Cities need to shape up for new global race

Cities need to get in shape for a fierce new battle for the trade and tourism vital for economic recovery and those cities that make the most of their intangible assets and act like superbrands will emerge as the winners says Cities:The Destination Identity, a major new report from destinations specialists The Communication Group plc.

Ten of the world’s most successful dynamic cities have contributed to the report, which will be launched at a major summit in London on 3 March. The keynote address will be given by Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee.

According to a YouGovStone survey of 3,000 business leaders and opinion formers for the report:

- Almost 80% think that cities are critical in leading efforts to engineer economic recovery
- Close to 55% say they are now actively looking at a growing pool of emerging cities to live, invest and work outside London and other global capitals
- Close to 40% cited culture and arts as the most important factor influencing where they would like to be located, followed by quality of housing (32%) and personal safety (30%). Only 3% identified a favourable tax regime as a critical factor.
- London was found to be the third safest city in the world, with 38% of respondents positively identifying it for its safety, behind only Torronto (42%) and Tokyo (42%).
- London ranked ahead, for safety, of New York (28%), LA (7%), Chicago (10%), Madrid (37%), Miami (6%), Washington DC (11%), Philadelphia (13%), Moscow (2%), Buenos Aires (4%), Boston (25%), Seoul (14%), and Dubai (33%)
- Perhaps surprisingly, London’s transport infrastructure was ranked second behind only that of New York (58%) at (57%)

Cities are on the frontline

As the worldwide downturn intensifies cities are increasingly finding themselves on the frontline and in this competitive battle there is all to play for. Increasingly mobile global investors, businesses and job creators, who have the power to make or break cities and destinations, are now considering a far broader range of cities.

Established global cities, such as London, New York and Paris are being challenged by fast-growing emerging rivals, which are creating unique identities with real emotional power to attract people, business, and investment.

While London’s core business and leisure assets remain resilient, says the report, the ‘supercity’ risks losing out in this new global battle unless it reinvents its brand and invests in its proposition in the same way as consumer superbrands, such as Google, Amazon and Coca Cola, to beat off rivals and attract the talent, tourism and trade vital for recovery.

In the UK, cities such as Edinburgh, Cardiff are emerging as powerful forces on the country’s cityscape. Edinburgh, which was recently awarded best ‘Small European City’ by fDi Magazine, is increasingly becoming a city for working as well as playing by successfully leveraging the intellectual capital of its burgeoning creative class.

The city is upgrading its transport links, an eco-friendly tram system will reach new parts of the city in 2011 and an airport expansion should increase passengers from nine million to eleven million by 2010.

Cardiff, recently described as the ‘epitome of cool’ by the Lonely Planet travel guide, was named one of the top 10 cities in Europe alongside Paris in fDi’s 2008 Cities of the Future short list. Cardiff was also recently named as one of the top places in UK to do business according to top real estate adviser Cushman&Wakefield and was also named as one of Britain’s most sustainable cities by Forum for the Future.

Cities need to act like corporate superbrands

The lessons for cities are the same as those for the world’s largest companies argues the report. They are brands and the sooner they harness their assets the sooner they can start to win. It is worth remembering that around 80% of the value of Fortune 500 companies is based on intangible assets, such as reputation, brand and loyalty.

For cities to emerge as winners they need to:

- Act like superbrands: learn lessons from corporate titans such as Microsoft, Apple and Amazon and emulate the attributes of challenger brands to associate themselves with powerful emotions and stories that have resonance and appeal
- Harness their intangible assets: make the most of reputation and image and “soft” assets such as arts/culture/entertainment to counter the diminishment of harder economic assets
- Communicate with one voice: overcome the fractured voices and setup of the plethora of promotional bodies that cities often have and develop communications master plans with a Communicator in Chief to present a powerful consistent message

Michael Hayman, The Communication Group’s CEO and the report author said:

“Cities are integral to their country’s economic fight back and to their success. If the late 20th Century was characterised by Microsoft, Coca Cola and Apple, brands that speak to people, then the 21st Century is likely to be memorable for the emergence of equally strong city brands that shock the world with powerful compelling voices.

“London has all to play for in the global battle among cities for the trade and tourism vital for economic recovery. But it needs to act more like a superbrand to reinvent its proposition and in doing this it has more to learn from Microsoft than Manchester. Just as New York in the 1930s capitalised on physical assets such as the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building as symbols of optimism, London needs to fashion its intangible and tangible assets into a compelling proposition of hope for the nation’s progress and prosperity.”