Pembrokeshire Regeneration Review Workshop

Place Branding
- Initiatives and Reflections from the BRAND Project
Wessel Badenhorst
Economic Development Officer
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council
@WesselBaden
Overview of Presentation:
1. Approach to Place Branding
2. Concept of a brand
3. The BRAND Project
4. The role of social media
5. Customer experience
6. Some pitfalls
7. Conclusion
destination
place
= reputation
people
styles
sizes
colours
patterns
‘To name a place is to certify its existence; knowing that your home has an
address that can be mapped provides a sense of rootedness.’ Most residents
of Petare in Caracas have no official address – www.thepolisblog.org
Photographer: Trey Ratcliff
Some places don’t need an address
Photographer: Margaret Malone
Some places should not need an address if…. (Water Temple, Jaipur)
The address of Pembrokeshire
‘Pembrokeshire is a peninsula in the far
south west of Wales that juts out towards the
Atlantic Ocean and Ireland. Renowned for it's
rocky coastline, beautiful beaches and clean
seas. The county is a favourite for activity
holidays, climbing, fishing, bird watching,
golfing, horse riding, kayaking, sailing and
many other water sports including canoeing,
surfing and wind surfing, or just plain walking
and traditional seaside holidays. The
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park covers a
narrow strip of land alongside the coastline
of Pembrokeshire and an area in the north of
the county around the Preseli Hills. The
Coastal Path and the National Park could be
said to take in the best of Pembrokeshire.’
- WalesDirectory.co.uk
Source: www.visitpembrokeshire.com
[Pembreaks]
[Paradise revisited]
The concept of a brand
‘A brand is more than a label employed to differentiate among the
manufacturers of a product.
It is a complex symbol that represents a variety of ideas and attributes.
It tells the consumer many things, not only about the way it sounds (and
its literal meaning if it has one) but more important via the body of
associations that it has built up as a public object over a period of time.
The net result is a public image, a character or personality that may be
more important for the overall status (and sales) of the brand than many
technical facts of the product.’
- Gardner B. V. and Levy S. J., “The Product and the Brand”, Harvard
Business Review, March/April 1955
The concept of a place brand
A ‘place’ can be any geographical area which has meaning to people
Every place, no matter how small, has an image and reputation in
the eyes of the world
In an increasingly globalised market, places have to compete with
each other
A strong positive place brand can help improve internal confidence
and external performance
A positive place reputation builds competitiveness!
- Principles agreed in the BRAND Project, brand-project.eu
Artist: Alexander Kosolapov
Pronounciation of Coca Cola in Chinese
= “kekou kele” = Chinese symbols that
translate to “delicious tasty happiness”
– The Economist, World in 2013
http://www.coca-colacompany.com/brands/the-coca-cola-company
‘It is important to stand for something and not let the world define you. In a
competitive situation, the competition will always define you as second best or worse.’
- Ed Burghard, The Burghard Group, strengtheningbrandamerica.com
What do you call a
Lada in the winter?
A freezer.
What do you call a
Lada in the summer?
An oven.
The BRAND Project
The BRAND Project came about as a response to the difficulties with the way in which the towns of
Rhyl, Holyhead, Athy and Dún Laoghaire are perceived and a shared need to improve their public
image including addressing the problems of poor and limited self image. These difficulties persisted
despite all 4 towns having undergone physical/capital scheme regeneration works.
The Project is 75% funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the EU's
Ireland-Wales Interreg IVA programme and runs until March 2013.
Brand
Management
Structure
Place Brand
Action Plan
Research
Year 3
Action
Implementation
Graphic
Language
Big Idea
Brainstorming
Year 2
Year 1
Project
Toolkit
The BRAND Project
‘The most important aspect of a brand is its single-mindedness. Begin with the end in
mind and reverse engineer strategic choices to ensure excellence in delivery.’
– Ed Burghard, The Burghard Group, strengtheningbrandamerica.com
products
environment
Big Idea
communications
behaviour
Big Idea
‘1990’s: Something dark started to murmur in the caves of St. Nons. Surfers, climbers,
kayakers, windsurfers were all having a great time, but something was amiss. When
there were no waves, or it was raining; it was too windy or not enough, they weren’t
packing up and going home. Instead they were getting themselves kitted up and
doing something that seemed to resemble a hybrid of every adventure sport
available: Coasteering®. The climbers climbed; surfers swam and the lemmings
jumped! This quickly became an alternative buzz, a way of winding down, getting
some exercise and for the staff a great way to hold meetings!’
- Twr y Felin, www.tyf.com
Big Idea
Twr Y Felin
‘We create life changing adventures with a light touch on nature,
focus young people's sight & skills for the future
and help organisations with innovation & sustainability.
We play for the planet.’
Graphic Language
Place Brand Actions
Ambassador Training
“A Retail Renaissance”
Dún Laoghaire Town Retail Strategy
Pop-up Shop
Initiative
Rhyl’s new Children’s Trail
Athy Image Library
Dún Laoghaire Brand Stakeholders Group
DL
Shopping
Centre
Dún Laoghaire Business Association