How to Brand a City--Do's and Don't's

Don’t try to out-suburb the suburbs with car-oriented living.

Do try to understand what makes your city unique, and use that to create a city “brand” that “springs from the native soil.”

That’s the advice Aaron Renn, who writes about cities for a blog called The Urbanophile, is giving to cities and their mayors. He says cities like Austin, Texas, Portland, Ore., Charleston, S.C., Houston, Texas and Las Vegas, Nev. have seen success in part because “they were able to create aspirational narratives about their brand promise that resonated with the people they wanted to attract.”

What should Athens’ brand be?

I want Athens to keep attracting smart, creative people who like to walk or bike to work, school and play. So, I’d like to create an Athens city brand built on an incredibly vibrant college town scene that’s fed by great local food, serenaded by the best music anywhere--all woven together by some of most walkable and green neighborhoods you’ll find in the South. (There’s still a lot—a lot—of work to be done to create the kind of neighborhoods I’m envisioning, but the raw materials are here.)

What’s your brand idea? And can you express it in a bite-sized, catchy phrase? (I can’t for mine—at least not yet.)

Read Renn’s article here.

Comments

[Bill Overend]

Dan, you should get Jeff to send you some of the work he's talking about. Beyond any sot of graphic representation or slogan, the copy and themes that they generated were really a step in the right direction in what you're talking about, and would be an interesting point to jump start a conversation from.

Unfortunately, it seems to be an unforgivable sin to have any piece of print or internet media generated concerning/promoting Athens that doesn't prominently display an English bulldog. (See the current CVB "website" at http://athens-lifeunleashed.blogspot.com/)

Look, I love georgia football as much as the next guy - season ticket-holder, etc.- but we've already snared THAT tourist market, and we don't have to spend a dime to maintain it - UGA takes care of that for us.

We do need to draw more full time residents and visitors to Athens for what we offer the other 46 weekends a year.

[Dan Lorentz]

Jeff:

Thanks for the comment.

I didn't intend to criticize "Life Unleashed" as an official slogan for Athens. In fact, I have to admit I wasn't aware that people considered that Athens' "brand".

I meant for my post to be about a more informal "branding" process--what a city comes to be known for. None of the other cities mentioned in the post were linked with any official slogan...instead, they were linked with the image or idea that the city evokes. I'm pretty sure Las Vegas isn't officially known as "Sin City, nor Portland as streetcars and bikes.

I'm much less interested in what slogan we adopt than in the kind of lifestyle Athens is (or comes to be) sought out for--that's the kind of brand I was talking about and that's what Renn was talking about in his article. I didn't make that clear.

[Jeff Snowden]

My firm did this years ago. The campaign won several awards and was briefly used in a joint effort by the mayor's office and EDF. Then, what always happens in these situations happened. People who have no knowledge concerning brand management all jumped in with their "expert" opinions and copy of "rise of the creative class". After months of process and few results "life unleashed" was unleashed.

The problem is that the people often leading these kinds of efforts have no idea what they are doing. Citizens don't go down to the auditors office and the fire chiefs office and tell them how to do their job yet when it comes to marketing everyone thinks they are the expert.

Marketing is a profession as much as law or finance. You're not qualified to manage marketing simply because you wear vintage clothes and listen to Sam Prekop.

We offered the last campaign to the city for free. Instead the CVB lead an effort to use an outside company and they were not free.

We won't make the same mistake next time.