The Challenges Of Marketing Brand Sydney
Originally printed in The Sydney Morning Herald
Standing opposite a glistening Opera House last week, Gladys rallied the media for an announcement in the sun. Having recently shoehorned through two brand new stadiums, our Premier was beaming with pride.
It was time for Sydney to step back onto the world stage again, stated Gladys. A whopping $350 million of taxpayers cash would be allocated to win ten world cups in ten years. “We are Australia's only global city. Why wouldn't we host these global events?” enthused the Premier. Was Sydney about to rejoin the international city club? So Gladys wants it to seem.
It’s surreal to think that it was only eighteen years ago that this same city of ours danced, sung and strut for international guests. A magical few weeks when a curious world met an emergent and bright young culture, as we rolled out onto the world stage with aplomb.
But that Sydney – a city we all participated in so proudly – is long gone. The Sydney we know today is a shell of its former self. No longer famous for its effervescence or local charm, our city’s name has now become more synonymous with regulations, infringement notices and lockouts.
That bright local spirit that we so freely shared, now appears to be more muzzled and feared by our local leaders, than celebrated and encouraged. A city where those running it prefer to stifle an important nightlife, before mollycoddling us during the day with all sorts of niggling little rules.
RAISING THE BAR
For a chance to win the honour of hosting the world’s highest profile sporting events, top international cities need to put their best foot forward. These events are not just awarded to cities bragging about two new overpriced stadiums. Judges want to be convinced that the bidding city is undoubtedly a “destination” worth visiting.
Alongside its ability to host faultless sporting events, a city must prove it’s unique cultural offering. Organisers need to be able to piggyback ticket sales on a city’s brand. Bolt-ons like great galleries, great shopping, great restaurants and a great nightlife are critical for any serious city competitor. Organisers want these events held in cities with energy, ambience and character.
They need the city’s “pull factor” to encourage tourists to take time off work, buy flights and book accomodation. And out of all the cities in the world, Sydney is one of the furthest away, so we need to be extra persuasive. Flights here are expensive and long. Our pitch needs to be inspiring and watertight.
A city can never expect to compete, let alone beat international peers, if it is more famous for things you can’t do, than the things you can. A city where tourists on holiday can not even get into a venue after 1.30am, is never going to be able to compete and this government is utterly naive to think we can.
BRAND GUARDIANS
In this rapid shift towards the jostle of globalisation, aspiring cities need to differentiate themselves more than ever. It is no longer enough for Governments to simply administer their capital cities, they must now be their trusted ambassadors too. Becoming the guardians of a city’s brand is a crucial part of the responsibility.
A thriving, expressive local personality is not just a wonderful thing for locals to bask in. It is also something that can be cultivated and bottled in order to pitch for new business, attract ambitious talent and bolster the local economy. Ironically, looking back again to just eighteen years ago – Sydney already had all of that, we were there.
In the decade leading to up the Olympics, both the Coalition and Labor governments at the time invested billions of taxpayers dollars so that the Olympics could catapult Sydney onto the international stage, a place we've always felt we belong. With a clear vision and years of hard work, Sydney’s brand value soared.
However, due to a sheer neglect for the fundamentals of our city’s personality – the actions of the current state government have hacked away at most of that hard-fought, taxpayer-funded cultural gain.
Sydney’s brand value and competitive advantage has been nothing less than rubbished over the past few years. These days, our beautiful local voice is barely able to find places just to be itself – let alone express itself. Never before has Sydney taken such a large cultural step backwards. It has been a disastrous cultural divestment of epic scale.
Sydney is undeniably one of the world’s greatest cities. However, it also needs to be allowed to be. The world is not interested in our stadiums. They are curious about who we are and how we live. Tourists want to come here to have fun and to see what it feels like to live like a Sydneysider.
We know what it takes to win the big events because we’ve already won the biggest. However, until the locals feel confident to be themselves again, we are never going to be able to remind the world of our vibrancy, our energy and our charm. And without that, we’ll never win one of those big sporting event prizes for our city, let alone ten.
