A Branding Framework 1 Content 1. Background . 3 1.1 Objectives of the Creative City Challenge Project . 3 1.2 Objectives of this report . 4 2. Concepts and methodology . 4 2.1 Defining concepts . 4 2.2 Narratives. 5 3. Branding of Hoeje-Taastrup Municipality: Brand Strategy 2010 . 6 3.1. Introduction . 6 3.2. Concepts, method and process . 7 3.3. Brand platform . 8 3.4. Identity . 9 3.5. Communication Platform . .11 3.5.1. Bearing Mark: The town for active people. .12 3.5.2. Area of effort 1: Space – nature, culture and experiences. .12 3.5.3. Area of effort 2: Development – business, technology and market place . .13 3.5.4. Area of effort 3: Connection – traffic, network and mobility . .14 4. HTM Concrete: Analysis . .15 4.1 Facts: Institutions, companies . .15 4.2 Identity, image, marketing and branding . .15 4.3 Possible narrative . .16 5. Recommendations . .17 Appendix . .18 2 1.1 Objectives of the Creative City Challenge Project The Creative City Challenge project aims to • Workpackage 4: Networks, Dialogue and • To create coupling opportunities for crea- build and implement an integrated strategy Business Cooperation: To develop and tive businesses (designers, architects, for cities to strengthen their innovative ca- implement successful instruments to sup- artists etc.) and producers and executors pacity by means of a methodology of pilot port linkages within the creative industries in the concrete sector through prototyping projects developed and carried out by cities and also with traditional industries in or- and testing methods. throughout the North Sea Region (NSR). der to increase knowledge transfer and • To create a 1:1 platform in new ways to innovation capacity within the North Sea uses concrete. More specifi cally, the project analyses the Region. catalyst role of creative industries in building Workpackage 5: Branding and strategy and strengthening the innovative capacity • Workpackage 5: Creative Clusters: How • To promote Hoeje-Taastrup municipality of urban economies, taking into account the and where should a government (or to attract creative citizens and industries. triple helix of government, education and governmental organisation) invest in in- • To promote the region as world leader in business. frastructure in order to attract and support the use of concrete in new ways. creativity? • To support networking and communica- In particular, the Hoeje-Taastrup Municipality tion within the concrete industry, creative (HTM) project focuses on the city’s concrete Within the overall CCC framework, Hoeje- entrepreneurs, research institutions etc. industry – from one viewpoint a “sunset in- Taastrup Municipality has identifi ed its own • To provide input to strategic decisions at dustry” (i.e. an industry in decline, one that subprojects with these objectives: local political level. The Municipality’s role has passed its peak or boom periods); from as driver and authority. The municipality another viewpoint an industry full of crea- Workpackage 3: Learning and advising. as supplier, customer, partner, etc. tive potential which can be lifted from the • To strengthen creative enterprises and industrial age into the experience economy traditional industries competences within through innovative processes, branding etc. the concrete fi eld through a learning pro- cess. The overall CCC project has identifi ed the • To establish network and identify a cluster main aims for the project: of companies and players in the concrete fi eld. • Workpackage 3: Entrepreneurship and skills development. To develop and sup- Workpackage 4: Clusters and urban spaces port enterprise and entrepreneurship • To develop new applications and new skills in creative individuals and organiza- markets for concrete in buildings and ur- tions. ban spaces. 3 1.2 Objectives of this report Within the framework of the overall project, velopment in HTM with specifi c regard to the Consequently, with regard to the above three the main objectives of this report are to pro- concrete industry, i.e. a traditional industry sub-projects, this paper focuses in particular vide a branding framework for policies and which arguably can be “lifted” into the expe- on workpackage 5. activities concerning the creative city de- rience economy. 2.1 Defi ning concepts The concepts of ”brand,” “image” etc. have Image City and place branding multiple defi nitions, yet a comprehensive The planning literature on branding also City and place branding is generally defi ned theory of the brand-methodology is still uses the term “identity”, yet it means here in the literature as a subset of city and place missing. Therefore, as inspiration, this pa- the character of a place that urban policy- marketing strategies. A brand “is a physical per draws upon defi nitions from The Base- makers and planners intend a place to have. or social-psychological theme that is related line Report by Annet Jantien Smit: Branding Such an intended identity is constructed by to a specifi c place and with which diverse Creative Places – defi ning branding in re- urban policy-makers and planners, not by inhabitants and visitors should be able to lation to “creative places” as a multidimen- people’s own views. The image of a place identify themselves with”. sional construct, matching a organization’s is often expressed in its architectural and functional and emotional values with the urban design, and communicated in place A brand is usually operationalized in a slo- performance and psychosocial needs of sta- branding. Image, thus, is an intended iden- gan containing the name of a place, a clear keholders. tity of a place. and comprehensible story about the place, and a logo as a visual marker. The brand, More detailed defi nitions – as offered by The City and place marketing thus the slogan, the story and the logo are Baseline Report - are noted below. City and place marketing are strategies and sometimes conceptualized such that they activities to provide a place with a positive can be translated in the city’s architecture. Identity image, in order to advance its economic An architectural fl agship project or form- In social sciences the term “identity” of a development. Such strategies include, for based codes in zoning regulations may be place means the character of a place that example, advertising, lobbying and incenti- used to communicate the brand by visual makes up the view that people take of this ves such as tax exemptions, and the design quality of a city or district. The most well- place, while this view is constructed by these of the built environment. An attractive and known example of such a fl agship project is people themselves. Identity, thus, is a per- creative image of a city may infl uence the the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. ceived view of a place. identity of that city that its workers, inhabi- tants, and tourists construct and perceive by themselves. 4 2.2 Narratives Why are some cities perceived as the places A second type of narrative that adds to a jewellery industry provide these cities with to be for cultural firms and creative know- creative identity of a city is “otherness.” a creative identity for these specific sectors. ledge workers? According to The Baseline Thus, Rotterdam is perceived by cultural en- Report, some creative cities posses percei- trepreneurs to be a harbor city, where people These three types of narratives may be re- ved narratives that tell it is a creative place. have a sturdy working mentality. Such narra- produced, boosted or just put into the picture These narratives may be based in factual re- tives do not literally tell that Rotterdam is a by a fourth type of narrative, in visual ele- alities (eg a city having many cultural firms), creative city, but it distinguishes them from ments, by “visual distinctiveness.” Authentic but it is also a perceived identity, a view con- other, less outspoken, more mainstream urban landscapes and heritage, for instance structed by creative as well as other people. places. In the United Kingdom, Drake (2003) old and new harbor areas tell the history of found a similar “no-nonsense approach” that a city. The first type of narrative is “manyness.” was perceived by Sheffield designers as its For instance, Amsterdam in the Netherlands place identity that positively singles this city In sum, it should be noted, that the Base- is generally seen as the creative capital of out from London. line report - parallel to identifying creative the country. While it has the largest share identities of cities – also identifies the four of creative employees (14%) and twice as A third type of narrative adding to a city’s types of narratives that provide districts and many cultural firms as compared to other identity of a creative place is its industrial zones within cities with a creative identity as large Dutch cities, it is also perceived to be history: its “vernacular culture.” For the Uni- perceived by its cultural entrepreneurs and the “Dutch cultural capital” and a true “crea- ted Kingdom, the reputation or tradition of creative knowledge workers. Largely, these tive knowledge city.” Sheffield and Birmingham by its steel and are similar to the characteristics of citities. 5 3.1 Introduction Brand Strategy 2010 analyses and words in the light of the fi nancial crisis – to attract ars’ branding work among the municipa- the brand and communication platform of attractive companies and jobs. lity’s employees, including more precisely Hoeje-Taastrup Municipality (HTM). wording the overall bearing mark, three prio- Phase 1 has dealt with the analytical and ritised areas of effort and the actual contents In 2008, HTM launched a branding process. political foundation. The analytical founda- of a number of identifi ed “lighthouses”. The purpose is to move the town’s repu- tion is 11CityDesign’s 2008 analysis of the tation in the direction of the ambition to be town’s current culture and image and the The Brand Strategy 2010 - is the overall an attractive, modern railway town situated identifi cation of a number of “lighthouses”, report on phase 2.