Capital region needs to shout louder about its success
25th May 2005
Edinburgh is going from strength to strength, and is getting
better at telling the world about our success which will secure and
increase future prosperity. That was the key message for guests at
an Edinburgh City Region Brand event held today.
Professionals from every sector gathered to hear of yet another
positive step for the Edinburgh City Region with a new Brand that
will help to successfully promote it against intense, international
competition.
Research has shown that the further away from Edinburgh you
travel, the less likely people are to have heard of us. Presenting
a powerful, shared image will ensure that the region will be better
placed to attract the right kind of investment, the best students
and professionals and more visitors.
All kinds of organisations, businesses and people who work and
live in the Edinburgh City Region were involved in the research and
development of the Brand. They are all now encouraged to benefit
themselves and the city region by adopting the ‘Inspiring Capital’
Brand.
Already, representatives from all sectors, including retail,
festivals, culture, business and academia, are giving their
commitment to using the Brand in their marketing, planning and
communications for the year ahead and beyond.
Donald Anderson, Joint Chair of the Brand Steering Group and
Leader of the City of Edinburgh Council, said: "I believe Edinburgh
is the best city in the UK and we are the strongest economy in the
UK outside London. We have high ambitions for Edinburgh and want to
ensure we compete with cities throughout Europe and the wider
world. To do that we have to raise our game, and this new Brand
will help us aggressively market the special package that Edinburgh
has to offer. This will help us to increase tourism, attract
workers and generate high levels of inward investment which will
help to ensure an even better quality of life for us all."
Geoff Ball, Joint Chair of the Brand Steering Group and
Executive Chairman of Cala Group Ltd, said: "Previous communication
about Edinburgh has been fragmented, and this has not helped to
convey a coherent message about the city to less familiar
audiences. The more people who adopt the Brand, the more clearly
Edinburgh’s inspiring story will be told. It has been designed to
further the ambitions of organisations and businesses of all types
and sizes, and its success depends on all of us."
The challenge of the Brand is to express more clearly and
consistently the qualities of the Edinburgh City Region that people
either don’t know or take for granted. Many ideas were developed
and tested and ‘Inspiring Capital’ emerged as the strongest way to
express the essence of the Edinburgh City Region Brand.
Why Inspiring Capital? Three creative routes were explored and
market tested and ‘inspiring capital’ emerged as having the
greatest potential to enhance people’s views of Edinburgh.
Edinburgh is our inspiring capital and over its long and
influential history it has sparked the imaginations of poets,
writers, inventors, artists, musicians, entrepreneurs, scientists
and academics.
Today Edinburgh continues to inspire its citizens to go out and
make their mark on the world. Its beauty, its magical quality, its
sincere warmth, its diversity and vitality influence and inspire us
all.
Rita Clifton, Chair of Interbrand, the consultants appointed to
develop the brand, said: "A fully rounded brand is expressed in
people’s actions, the environment and atmosphere, the range and
style of communications, events and services that a city region
offers. The visual identity should symbolise the best of this
experience, provide a distinctive look and feel. It is more than
just a logo. It symbolises how over the years Edinburgh has
inspired many people, from all walks of life, to do great things.
Inspiration is at the heart of the brand."
The ‘lines of influence’, shown above the word Edinburgh in the
visual identity, create a sense of the energy and direction of the
past, present and future ambitions of the city. Residents also feel
the lines gently echo some of the distinctive physical
characteristics of the city region – from the dramatic arches of
the Forth Rail Bridge to the undulations of Arthur’s Seat and the
lines of the nation’s saltire.
To keep the Brand fresh and exciting and to ensure it works
across all sectors, organisations, campaigns, events and festivals,
a palette of ten colours has been created. These were inspired by
the city of Edinburgh and reflect not only the culture and history
but also the vibrancy and energy of modern life in the city. (These
are explained in the attached document)
Tomorrow (Thursday 26 May) the city will host the second annual
Edinburgh City Region Conference, which will look at the long-term
challenges facing the region and will be the first time the Brand
will have been used in all its glory to promote the Edinburgh City
Region. Doing more to promote our strengths through the Brand will
be a key topic for discussion at the conference.
Following the conference, the Brand will be immediately rolled
out through workshops and activities across key sectors.
Influencing people, businesses and organisations to adopt it and be
proud of the brand is the immediate priority. Future marketing
campaigns will be developed and implemented over the next few
years.
The impact of the Brand will be measured over years using a
number of key performance indicators. It will start to appear
across the city – at the Edinburgh City Region Conference, on
liveried taxis and city dressing banners in Princes Street and the
Royal Mile and at the refitted Tourist Information Centre at
Edinburgh Airport from July. The Brand Team are already talking to
many organisations about their future use of the Brand, including
the National Galleries of Scotland, National Museums of Scotland,
National Library of Scotland and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh who
are working on a joint marketing initiative.
A representative said: "The National Galleries of Scotland,
National Museums of Scotland, National Library of Scotland and
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh are working together on a marketing
initiative to inspire local people to get out this summer and enjoy
the wealth of national treasures on their doorstep. As the home to
our national collections of art, history, literature and
horticulture, Edinburgh is indeed an inspiring capital so we
welcome this new focus. We look forward to seeing how the Brand and
the city can work together."
The Edinburgh City Region Brand website has been launched today.
It features everything you need to know about using the Brand and
from there the Brand and all associated guidelines can be
downloaded.
Notes to Editor:
- The Edinburgh City Region Brand Project is a public/private
partnership. The group consists of senior representatives of the
major sectors of the Edinburgh economy, including local business,
finance, higher education, local government, festivals, tourism,
voluntary, bio-technology, information technology, retail, creative
industries, local enterprise and other professional sectors. The
public sector partners are the City of Edinburgh Council, Scottish
Enterprise East and VisitScotland.
- Interbrand is a leading international brand consultancy, with
40 offices around the world. Its people come from many different
skill backgrounds, including research and strategic consultancy,
multi-media and design, and marketing and communications. They
pioneered the discipline of brand valuation, and they are leading
publishers of all aspects of branding – whether product, service,
corporate or not-for-profit brands. Their clients include BMW,
Oxfam, Procter & Gamble, John Lewis and Standard Life.
- As part of its £24.7 million allocation from the Scottish
Executive’s Cities Growth Fund, Edinburgh was awarded £800,000 over
three years to develop and implement a city brand.
