Same, same, but different

How the former Yugoslavia countries try to find the individual way to market themselves

Having a look on the former Yugoslavian countries, we can find out some promotional videos, presenting a country in different manners, from different aspects. Nations had been a unite state during all XX century, they have been having a similar to each other unique culture, almost all nations are consisting of one ethnic group – Southern Slavs.

Anyway, we can mention some differences. Let’s have an online tour to former Yugoslavian countries.

In general we can notice the loveliness of Balkan nature which can differ. So, we are able to observe both rocky winter mountains, green forests including fauna, some folklore features. But still, they are different independent countries and there are things to distinguish them.

Firstly, let’s have a look on Croatia. Now it has been becoming a new major touristic country because of dramatically growth of incoming tourists. Regardless the bloody horrible wars of Independence the country got tourism as a main sector in its economy.

 

As it shown truly (by the way, as you have noticed, the video is a touristic commercial), there is a number of UNESCO sites, what does a state significance and make an attraction effect. Unfortunately we can not see anything unique concerning the culture, but it makes a one sort of commercials: attractiveness-based promotional videos.

In addition, we mind the number of wine yards mentioned in the video. It can be a signal for a competence to the nice famous wines of France and Italy as an example.

Secondly, we take another example of a touristic video and it is performed by Montenegro. This video is more atmospheric and sense-oriented. Moreover, it presents more colours and pictures. For example, we can notice a smooth passage from ice peaks to green plain, from extreme sports to just leisure. So further, it is impossible to ignore a presence of a slightly feature of fantasy, as we can see some scenes of picturesque forms of fish and a lady swimming somewhere in the air in a forest.

And one more different of Montenegrin video of Croatian is that the first ones shows all the activities you can enjoy during your vacation since it’s a touristic promo.

Thirdly, from the tourist-orientated commercials mentioned above we are moving to two examples of videos with cultural details in it. So did Slovenia had presenting us some folk crafts and traditional labours (again, mind the grapes and wineries) combined with the still extreme sports.

Then, there is Serbia, presenting more architectural features. Since the architecture is a part of culture it also makes some difference with first two countries even performing a country brand logo.

Simply, there are two things: green valleys and historical buildings. Wait, how could we forget the music? To admit, it makes some different ambience as well and as a part of nation culture. Are there “moments to remember”?

But, we can notice that a slice of a nation’s culture can make a totally different effect and impression of the country.

Finally, there is a lovely commercial of Kosovo called “Young Europeans”. A couple of words about the name: there are young active people contrast to an old man with a weird glance. And, the word “young” can also be applied directly to the country because really, Kosovo is a new young part in the European Community.

As an idea there is a perfect metaphor about raising the country, like they do literally with a mosaic shape and balloons and like it should “rise” nowadays, even by a simple recognition of being a young sovereign country.

by Sergei Makarov 

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Curitiba - the ecological capital of Brazil.

There are a lot of large cities in Brazil. And most of them have similar problems which are typical for the “Third World” cities. Among them there are poverty, overcrowding and insanitation. Curitiba is a rare exception. This city (population of 1.6 million people) is called “the ecological capital of Brazil”.

Such a miracle was created by Curitiba Scientific Research Institute of Urban Planning. In 1965 the city master plan was developed. It provides for extension of the green plantations areas and the priority of public conveyances development.

Curitiba has radial-circular planning. Five wide thruways joint by belt roads disperse from the centre. At the beginning the surrounded woodland parks restrained an increase of city building up. So when internal growth powers ran out, five residential areas appeared around the city and thruways linked all the areas to the city centre. So the central traffic lanes of the arterial highways are set aside especially for high-speed and express buses. There are separate lanes for cars also. Safe and effective bus routes system was made thanks to the traffic streams differentiation.

About 1100 buses make 12 500 trips and transport 1.3 million passengers a day.  That covers 55% of Curitiba transport needs. With the increase in population (it has trebled last years) the bus network also was growing. Now five bus types allow people to get to every city place without problems and excessive expenses. The first type is express-buses. They run along the middle lanes of those five wide thruways. The second  is high-speed double buses that also go along the middle lanes. The busload of such buses is 270 passengers, they are of local production and they appeared here in 1992. The third type is high-speed buses going along the thruways and the wide city streets, their busload is 170 people. The fourth route’s type connects city districts located between thoroughfares. And finally the fifth type is dense network of short routs covering the whole city territory. These routs bring passengers to terminals where people can change to one of the high-speed buses. The buses going along different lines are painted in five colors: red, silvery, orange, yellow and green to comfort the passengers.

In 1991 bus network was fitted out by stations with roofs and turnstiles like subway. It was possible to intensify passenger traffic and three times enhance it thanks to reduction of time necessary for the passengers boarding. The spread of express-routes network is 54 km and others’ is 500 km. Such system covers 65% of city area.

Moreover this surface “subway” is very advantageous for people who pay fare only one time. The passenger can get from one city district to another for 55 cents; sometimes it is cheaper than by subway. That became possible because of unified investments to city transport system. Curitiba bus lines belong to private companies which work is coordinated by united center. It succeeded in combination of society interests (safety, effectiveness and availability of transport lines) and private interests. We should note that companies-owners don’t get any subsidies but are financed from the found increased by public transit’s incomes.

Thanks to wise management the citizens’ fare expenses are only 10% of their common transport expenses. As a result Curitiba consumes petrol 30% per head less than the other Brazil cities. One car is accounted for three people, and Curitiba is the second Brazilian city by this index. The atmospheric emission slumped and road traffic became less intensive as a result of such transport policy.

The residential areas stretched along the thoroughfares. Such city-planning in combination with effective public conveyance system made it possible to unload Curitiba centre. Fifteen city blocks in the centre were changed into pedestrian zones. It is also interesting, almost detective story happened with them. Building of the pedestrian zones started in 1972 and local shopmen gave it a hostile reception, they were afraid of the decrease in their incomes. It came to court. But the next major Jame Lerner began building without doubts. An architectural engineering appeared in the streets late at night on Friday. Two pedestrian blocks were ready by Monday morning. Shops’ owners and sellers came to work and were presented with a fait accompli. The court decision forbidding pedestrian zones was published only on Thursday. But it was too late. Enraged drivers decided to make a protest. But when they arrived to building place they saw a lot of children from surrounding houses. Boys and girls unrolled huge pieces of paper along the streets and painted there. Citizens  liked “The Drawing Holiday” so much that it became a tradition, which repeated every Saturday. Sellers also had a lot of advantages because pedestrian zones attracted a lot of people, trading volume increased extremely much. Now local authorities want to build 150 km of bicycle tracks.

City managers pay attention to ecological education of citizens. Without that all efforts on the creation of  “ecocity” would vain. All conservancy activities go only thanks to reciprocal responsibility of the citizens. There is the Free Ecology University here. Its edifice is good example of successful ecological solution. During its building different secondary materials were used, even old telegraph-poles.

Speaking about secondary materials, Curitiba program “Refuse is not refuse” was commended by UNO award. As a result of well thought-out system of the ecological education near 90% of Curitiba citizens not only throw out their garbage but give it to recycling like in Hamburg or Oslo.

Besides that information is an important aspect. Everywhere in the city there are a lot of information billboards for people to read in detail about Curitiba, its districts, its historic and architectonic sights and also about cultural, social and ecological programs which have made “the Brazilian miracle” of Curitiba. New projects are always discussed on the newspapers’ pages.

Today’s Curitiba major Rafael Greca pays great attention to the city social programs which accounts several hundreds: from perfection of the library system to help for homeless people. A peculiarity of such programs is prevention from parasitic attitude which became a scourge of poor districts even in such rich countries as the United States. Curitiba administration knows about folk wisdom: you can feed hungry men only one time with a fish and feed him for life with a fishing-rod.

Educational program LICEU is very interesting. It is the system of professional trainings. People can graduate from the courses and get a specialty of motor mechanic, cook, hairdresser, programmer or the other necessary one for the city. Most of lyceum’s pupils are yesterday’s peasants and migrants with no education. Municipality buy houses in the new city district and reequip them into trade schools. For better adaptation to the city environment pupils study at little schools not at big ones. A great number of such colleges are situated near Curitiba residential districts where a lot of pupils live. $4 is the fee for three months in LICEU.

A program “A Way to Work” was developed for the poorest city districts. Rebuilt and reequipped buses became classrooms. Every term they remove from one district to another and stay for three months there. During four months more than 100 000 specialists graduated from the program “A Way to Work”.

Some of the programs are intended for new workplaces making. One of them is called TUDO LIMPO (Everything is clean), it recruits jobless people to put their yards and houses in order and cleanliness. At the same time people not only draw salary but also change their relation to the residential areas where they live. They transform their muddy streets into cozy and clean places.

But such programs are not enough for some categories of people, for example, alcoholics and drug addicts who need rehabilitation before supporting themselves. City created the farm “Fazenda” where recovering people work and pass the first phase of medical treatment.

All these programs are simple and inexpensive but too efficient, they are a fundamental part of  the city-planning transforming Curitiba into the city FOR people. They pursue an aim to change people consciousness and help them to feel themselves like heads of their city and of their life. The local authorities initiated a number of programs to educate children to be loving and careful heads of their city.

Curitiba is the most quick-growing Brazilian city. Thanks to its social programs and unique friendly climate Curitiba attracts a great number of migrants. The squatters occupying empty adobes (such settlements are called “favelas” here) is a big problem for many Brazilian cities. And at the same time it is the first index of that city can’t manage with the influx of new inhabitants. How is this question decided in Curitiba? New roads are built in the outskirts of the city, and along these streets there are new lots for sale. 60% of settlers look for a job in the building trade and so these people already don’t have obstacles in building of their own houses. When a future homeowner buys a plot in the city he will also get two saplings and free architect’s consultation. It is necessary to strengthen people and help them to choose a house type and the local powers realized an idea of “The Street of the Technologies” where every house is built with different technology.

The name of Curitiba ex-major Jame Lerner became a symbol of the thriving state. He was a city head during 25 years, since 1970. He had an education of architect and he could unite a group of like-minded persons round him. And they made Curitiba an ecological capital of Brazil. Now Lerner is a governor of Parana state, Brazil. And no wonder that his political rating is one of the highest ones.

by Valentin Ivanov

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Why do ideas about theme parks pass by Russia?

The theme parks acquire the great popularity. But only in the West. Russians consider such projects too risky now. Why? Let’s think a little. 

For most people “park” is only “big garden or the grove with paths”. Provincial town parks in Russia are ordinary combination of benches, poor playgrounds for children, fountain as big rarity, and merry-go-rounds dangerous for life.  

There is a trend in major megalopolises to open leisure parks, but usually they look as accidental piles of various park amusements. At the same time in Europe building of theme parks (which imply not so much mindless entertainments as intelligent content) is developed actively.

Not to think is forbidden. 

There is a sense to compare the market of entertainment services in Russia and abroad. Mainly Russia has only recreation parks in the towns and entertainment complexes at the large shopping malls. And abroad it is a great industry. The PriceWaterhouseCoopers says there are more than 300 entertainment parks in Europe, and ten the largest of them are visited by more than 40 million people yearly. Paris Disneyland is the most popular in Europe (more than 10 million people annually). In the USA it is Walt Disney Park «The Magic Kingdom», Florida (15 million people). Turnover of capital of European parks is more than 3 billion euro. 

“At the last time theme parks as new segments of entertainment industry are developed actively in the West” – Yuri Yudakov, head of department office real estate, Praedium Oncor International. It is the matter about huge educational and entertainment complexes created with novel technologies. 

“We believe in intelligent relaxations” –Marcel Hatt declares, manager companion, Maxmakers (this company provides a consulting service in this field of activity). Theme parks are often opposed to American parks. “American entertainment parks are switchbacks, hamburgers and coca-cola only. No inspiration, no creation. And you’ll know nothing. On the other hand theme parks usually are intended for children to study with game” – Mr. Hatt explains. What is more theme parks offer content which is interesting both for the children and for the adults.

Foe example, more than 120 attractions of German EuropaPark are situated in 15 zones, and every of them is devoted to some European region or country. The national architecture and national features are represented there. EuropaPark offers some show-programs to its visitors. One of them is “The Journey to Times”. There are scenes with medieval knights’ tournament and audiences seats revolved round the scene. Project “Science House” offers excursions to the world of science and technology. The area more than one m² is occupied by 80 interactive exhibits with possibility to experiment, construct and invent. Visitors can cause tornadoes by themselves, generate electricity, watch evolution of embryo. This idea focuses attention on botany, anatomy, chemistry, robotics, photonics and nanotechnology. Such a successful approach helped EuropaPark to obtain the public recognition and to get an impeccable reputation. They made entertainments’ level such high that serious people sad: “The EuropaPark is worth visiting!”. And, 4 million people have visited this place last year. 

Similar projects had been realized in other European countries. So, there is a theme park “City of Sciences and Arts”(Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias de Valencia) in Spain. This successfully functioning park was projected by famous architects Santiago Calatrava and Felix Candela. The park consists of the following zones: Arts Palace, concert complex, exhibition centre, cinema, planetarium, centre for laser shows, greenhouse, interactive science museum, park of oceanography. The most popular here is the science museum which motto is “Forbidden not to think, not to feel, not to touch!”. The Ocean park has more than 500 animals from all over the world and a series of ecosystems of the Earth.

Fifty-fifty. 

Of course, entertainment and theme park are not charitable projects. The cause of their financial success is a good combination of entertainment infrastructure and commercial objects such as hotels, cafes, restaurants and shops. It’ll give synergetic result, repeated effect. After visiting of theme park visitors should go not to parking but to entertainment zone with souvenir shops, cinemas and restaurants. According to Marcel Hatt, 50% of theme parks’ incomes are receipted from entertainment and attractions and other 50% is extra service. Additional services are parking, food, hotel accommodation, holding conferences, gift shops, educational and scientific objects. 

Hotel complexes EuropaPark Resort is situated here, it occupies an area of 27 hectares. It consists of five hotels, camping and tent village with the total capacity near 4.5 thousand places. Capacity of the hotels exceeds 90%. Besides it there are more 200 hotels and pensions in 14 municipalities located side by side with park. 

In Danish Tivoli Gardens there are 38 cafés and restaurants for 10 thousand people. Here you can visit Chinese and Turkish restaurants, coffee-houses and bakeries, de luxe restaurants with author’s cuisine from famous chief cooks. Not long ago de luxe hotel was opened, and every room was designed individually. 

“It is better to plan theme parks with other components, it’ll give an opportunity to make a loan from bank and reduce owned capital. So, if you will ask for a credit only for theme park, you’ll get only 20–30% of capital you need. But if it will be multifunctional project the correlation of owned capital and loan one will be fifty-fifty. It is possible to get 80% of necessary financing with office component. 

In addition theme parks could be excellent area for a brand showing. America has well-developed film industry, and usually entertainment and theme parks are created at movie studios. Disney, Universal, Paramount and Lego invest to the theme parks and promote film heroes in such way. It’s interesting that large automobile concerns are not indifferent to the theme parks. So the hugest attraction in EuropaPark (height of Silver Star is 70 m) was created in collaboration with Mercedes-Benz. 

Experts think that people are bored with countless trade-entertainment centers in Moscow and other Russian cities. And huge theme park would be very called-for. Especially as because prospective target audience of theme parks is quite wide: families with children, schoolchildren and preschoolers. But for some reasons Russian and foreign investors fear to build theme parks in Russia taking into account high risks. A lot of good projects remain on paper still. 

It should be stressed that incidents with failure of theme parks were abroad also. Here is a typical example. The first Swiss theme park “Mystery Park” was founded on writer Erich von Däniken’s initiative in 2003 at the place of former military airfield. After its opening project received the serious state support and also got the reward Milestone, it’s Swiss prize for quality and innovations in tourism. During first 100 days the park was being visited by 200 thousand people that was more than organizers expected in 40%. But the next year the flow of visit has decreased. Things were moving worse and worse, and in 2006 Mystery Park had became bankrupt and had closed. Swiss Academy of Technics called Mystery Park as “Cultural Chernobyl”. By experts’ opinion indistinctness of the conception, unchanging exhibition and low involvement of local touristic business were main causes of Mystery park’s closure. Space Park in Bremen suffered the same fate: its infrastructure and attractions had gone out of date though some years after its launch. 

It’s considered such parks should have possibilities for an organic development. Russian investors only make a helpless gesture: “Development implies land resources, investments and technical re-equipment”. 

They are not satisfied with payback period also. Sometimes it may be more than 10 years, not to speak of technical and other risks. For example, factories producing the attractions now have quite modest output and are overdriven today. 

Therefore many potential investors show preference to projects of sports specialization, for example skating-rinks or ski-resorts. It’s explained easily because entertainment park requires incomparably large territory. Taking into account land prices today only government support can attract an attention of investors. Moreover entertainment park is very power-hungry enterprise an infrastructure problems will be not solved by private company itself. 

It should be noted that state and municipality quite often support projects of the theme parks’ building. For example, Spanish “City of Sciences and Arts” was founded thanks to Valencia administration. It’s interesting that city has obtained it by dreaming of not only new jobs but cultural and service center in contrast to popular Barcelona and Seville.

By Valentin Ivanov

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Sex appeal in Place Marketing

Nowadays there is a small tending, which can be recognized as extraordinary or, moreover, vulgar. However, there are some varieties of examples of the concept of sexuality in a rapidly increasing business area known as territorial marketing or place marketing.

Here we go. Tel-Aviv, the business capital of Israel, now got branded as a new gay and lesbian capital: Tel-Aviv Gay Vibe. Guess what, English-German investment equal to the amount of 88.1 US dollars is directing over there. So that, it will promote a gay-tourism with the following resorts, shopping routes, etc. This is a good point of applying the term “sexuality” to place marketing.

The campaign is detailed on the website: 
http://telavivgayvibe.atraf.com/
Tel Aviv invites you to have fun, be free and feel fabulous!


Also, there is an ad made by Swiss company in purpose to promote Switzerland as a location of European Football Championship-2008. Quite cute, it shows a beautiful European nature and countryside with unusual appeared workers. Worth seeing. 

 

However, there are some pointless and awkward examples of doing so. The first one is Poland. The Bolkestein directive, which allowed to a Polish company to work in France according to Polish conditions and not the French ones. And, it caused one inconvenient for seeing a concept or fact called “Polish Plumber” (in French: “plombier polonais”). 

The second example is Georgia. Not the American one, the ex-USSR one. And there is nothing to say, just total misunderstanding. What is it? Kind-of-sexy man called Tbilisi is branding the name of Georgian capital flirting with young women. Moreover, they took money from the city budget to shoot and advertise this slightly erotic video. You must see it.

To sum up: sex appeal as a mean of attractiveness must be applied with a great accuracy to avoid the experience of Georgia, with some humor like Switzerland or Poland, or direct to the point for the minority as Tel-Aviv not without the risks...


As for other conclusions, they are always welcome in the comments below :)

References:

Tel-Aviv : http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3922524,00.html

Switzerland : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sE0tr6yRBU

Tbilisi : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sE0tr6yRBU

Poland : http://www.nationspresse.info/?p=295

By Sergei Makarov

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Theme parks: when history try its revival to catch the tourists

France again: Napoleon is back!

BBC News, by Hugh Schofield, 26 March 2012.

ID-réel: In our work we are pushing up the topic of theme parks: it is one of the best ways to promote the region, its history, its traditions. BUT: any theme park is a BUSINESS project: the main goal is to attract the tourists and to make them pay for the entertainment they have. The best exemples apart Disneylands arround the world, the theme parks as Futuroscope in Poitier, Puy du Fou in Vendée or Médinat Alzahra in Tunisia. The real explosure of the theme parks are linked to the big need of new experiences in leisure, short trips and in the same time, the babyboomers time in Europe & USA.

Plans are afoot to build a theme park based on the life and times of the French leader Napoleon Bonaparte. Can it be a tourist magnet to rival nearby Disneyland Paris?

You have heard of Napoleon the emperor, the general, the reformer, the lover. Of the humble Corsican who took destiny by the throat, whose armies marched through Europe, bringing subjugation yet also emancipation.

And how he was stopped at the gates of Moscow, fought a last hurrah at Waterloo, and died in Atlantic exile.

So maybe you will be interested in the latest attempt to memorialise this greatest of Frenchmen. Because coming some time soon at a location not far from Paris, it's Napoleon… the theme park.

Far from being the whim of a madcap entrepreneur, it is an entirely serious project with the backing of government, tourism officials and the Bonaparte family.

Assuming the money can be raised - and everyone thinks it will be - then the first stone of Napoleon's Bivouac (for that is its name) will be laid on 18 February 2014, the 200th anniversary of the battle of Montereau.

The battle of where? Montereau is not the most famous of Napoleon's encounters. Austerlitz it ain't. It was fought in what became known as the France campaign of 1814, as the emperor tried in vain to hold back the advancing coalition armies.

At Montereau, 90km (55 miles) south-east of Paris, he scored a small but brilliant victory over the Austrians. Legend has it that it was here - when loyal soldiers expressed fears for his safety - that Napoleon uttered the much-quoted words: "Fear not my friends. The bullet that will kill me has yet to be cast!"

The victory made little difference to the course of the war, and a few weeks later Napoleon was forced to abdicate at Fontainebleau.

But it remained etched in the memory of the town. A statue of the emperor on horseback dominates the main bridge, and there are annual re-enactments by uniformed enthusiasts. More importantly, by virtue of being one of his very few victories on French soil, Montereau is seen as the perfect spot for a Napoleonic tourist centre.

"Experts will look into what kind of attractions we could include in the park," says Yves Jego, mayor of Montereau, and driving force behind the project. "They mustn't be vulgar, but fitting for the stature of the man."

Actors in armour and on horseback during a reenactment at Le Puy du Fou theme park Le Puy du Fou is a template for success

For those who find it hard to imagine how a theme park could be based on so important - and indeed controversial - a historical character, supporters have a stock answer. Don't compare us to Disneyland Paris, they say. Think more of Le Puy du Fou.

Le Puy du Fou is a historical theme park, telling the story of the people of the Vendee in western France. With five elaborate outdoor spectacles - replete with battle-scenes, pyrotechnics and a cast of hundreds - it draws in some 1.5 million visitors a year.

The Bivouac could do something similar. Provisional sketches show a park divided into regions - France, Russia, the Orient and so on - with reconstructions of sites from Napoleon's life such as the Pyramids and the Gates of Moscow.

There'll be battle re-enactments, and perhaps rollercoasters and water-rides. The promoters also want computerised exhibits based on the latest in video-gaming.

"A theme park is a fantastic way to teach young people about history," says France's tourism minister Frederic Lefebvre.

"A park that tells of the life of Napoleon - the good sides as well as the bad - will, I am convinced, prove of interest to people the world over."

Lending authority to the project is the man who currently heads the Bonaparte family, Charles Napoleon. A descendant of the emperor's younger brother Jerome, he dismisses the notion that it will trivialise his illustrious forebear.

"In the past people learned history by reading. Then they learned history by going to museums, or by seeing films. In the 21st Century, people need a new medium for history - and that medium is the theme park," he says.

Charles Napoleon is concerned about historical accuracy, but he places his faith in a committee of experts which will keep a close eye on the project.

Because Napoleon means different things to different groups of people. The Poles regard him as a saviour, with a name-check in their national anthem. For the Russians, he was a brutal invader. The Spanish rose up against him, and were ruthlessly suppressed. But many in Italy thanked him for casting off the Austrian yoke.

As for the British, they have a particular relationship with the man who for so many years was their bitterest foe. There is a school of British historiography which is especially critical of le petit caporal, seeing him as a prototype for later destiny-inspired war-mongers such as Hitler.

This infuriates Charles Napoleon.

"Do you judge Winston Churchill by the 30,000 he killed in one night in the air raids over northern Germany? Of course not," he fumes.

"Yes, Napoleon made war. But behind the French armies came new institutions, new administrations, new rules - all inspired by the French revolution, by equality and justice. It was liberation through conquest."

In France too, historical opinion remains divided - so divided that children learn plenty about the Revolution, but history lessons then take a sudden leap forward to 1871 and the coming of the Third Republic.

His legacy is awkward because even though Napoleon put in place many of the institutions which make up modern-day France (the Banque de France, departments, Legion d'honneur and so on), he also crowned himself emperor and waged war on the rest of Europe.

Particularly troubling for the political left are his re-establishment of slavery, and the subordination of women in his civil code.

Not that any of this matters to those the theme park will be principally aimed at. The real genius lies in its appeal to new tourists - those already arriving in France in their tens of thousands but soon in their millions: the Indians, the Russians, the Brazilians. And above all the Chinese.

Chinese tourists taking photos of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris France is keen to woo Chinese visitors

"China is our most important potential market, and there Napoleon is a vital strategic asset," says Christian Mantei, head of tourism development agency Atout France.

"They love his image as a military genius, as an epic hero and a self-made man. He is a killer brand."

Charles Napoleon agrees.

"The French have a difficult relationship with their history. It all moved so fast, so inevitably people are deeply divided over Napoleon's achievements. But go abroad - especially to China or India or Japan - and you immediately see that he is the best-known French man all over the world.

"That's why we have to build this park. Because if we don't do it soon, you can be absolutely sure the Chinese will get there first."

Only Lyon, an excelent online marketing campaign

For a long time now, the town of Lyon (France) has been spending a lot of time and effort in branding the town and giving it a name on the international scene. After seeing the adverts, the websites and the general collective effort and spirit surrounding the project, I must admit that I’m hooked!

Only Lyon brand name and logo

In one of my previous articles I mentioned this town as a good example of territorial or city branding (the fact of making a brand out of a place in order to give it a stronger identity, see this post), now I’m going to dedicate a small article on the town to show you just what has been done on an online and visual basis (I will not be talking about the economic, cultural, or social side).

First things first, the brand name ONLY LYON followed with the red lion logo, respects as colour scheme that has been used throughout the branding process, helping every little bit come together as a one. This can seem quite basic but it gives us a sense of unity that is very important when advertising a place to live in, study in or work in.

Have a look at these different websites and videos. Do you see the red, white, black and grey colour scheme?

The main website: http://www.onlylyon.org/accueil-42-1.html

The tourism website: http://www.en.lyon-france.com/

The dedicated “TV” website: http://www.onlylyon.tv/

The blog: http://theychoselyon.com/

Only Lyon main website first page

The second thing I have to remark upon is the fact that ALL the websites, videos and online documents are very well done and precise. The websites are simple in design, easy to understand, and very pleasing visually. The Only Lyon TV (3^rd link) is especially well done and easy to navigate, and offers a very interesting selection of videos about the town. They also have a good variety of pages on the most used online social media websites that have already attracted a great number of people (over 6 000 fans of the Only Lyon Facebook page). The videos can easily be found through Youtube and other such video services on the net and they have excellent media coverage on information websites and blogs.

The Only Lyon brand name and logo in the town

I have spent a lot of time going through the different Only Lyon websites and texts, looking for mistakes or problems… and the only thing that’s missing or needs changing is the non-existence of an English version of the TV website. All the rest is, well, just excellent quality: the details, the information, the links, it’s all there.

Indeed, the whole online operation seems to have been very well planned and definitely uses all the options available on the net: blog, video, websites, social media etc… I can only recommend this as the best example of territorial branding online that I have seen.

By James Berry

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What is the solution: marketing the people or the technology and infrastructure in a territorial marketing strategy? Lverpool Vs Catalonia

Today I would like to focus on two, very distinct types of advertising videos found in the field of territorial marketing. For this I have chosen one video promoting the town of Liverpool (England) and an other promoting the region of Catalonia (Spain).

Some may say that these two cannot be compared as one is a city and the other a region: they may have different funding, different goals, or even different perspectives in selling themselves. But, if you watch the videos I am sure you will see just why these two videos stand apart and how, city or region, could use ether one of these in a territorial marketing strategy.

I think that, once again, the main thing to do first if we want to analyse these ads properly is, as in most advertising campaigns, to identify what is being sold and the type of client it is being sold to. This will help us identify the main differences in these two videos and gather some information about the strategy used by the town or region.

Liverpool focusses on its people. Throughout the brand, the details given on the website and the video, the main words here are "people", "history" and "culture". It isn't hard to see what they are selling: a happy town, rich in culture and history, filled with successful and fulfilled people. Liverpool, from what we see in the video, is a town where people go to start their companies and accomplish their dreams in a good, friendly environment. The video sells a cultural experience and environment in which to develop on a professional scale.

Catalonia focusses on its industry, its research and development. The main aspect put forward here is on the many technological hubs and their expertise, as well as on its numerous connexions to other regions and countries and its accessibility. It cleverly puts forward the notion that it is as region of technology and learning as well as a place sought-out by tourists and people with a more social inclination.

Now in some ways these two ads can seem very similar: both portray the land as being a place for development and a good place to work in. But the idea behind the two is fundamental different. On the one hand we have a town selling the people who enable this work and progress whilst, on the other hand we have a region selling the infrastructure that does exactly the same thing.

These are, for me the two main key aspects that regions can offer: infrastructure and people. Infrastructure is a very concrete notion that can be measured, counted and easily explained. People though is a much vaster concept: you can'(t put a price on human knowledge and know-how. So even if the basic offer (a good place to work in) remains the same, the key selling points are completely different.

Now the interesting thing here is that the target of these ads can very well be the same for both. We can easily paint the picture of a young man or women, looking for a good environment in which to start a business or a career, maybe looking to start a family... What differs will be how he sees this new life and what he needs to make it come true: is it the infrastructure and the financing, backing and technological support that is needed or is it the human, social aspect, full of history, knowledge and curious people to guide and help him that is needed?

So the question I will leave you with is this: In your region or town, do you think it would be best to advertise the people or the infrastructure and technology? Why? Could we combine both or would that be too much information in an ad this length?

By James Berry

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DBS Bank, Territorial Marketing or Clever Brand Marketing?

In December 2010 DBS Bank unveiled their latest regional marketing strategy along with a new ad for the bank and Asia. This clever 30 second video shows us a bright, colorful and strong Asia, the shockwaves of witch even reaches Paris, and links this with the DBS Bank. The ad blends together a subtle mix of territorial marketing and brand marketing by associating the brand with key Asian values and images thus giving the basic marketing used in the ad an extra layer of sweetness. The "Living, breathing Asia" catchphrase is clever here and helps visualize an "active" (or pro-active) people (or company).

Short version...

 Long version...

Overall, this impressive US$22m regional branding campaign seeks to create real links between the brand and company and the local markets and territories it belongs to. The plan is to allocate certain amounts of this budget to specific targets including regional markets and different regions of China. In what way we do not exactly know.

DBS has already implemented local campaigns to establish a presence in each market. “It’s now timely for us to roll out a regional thrust,” said Karen Ngui, DBS managing director and head, global strategic marketing and communications.

The marketing plan includes heavy advertising on key media: ads in airports, television ads to be played on international flights (on specific airlines such as Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, Singapore Airlines etc.), ads in specialized magazines and journals and an online marketing campaign on Facebook and smart-phones.

So the real question we are asking ourselves here is: are they using territorial marketing as a way to promote their brand or are they using the brand to promote the territory?

If you have a view you want to share, ideas on the subject or more information please leave a comment and join the discussion!

I Amsterdam, why planning is important

In 2009, the city of Amsterdam came up with it’s new brand, a brand that served the purpose of promoting the town and its inhabitants to foreigners and making it look more attractive. The motto and brand “I Amsterdam” in red and white clearly shows and says that the habitants are what form the city: without them, Amsterdam would not exist, every person there is Amsterdam and Amsterdam is its inhabitants.

This is quite a simple and clever motto to use as it not only gives the people living their real sense of community but it also shows the outsiders that Amsterdam is more than just its districts and tourist attractions. As far as the colors are concerned, he red and white help visually as an eye-catcher and shows us the distinct words in the motto: “I Amsterdam” becomes “I am Amsterdam”. The font used is simple but reflects a strong, professional and decided mind set, words that could easily have been used to describe its people during the marketing campaigns.

The information given on the website also points out that the brand is supposed to show that its inhabitants are proud of their town. It then enumerates a number of interesting facts that help the city stand out from its neighbors.

The brand comes primarily with a website, www.Iamsterdam.com that uses the same colors as the motto and gives interesting and useful information about events and tourist attractions in the city. The website also helps us plan our stay in Amsterdam, has a section of interesting links about the city and has a business section designed for young entrepreneurs.

From the information I can find, I Amsterdam’s main goal is to give a younger feel to the town’s image on a tourism level and on a professional level by making the town seem more interesting for investment. Indeed throughout the information given by the officials, the details that stand out the most are those concerning the economic or structural advantages that Amsterdam has to offer to investors. I was going to quote some text but I actually couldn’t find a part that was of more interest than the others, so here is the whole page: http://www.iamsterdam.com/en/amsterdam-partners/i-amsterdam/iamsterdam-manifesto

To me, this branding process is poorly executed. Yes, the motto is good and helps Amsterdam stand out from other towns and regions. Yes the website is well done and informative. Yes the strengths of the city are well put forward and encourage foreign investment. But what about the rest?

As any marketer should know by now, creating a brand and a good website is not enough to be seen by the public. It does give more credibility to the region or city and helps people remember it, but it needs to be followed up by a well planned and strong marketing strategy in order to give this creation the merit it deserves. I have been quite disappointed to see that they seemed to suddenly stop in their efforts after the brand was created and that they did not use it to make promotional videos or adverts for the town based around the motto or the website. A promotional video can be made for very little money and just left on the internet (Youtube) for people to find. All it takes really is a good concept in order to create a buzz or make people want to share the video with their friends.

I believe that Amsterdam has a lot of economic and geographic advantages that most investors are unaware of. I believe that the city has a lot to win from some good old advertising and that it can still use the brand to create some renewed interest in the region. In creating I Amsterdam I think that the main problem was the lack of a proper marketing strategy that included a long term plan taking the concept further than the simple creation of the brand and website.

Nevertheless, on the plus side, if one has a look at the “Shop” part of the website, one quickly sees that there is a great number of articles in the classic Dutch orange color and sporting the motto I Amsterdam. These are all at good prices and are quite fashionable and can easily tempt anyone looking for a way of supporting their town. This is a clever thing to do as it spreads the brand in a different way than what we are used to. http://www.iamsterdamgifts.com/

All in all unless the town has already planned a follow up that I am not aware of, we can clearly see here a good example of poor marketing strategy planning.

By J.Berry
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