City Flaneurs travel to Liverpool
Ηι! We are Maria Kalogeropoulou, Alexandra Koroxenidi, Chris Ntabakakisand Evi Stoubou or in other words “City Flaneurs” and we are part of Athens Co-Creation City Branding Project. We continue our journey to cities and we move norther in Europe, from Berlin to Liverpool, to discover the tools that transform the city sustainable and livable.
Having studied the “Be Berlin” model our task was for each of us to search for and select another European city that branded itself in a successful way thus helping upgrade its international profile and become a magnet not just for tourists but also for potential new residents and investors.
Liverpool, the hometown of the Beatles story — which although an asset, harked back to the past — seemed like an interesting case especially because the city was up against a rather poor cultural reputation and was mainly known for its its strong football team. Most significantly, the city was burdened by unemployment and social deprivation especially in the 80s.
The appointment of the city as European Capital of Culture in 2008 helped launch the city’s branding.
Liverpool used the opportunity it was offered to its own advantage and turned it into a vehicle of further change.
“It’s Liverpool”, a strategic campaign which was launched in 2011 was spearheaded by the city’s mayor and involved a collaboration between the private and the public sector. The city’s football teams and universities were among the joining forces.
The aim was to attract investment and to create a cultural boom with the acceleration of growth and sustainable economy being the major and long term objective.
The campaign involved contacting investors and supporting entrepreneurship. An office, for example, was set up in London to attract investors and a still active platform provided free counseling to aspiring or existing entrepreneurs. A business festival is being organized since then. The event is communicated in a young and friendly way that makes it inviting to the non-specialist as well as the experienced professional.
The campaign also established international collaborations, as with China in tourism and trade.
Besides a strong, upcoming, dynamic and self-confident business profile, the campaign also invested in boosting its image as a city of culture with a major highlight its waterfront area. This is where, in 2011 the city opened the Museum of Liverpool, a city themed after the history of the city.
In 2013 the city launched its first annual music festival, a lively and sprawling event. In 2015 UNESCO placed Liverpool in the group of the world’s “cities of music”.
Not only did the campaign map out strategic actions covering culture, life and business but it did so in an extroverted way that employed communication, technology and the social media. Examples include an application inviting visitors to share their experiences and locals to write about their life in the city.
It seems to me that one of the campaign’s strongest aspect was that it involved a concerted collective effort from both the private and the public sector, something that could be a paradigm for Athens where this synergy between the private and the public is lacking. Cities like Liverpool, with far less cultural aspects that Athens, have proved that they can make the best of what they have and when they do, their economy seems to be doing better and the lives people live probably seem more meaningful. Athens with its largely unexploited potential can certainly do the same.
Click here to check our classroom presentation for Liverpool.
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