A note from the editor: There’s no better time to discuss how cities brand themselves than right now, with Paris set to occupy center stage as the host of the Summer Olympics. This industry op-ed is by Alex Lampe, strategy and innovation director of brand and business consultancy Wiedemann Lampe (illustrated by the studio’s work on Riga’s first annual biennial for contemporary art, RIBOCA).
We live in an age when the identity of our cities is more important than ever—there is an increasing urgency for cities to examine how they are perceived.
By 2050, the urban population is set to double, at which point nearly seven out of ten people will live in cities. The number of megacities is predicted to rise, too, as the past two decades have witnessed a surge in new city development across the Global South.
At the same time, our cities’ make-up, purpose, and uniqueness are under pressure: by the death of traditional high street retail, displacement and gentrification, the risk of globalisation increasingly leading to monoculture, and people examining their life choices, seeking more meaningful experiences.
These shifts constantly challenge urban environments to identify what makes them better places to visit, live, study, work, and enjoy life. If a city wants to succeed in terms of economic growth, environmental sustainability, and quality of life, it needs to reflect more closely what people see, hear, and feel about it.
More than a Tagline
Yet, too often, articulating such a shared vision gets conflated with a marketing campaign approach to ‘branding’ cities. A truly effective city identity is so much more than a carefully drawn logo and tagline. Both can only ever frame what there is, not define what it could be.
It’s difficult to capture the nuances, diversity, and multidimensionality of a place in a pithy headline. Places are dynamic, while taglines are static. Ultimately, cities need to earn their taglines over time. “Illuminated Paris” came from the French capital’s enchanting built environment (its early adoption of street lights in the 17th century, the city as a center for the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century, and its adoption of gas lighting in the early 19th century). “The City That Never Sleeps” grew from NYC’s culture—a city so alive that its subway system doesn’t even shut down at night.
Another misconception is that a city brand is about driving tourism. Tourism is just one measure of a city’s success. Articulating a city’s identity is about encouraging inward investment. People want to live somewhere authentic, and that authenticity builds a sense of place through layers of time. It’s the life of a city that is magnetic. Residents carve the identity—the rawness of New York, the café culture of Paris—over time, not the tourists milling about in selfie mode.
Transforming the Fate of a City
A strong city brand tunes into a place’s needs and ideas and designs a way forward that informs decision-making. It inspires community and business-led projects that support that vision. It can unite and motivate multiple organisations, disciplines, and stakeholders through a compelling idea with the power to transform a city’s fate.
Singapore is one of the most impressive examples of this in its ambition to become “the world’s greenest city.” The city opted for long-term planning over short-term economic goals to respond to the challenge of pollution. It removed the rubbish, educated people, and implemented laws into the planning system to ensure longevity (sustainable building practices have been mandatory since 2008). Crucially, it inspired and educated its citizens so that if ever there is a change in direction from developer or government, there are enough informed voices to advocate conservation.
The Singapore example also highlights a key challenge in creating a city brand: articulating a place’s uniqueness must be embraced by everyone. If it fails to engage your diverse audiences or misrepresents the place, if it comes across as a mere government or council initiative, or if it’s done in isolation, the result can be a lack of buy-in, criticism, or even the withdrawal of the campaign.
A city’s brand will be embraced if a consortium of local businesses, charities, and communities underpins it—people with skin in the game and the voices to make things happen.
Galvanising Communities
The world’s newest cities can approach this challenge from the top down. For example, Qatar’s capital city, Doha, aligns with the nation’s 2030 vision of creating a role model for sustainable urban living and the most liveable towns and cities. Its identity is directly tied to this vision, and its development organised to support it.
Established cities, however, need a more bottom-up approach. They must start with community. Latvia’s capital, Riga, wanted to challenge people’s perception of the city as a mere go-to destination for bachelor parties. Wiedemann Lampe worked with the city to launch its first international biennial for contemporary art. The event effectively rewrites the stereotypes by showcasing the area’s rich culture and educating people about the cultural and political tapestry at the heart of the city.
There can be a variety of catalysts for such a bottom-up strategy. Bidding on or hosting a major global event such as the Olympics or America’s Cup. Catalysts can also arise from crises: Valencia rerouted the Turia River following a devastating flood in 1957 and created the Turia Garden, which was instrumental in redefining the city’s urban character and cultural identity. It led to the development of a cultural and social hub and a boost in tourism, and it had a huge influence on the city’s environmental impact and urban development.
Building from the ground up can take shape through smaller projects and gestures that galvanise people to make a change—as specific as a wayfinding project or a local community initiative. Working on a brand for Tottenham in London, we collaborated with a diverse range of stakeholders. The result, “Made By Tottenham,” is an identity and network of talent that connects and invigorates the creative community to strengthen a sense of belonging and maximise inward investment.
Another case is Folkestone in the UK. It repurposed old shops left vacant by the decline of retail into a hive of activity with flats, studios, offices, and shops that have lifted the whole town.
Putting People First
The key to all successful strategies is the awareness that building a city brand is complex and takes time. After all, branding doesn’t make the city, but its people do.
For a city brand to last, you need to decode the DNA of a place—the historical context, attitudes, and behaviours of its people, past and present. You can only do this by engaging with locals to understand the dynamics and subcultures at play. How do the dynamics inform what you see on the street? What is the language they use? Where do they go, and how do they interact?
Once you have those answers, you start to understand what makes the place tick, and with that, you can begin nurturing a truly impactful city brand that can last well into the future.
Alex Lampe is strategy and innovation director of brand and business consultancy Wiedemann Lampe. He is a trusted advisor to his clients across all levels of organizations, such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi, TEFAF, and the Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art. His work continuously strives to help transform real-world challenges into innovative solutions.
Images courtesy of Wiedemann Lampe.
Header image: Wiedemann Lampe created the brand identity for RIBOCA (The Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art), which responds to historical and political change through Latvia’s radical transformation and social reorganization.
