and that I feel very rich. This question embraces a lot of issues in relation with our world and
how it is going today and tomorrow. A lot of disciplines are dealing with this issue and the
debate can be very rich and wide. I hope to have the opportunity again to go further in this way
and why not to work on one, one day.

31
REFERENCES
PAPERS :
Rowlands, B. (2005)
Grounded in Practice: Using Interpretive Research to Build Theory
In The Electronic Journal of Business Research Methodology Vol. 3 Issue 1
Herbert Altrichter, Stephen Kemmis, Robin McTaggart and Ortrun Zuber-Skerritt (2002)
The concept of action research
In The learning organization, Vol. 9, Number 3
Kenneth F. Hyde, (2000)
Recognising deductive processes in qualitative research
In Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, Vol. 3, No 2
Graeme Evans (Jun 2003)
Hard-branding the cultural city from Prado to Prada
In International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Vol. 27, Issue 2, Page 417-440
KAVARATZIS, MIHALIS - ASHWORTH, G. J.(2005)
CITY BRANDING: AN EFFECTIVE ASSERTION OF IDENTITY OR A TRANSITORY
MARKETING TRICK?
In Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Vol96, Issue 5, p 506
Parkerson, Brenda; Saunders, John (July 2005)
City branding: Can goods and services branding models be used to brand cities?
in Place Branding, Volume 1, Number 3, pp. 242-264(23)
Michalis Kavaratzis (Nov. 2004)
From city marketing to city branding: Towards a theoretical framework for developing
city brands
In Place Branding, Volume 1, Number 1, pp. 58-73(16)
John M.T. Balmer (2001)
Corporate identity, corporate branding and corporate marketing - Seeing through the
fog
In European Journal of Marketing; Vol. 35, Issue: 3/4
How has place branding developed during the year that Place Branding has been in
publication?'
Place Branding, Volume 2, Number 1, January 2006, pp. 6-17(12)
G.J.Ashworth, H.Voogd (2005)
Place marketing and communicative planning or marketing as if places matter
Paper presented in ACADEMY OF MARKETING DUBLIN2005 Building business: shaping
society
Simon Anholt (January 2006)
The Anholt-GMI City Brands Index How the world sees the worlds cities
In Place branding, Vol. 2, Issue 1

32
WEBSITES :
Marion Joppe, Ryerson University
http://www.ryerson.ca/~mjoppe/ResearchProcess
Lisa Guion, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original
publication date October 15, 2001.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FY393#FOOTNOTE_1
Place brands
www.placebrands.net
Edinburgh, Inspiring Capital
www.edinburghbrand.com
Hong Kong, asias world city
www.brandhk.gov.hk
BOOKS
Yin, Robert K. (1993)
Case study research: Design and Methods, Third Edition,
London ; Newbury Park : Sage
De Chernatony, L. (Leslie) (2003)
Creating powerful brands in consumer, service and industrial markets / Leslie De
Chernatony and Malcolm McDonald
Oxford : Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 2003
Landry, Charles. (2000)
The creative city : a toolkit for urban innovators / Charles Landry.
London : Earthscan
Ashworth, G. J. (Gregory John), 1941 (1990)
Selling the city : marketing approaches in public sector urban planning / G.J. Ashworth
and H. Voogd
London : Belhaven
Goodey, Brian (1971)
Perception of the environment : an introduction to the literature / B. Goodey
Occasional paper ; no.17
London ; Birmingham : (Distributed by) Research Publications : University of Birmingham
(Centre for Urban and Regional Studies)
Borja, Jordi (1997)
Local and global : the management of cities in the information age / Jordi Borja and
Manuel Castells in collaboration with Mireia Belil and Chris Benner
London : Earthscan
Florida, Richard L. (2004)
The rise of the creative class : and how it's transforming work, leisure, community and
everyday life / Richard Florida
New York : BasicBooks,

33

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CITY BRANDING

Contemporary city : International view of the context

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

Management of Cities in the new Global Economy

Corporate brand, corporate identity, brand product

- Corporate brand/ brand product

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

- Corporate brand/ corporate identity

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

Can the place brand be compared to a product brand? A corporate

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

Objectives of city branding : economic or social?

Perception of the city: personal experience.

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

Causes of the complexity of city branding:

What are the risks of city banding?

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

11th August : MEETING WITH MALCOLM ALLAN,

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

Part 1. Separated analysis

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

Content: the brand strategy

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

Personality (expresses the core values)

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

Content: the brand strategy

Interbrands. This group is made up of representatives from the same representatives as

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

not good: we are quickly lost

does not follow the W3C

good: we already see all the information

follows the W3C recommendations.

The brand strategy

response to the specific recommendation

started in 2002. The Edinburgh Partnership

The positioning was developed thanks to

The initial research was to talk in-depth to

Even if Hong Kong is well known all over

The city is not internationally well-known or

The management of the brand Hong Kong

The Project Team: partnership between the

Focus group tests in Hong Kong, North

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

Hong Kong, Asias world city

Edinburgh, Inspiring Capital

Edinburgh as a world influencer in science,

an energetic dragon is a modern design

The visual identity of the brand stems from

Dragon Red, dynamism and

Warm and rich : these colours reflect history,

BrandAsset Valuator is used to measure

To ensure the brand is successful they need

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

How to design the brand of the contemporary city

How to design the brand of the contemporary city