Cities are embroiled in increasingly intense competition for branding, with digital and social media having transferred marketing from city officials to citizens, according to the president of European Cities Marketing (ECM). 

“City branding is more complex than ever. CTOs (chief technology officers) have lost share of voice in the age of digital and social media. The city belongs to the people,” said ECM president Ignasi de Delàs in the run up to the next ECM meeting on 24-27 February in Madrid.

“And it’s definitely no longer just about the tourists. Cities compete more than ever for private investments, business conferences, world sports events, talents in research and science, film productions, political summits, international students, cruise ships, international headquarters and new airline connections.

“Ultimately, it’s all a battle for job growth, prosperity and quality of life. The winners get a global window and a place in the sun. The losers remain in the shadows among the non-places of globalisation.”

At the ECM Meeting in Madrid, February 24-27, ECM and Madrid Destino will present a parade of thought leading international experts highlighting European and North-American perspectives. 

Experienced city brand marketeers will share their most valuable insights and learning for a full two-day conference on the latest trends, the pitfalls and the upsides of a branding discipline undergoing rapid change.

Among key speakers, Fred Dixon, President and CEO of NYC & Company and Robert Govers, Founding Chairman of the International Place Branding Association will provide opening notes with a seemingly joint message: “Leave the branding to the people”.

Copenhagen will discuss how it leaves its marketing voice and buzz to the people, while Nantes will describe how it uses culture to morph an old industrial port to a new global city. Other cities showcased include Munich, Istanbul, Hamburg and Paris, as well as small destinations such as Davos, home of the “The World Economic Forum” and Billund, the hometown of Lego Corp which aspires to be world’s “Capital of Children”.

A day of seminars will be coordinated by Peter Rømer Hansen, Former Executive Vice President – Strategy & Market Communications at Wonderful Copenhagen and actual Founder and CEO of Rømer Agency.

To find out more visit http://www.europeancitiesmarketing.com/ or contact Flavie Baudot, press@europeancitiesmarketing.com, +33 380 56 02 00

International sports governing bodies are now more than a hundred years old, many having emerged in response to the rise of international sporting events: FIFA was established in 1904 and the IAAF in 1912, for example. 

World Expos began in London in 1851 and their international governing body, the BIE, was established in 1928. New governing bodies continue to be established today as event properties emerge – the International Tent Pegging Federation, for example, was founded in 2013. 

Sports event rights holders have many opportunities to share experiences, through a number of different membership organisations. But a unifying body for the host cities themselves has been lacking. While many event properties (the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup for example) have their own knowledge sharing procedures for organising committees, there has been no publicly recognised organisation in place to support and regulate cities in their perennial quest to benefit from hosting major events. 

Some stakeholders involved in attracting and hosting events have their own international networks: the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC); the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA); and European Cities Marketing, for Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs) – but the city halls themselves are not yet fully connected.

This is in the process of changing. City meetings have started to take place at all the significant sector gatherings. The City Roundtable at Host City 2015, chaired by Paul Bush Direcor of Events for VisitScotland, saw a very large group of city officials sharing experiences. Host City is also pleased to have supported the “City Day” at SportAccord Convention. 

Event hosts have now publicly agreed to form a self-determining international association, a process Host City continues to fully support. Host City 2016, taking place in Glasgow on the 16 and 17 November, will be the next important gathering of cities and all types of events – not just sport, but business, culture and entertainment. We look forward to sharing experiences with you in the marketplace.

Attending HOST CITY 2015 in Glasgow on 9th and 10th of November is an attractive opportunity for cities to get ahead in the competitive international market of hosting major events, according to keynote speaker Sir Craig Reedie, IOC Vice President.

“From my point of view of being involved in HOST CITY 2015, I am delighted that the event is coming to Glasgow, because Glasgow has shown that it is a sporting city with the way it has developed its facilities, the way it ran a major multi-sport event, the Commonwealth Games in 2014, and what it’s been doing since then – not least a couple of hugely successful Davis Cup tennis ties,” said Sir Craig Reedie.

“So if you look at the excitement that generates locally, and the promotion that it gives the city on a worldwide basis, then I think this indicates that the market out there is a buoyant one.

“Cities should be very well prepared to become involved and therefore they should be thinking ahead; they should be innovative – and with a bit of luck they will reap the benefits that Glasgow has.”

Under the theme of “Creative Innovation Connecting Cities with Sports, Business and Culture Events”, HOST CITY 2015 is an opportunity to meet, influence and network with a unique collection of city leaders and cross-sector rights holders and gain intelligence on the challenges and benefits of event bidding and hosting.

Sir Craig Reedie was deeply engaged in the IOC’s own “Olympic Agenda 2020” process of creative innovation, one of the primary aims of which was to make bidding for the Olympic Games more appealing to cities.

“We came up with a coordinated and sensible view of how we wanted to run the Games but also to promote the Olympic movement for the future. 

“There were some fairly dramatic discussions on the bidding process of the Games. We wanted to make it more inclusive, we wanted to make it more cooperative, we wanted to make it cheaper, we wanted to make it encouraging to more cities to become involved. 

“In the process of bidding for sporting events, it’s a competitive field. The Olympic Games are the greatest show on earth; it’s important that they maintain this status. It’s important that the athletes regard them as the greatest show on earth and something they really want to take part in. 

“So therefore a process of change is a perfectly reasonable thing to undertake.”

More than 200 delegates have already confirmed their attendance at Host City 2015. Read the agenda and Register at www.bidtowin-hostcity.net to get involved and get ahead.

The Olympic rings have been a constant presence at each Games since 1920. But while they provide a symbolic continuity from one Games to the next, each edition also features its own distinctive identity – from the modern and youthful vibe of London 2012 to the patchwork quilt of Sochi 2014 – which provides an eye-catching backdrop to the sporting action and adds to the visual spectacle of the Games.

The task of creating this unique Look of the Games – which is seen everywhere from signposts and souvenirs to venues and volunteers’ uniforms – falls to the Organising Committees of the Olympic Games (OCOGs), which seek to produce a visual identity that is built upon the foundation of the Olympic rings, while also incorporating designs and colours that reflect the culture and history of the host city.

For Alison Gardiner, who was the Vice President of Brand and Creative Services at the Vancouver 2010Organising Committee, it was important to have the rings as a strong starting point for this huge task. 

“The Vancouver 2010 brand strategy drew from the Olympic brand as well as Canada’s, and this combination provided the foundation for everything we did,” she explains. “Our goal was to ensure there was one integrated, powerful experience that was unique to our country and our time, and could also engage and inspire as many people as possible.”

However, building a visual identity around a globally recognised symbol, which already has so many values and meanings attached to it, can also present challenges for OCOGs. 

“We couldn’t get away from the fact that as soon as we put the rings on something, there was immediately an association with something great and powerful and a standard of Olympic excellence that we had to live up to,” says Gardiner. 

“But the Olympic brand is also incredibly inspiring to work with because of what it stands for – just the symbol on its own, everyone on the planet recognises it and associates it with excellence and bringing people together in celebration.”

According to Beth Lula, Branding Director at the Rio 2016 Organising Committee, another of the challenges for Games organisers is building a visual identity that is representative of the host city and nation, as well as the values inherent within the rings. 

“It’s important for engagement,” Lula says. “If you have something that people can recognise and understand, they can feel that it represents them and their nation and they can feel proud of it. When we were developing our brand, we were looking for universal symbols – that’s why we have people embracing as our Games emblem. It’s a global symbol. We want people throughout the country to recognise themselves and feel proud of our designs.”

While the Olympic rings provide a globally recognised symbol for OCOGs to draw on, Lula also believes that each edition of the Games adds something special to the Olympic brand as a whole. 

“Every time that the Olympic Games go to another culture, they absorb some aspects of that culture and that’s what really makes the Olympic brand global,” she says. 

“The Games have never been to South America, so we said throughout our bid process that we would be new territory for the Olympic Games. We have a unique way of celebrating things, we love sport and we are a passionate people with a lot of energy. I think that is going to be something very special that we are going to add to the Olympic brand.”

Lula hopes that what her team is creating for Rio 2016 will live on long after the Games through the rings themselves. “When we return the Olympic rings to the IOC after the Games, they have to be even more valuable than they were before,” she says. “That’s our mission.”

This article was written by and reproduced with kind permission from the International Olympic Committee. For more information visit www.olympic.org