I now don’t feel alone. It looks like the people from the New Institute are joining the conversation about seeing the city of Newcastle as a brand with a public forum at Merewether’s Souths Leagues Club. I believe the forum starts at 7pm, Tuesday 13th October.

Imagine seeing Newcastle as a prosperous and successful city…

Imagine Newcastle as a city that supports thriving manufacturing, service, defence and education sectors, boasting the finest art galleries, theatres and sporting arena’s.

Imagine a city that is, after Sydney, the most popular tourism destination in Australia.

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It’s funny, it’s positive and it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but Queensland Tourism’s latest advertising campaign ‘Hey Hey This is Queensland’ has more than likely secured Queensland’s position as Australia’s ‘The Best’ tourist destination.

This follows the phenomenal success of its ‘The Best Job in the World’ campaign which placed Queensland and the words ‘The Best’ together.

Watch and listen…

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  I Love NY More Than Ever 
  Originally uploaded by gooskimo

I’m a strong believer in the power of branding a city to attract investment, talented people, visitors and events and I’m a stronger believer in the power of social media to connect people and communities.

But, I’ve never heard of cities embracing social media or social networking strategies to build their brand.

I’m not saying it hasn’t happened before; it’s just that, I’ve never heard of any.

I see social networking as being the perfect tool for cities to connect, communicate and collaborate with people and communities at home and abroad.

Or am I just naïve?

Do Governments fear social networking openness? If true, is this fear built on a political culture of confrontation.

I don’t have any answers….but I would like to know?

  Holiday Poster 
  Originally uploaded by TohoTora

Am I deluding myself or have those very smart people in the NSW Government finally read my articles on city branding?

Maybe…or did they listen to my ABC1233 interview!

However, it doesn’t matter. I just want to celebrate that according to the Sydney Morning Herald, the tortured genius’ of the NSW Government have bitten the bullet and recognised the need to market Sydney properly to the world, establishing the Global Brand Sydney Project, which will help to sell Sydney internationally.

Yes…I know, announcing the creation of another government committee on branding Sydney in itself doesn’t sound to earth shatteringly different from what had gone before.

But, the rhetoric coming from Christopher Brown, managing director of Tourism and Transport Forum and a member of the Global Brand Sydney steering committee, does.

Christopher says “The Global Brand Sydney Steering Committee has had its first meeting this week, involving representatives from government, business, tourism, events and education. Their brief is to set the framework to define Sydney, ensuring everyone is singing from the same song sheet when it comes to selling the city.”

WOW!!! Branding a city with the help of community stakeholders…it’s a miracle.

I think he must have read my blog or more likely went to Simon Anholt’s great website. 

If that wasn’t enough, Christopher goes on to say “Sydney is so much more than the harbour, the Opera House and Bondi Beach.” “We need to tell that story to the world.”

Hold on…he’s forgot to mention Newcastle!

“Our offering is so much deeper than simply as a tourism destination. That’s why Global Brand Sydney is so important.”

DEEPER…isn’t Newcastle deep enough? Remember Christopher, Newcastle is NSW second largest city.

At least Christopher understands the enormous value of brand awareness and image, highlighting that "brand Australia" is estimated to be worth a phenomenal $800 billion.

I think Brand Newcastle must be worth at least $20 billion…or more.

Also the NSW Government has to be congratulated for appointing John O’Neill as chair of the Global Brand Sydney committee, it’s a great idea. John knows his marketing shit and doesn’t put-up with fools. Even, if he doesn’t like the English.

However, if it’s good enough for Sydney…it must good enough for Newcastle.

At this point, I’d like to say “Please sir may we have a Global Brand committee. We pay taxes as well.”

Back to Christopher’s article, “Sydney’s image is far more than logos, ads and taglines, and for too long our reputation and brand have been almost accidental, instead of being deliberate and focused, and backed by a whole of government approach.”

Good stuff!!! Maybe next time the NSW Government and Tourism NSW should ask a marketer before they spend tens of millions of tax payer dollars on branding.

Wait…I’m a tax payer and so are the rest of the people living in Newcastle.

The NSW Government must have considered the extraordinary value of ‘Brand Newcastle.’ It would be hard to understand if there was no overarching strategy in place to manage and grow this valuable asset.

In Christopher’s own words, “Cities and nations that will prosper in the 21st century are those that recognise, defend and promote their ‘brand’ and who actively compete for attention and for customers across the world.”

I hear you brother!!!

Christopher…I’m a believer! Just read my blog.

When do we start the Global Brand Newcastle Project like Sydney’s? I’m sure our State member for Newcastle, Jodi Mckay would love to get involved.

In those famous words in ‘Oliver’ “Please sir, can we have some more…"

Is it time for me to drag my ‘Brand Newcastle’ strategy out again?

somewhere in chinatown
Originally uploaded by Julalo

Is the Victorian Government wasting money rebranding the Grampians region?

As reported on the ABC’s website: Grampians Marketing says it hopes a major new advertising campaign will rejuvenate the region’s image among potential visitors.

The Victorian Government announced yesterday that $700,000 will be spent on advertising in Victoria and South Australia.

"Its conveying the feeling the Grampians is a great place to get fit, relax, to enjoy the fresh air, to leave the stresses of the modern world behind," he said.

THE loudest cries wins when it comes to place branding, but if the money is only for fancy television and print advertising, then it isn’t the answer! Branding a nation, region or a city is more than pure advertising.

According to Simon Anholt, one of the worlds leading experts on place and nation branding:

"There is the common misconception that branding is simply a communications strategy, a tagline, visual identity or logo. It is much, much more. It is a strategic process for developing a long-term vision for a place that is relevant and compelling to key audiences. Ultimately, it influences and shapes positive perceptions of a place."

What do you think?

dices
Originally uploaded by Dreambagz

According to the busy people at Tourism New South Wales, business visitors are anyone that has the following purpose to visit:

• work travel for transport crews,
• business or other work,
• attendance at conferences, exhibitions, conventions or trade fairs, and
• training and research related to employment.

International business visitors to NSW for the year ended September 2005, NSW received 423,600 business visitors or 54% of all business visitors to Australia and 3.6 million or 45% of all business nights in Australia. Spending $567 million.

Tourism NSW proudly boasts that Sydney received 96% of all business visitors to NSW, a grand total of 406,064 visitors – compare that number with the Hunter Valley figures including Newcastle, only 7,160.

Sounds like the International business community is missing the boat on Newcastle or is it, Newcastle missing the boat?

This begs the question: How much money does Tourism NSW budget to promote Newcastle?

Coffee House (Mic)
Originally uploaded by asha lie lee

CITY BRANDING – What’s in it for Newcastle?

Well, branding gives a city a clear, compelling and unique story that makes the place a more desirable place to live, work and visit.

My urge is not a mad rant, but a true belief in marketing and the power of branding.

According to CEOs for Cities, a network of mayors, corporate CEOs, university presidents, foundation officials and business and civic leaders from leading US cities:

There are many reasons why it is critical for a place to have a brand strategy, but the most common is to stimulate economic growth.

That’s because a strong brand can:

• Shift the perception of a place that may be suffering from a poor image among external and internal constituents
• Create a common vision for the future of the community and its potential
• Provide a consistent representation of the place
• Enhance its local, regional and/or global awareness and position
• Shed unfavorable stereotypes associated with a place and make it more appealing.

See…I’m not mad, I’m just very good looking:)

Peter Garret
Originally uploaded by 2991

In the Age of Conversation – why don’t politicians get it?

I mean city branding.

Successful cities like Sydney, London and New York have qualities the same as strong corporate brands, marketing history, lifestyle, culture and economic strengths. They also form good cooperative and proactive partnerships between city and government to enhance infrastructure.

So in the case of my very own city of Newcastle – why doesn’t Federal Environment, Heritage & Arts Minister Peter Garrett get it?

Sydney’s heritage includes the Opera House and Bridge, Newcastle has Nobbys Lighthouse and Fort Scratchley.

Politicians give Sydney heaps of money to maintain its heritage, Newcastle gets zip – nothing!

So why has the Federal Environment, Heritage & Arts Minister Peter Garrett refused a local entrepreneurs proposal to redevelop Nobby’s Lighthouse, after decades of Government neglect.

Peter "Midnight Oil" Garrett is going against six years of community consultation, city council & state government support, even advice from his own department and his own Labor party colleagues.

How can a city like Newcastle grow and create an identity, when all its major assist are abandoned, spray painted with graffiti and rundown. In the words of another stupid Australian politician "please explain!"

Who’s got the ear of Peter Garrett? Well watch this short film made by ClownWatcher and findout.

Obelisk @ Night 1
Originally uploaded by Snelvis

According to Tourism New South Wales about 95 per cent of the state’s business visitors spend most or all of their time in Sydney. This fact is not easy to forget, when you consider Newcastle is New South Wales (NSW) second city and the sixth largest in Australia.

Internationally, NSW has been successful in attracting over 65 per cent of all Australian-based Asia Pacific regional headquarters or operations – that’s well over 600 companies. Unfortunately, very few have located their headquarters in Newcastle.

Courtesy of the Australia Bureau of Statistics, over half of Australia’s 500 leading companies have called NSW home including companies like WestPac, Commonwealth Bank, St George Bank, Macquarie Bank, AMP, Woolworths, Seven Network, Boral, CSR, Harvey Norman, PBL, Leighton, Qantas, Lend Lease, Fairfax, and Westfield. Again, very few have seen the benefits of locating their major operations or headquarters to Newcastle.

Whilst Newcastle is struggling to project an attractive new image, Sydney our nearest and biggest competitor has been named the world’s best city by the Anholt City Brands Index, followed by London, Paris, Rome and New York. Paul Keating even said, “If you are not living in Sydney you are simply camping out"

It is no exaggeration to say that Sydney is as close to having a ‘perfect city brand’ as any city can have.

Like Sydney, increasingly more and more cities around the world are using branding, positioning themselves more effectively to compete globally for their fair share of the world’s consumers, tourists, businesses, investment, capital, respect and attention.

Rather than being classed as a campsite, Newcastle’s future success relies on it becoming a strong compelling brand. I can only hope our political masters see the potential of branding my adopted city.

Give me the job…I’ll do it.