Investment promotion agencies have a huge role in shaping the future of their place. Instead of chasing growth for growth’s sake, economic development agencies can shape a more resilient and equitable future by targeting the businesses they attract and support. ApexBrasil's Ana Paula L. A. Repezza talked to us about how her team are making a clear commitment to gender parity, as well as steps they’re taking to develop a positive working environment within the organisation.

In June 2023, Brussels launched their new international city brand to address the fragmentation of their international reputation. visit.brussels' Annemie Verschueren explains how they developed and launched a place brand that shows Brussels as perfectly imperfect and how they’re working with residents and stakeholders to tell the story of Brussels with one voice.

If you want to use an event to create a longer-lasting legacy, you have to be strategic. Tampere's Iina Ojala explores how they built on being named hosts of the 2022 IIHG Ice Hockey World Championship to build civic pride and engage the community in their place marketing and branding.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Moldova saw thousands of Ukrainian refugees fleeing across their border. As a former Soviet republic, the country was facing a communication crisis. Invest Moldova's Irina Tolstousov explains how they launched the 'Moldova for Peace' campaign and what this means for their citizen engagement and soft power one year on.

Brand Tasmania’s mission is to inspire and encourage Tasmanians in their quiet pursuit of the extraordinary – a mission that the team have seen huge success with. Jess Radford, Director of Place Branding at Brand Tasmania and one of our 2023 CNP Awards jurors, outlined what it is that contributed to the success of their place brand strategy.

Cleveland, Ohio, has the same challenge as many places – they want more people to love Cleveland the way that their residents do. Before she joins us as a judge at the CNP Awards this year, Hannah Belsito, Chief Experience Officer for Destination Cleveland, caught us up on how they’re providing residents with a platform to showcase their passion for Cleveland.

When we ask our audience which place brand they admire most, New Zealand is regularly right up there at the top of the list. But what makes their nation branding so successful? David Downs, CEO of New Zealand Story – and one of our CNP Awards judges – shares the inside scoop on how they collaborate with key stakeholders to deliver such a strong and effective place branding strategy.

Place branding can seem like a daunting challenge. It encompasses a huge number of different sectors and partners, and it can be several years before you start seeing real shifts in perceptions of your place. But every strategy has to start somewhere. We caught up with Mayor John Taylor of Newmarket, Ontario, to understand how they’re starting their place brand journey and what advice they have for others preparing to take their first steps.

In just three weeks’ time, we’ll be welcoming 200 place leaders from across the USA and Canada to New Orleans for the seventh annual City Nation Place Americas conference. Here's just a sneak preview of the discussions you’ll be able to join in order to get you excited ahead of the conference on June 7-8^th!

Discover how Prague is leveraging city diplomacy to take an active role in global challenges where the national government is unable to react as rapidly, and how cities can collaborate together for a more sustainable, resilient future.

When you represent arguably the most famous city in the world, launching a rebrand can be a daunting task. Nancy Mammana, Chief Marketing Officer for the newly re-named New York City Tourism + Conventions, talked us through how they’ve developed their strategy and what they’re doing to engage their stakeholders along the way.

What can you do to demonstrate the impact that place marketing has on the bottom-line for your organisation? Mohamed Ashoor, Head of Digital Marketing at the, Bahrain Economic Development Board [EDB], talks to us about how they developed a marketing attribution model to show the impact that marketing has on delivering investments into the Kingdom.

Whether you’re a city or a country, your values should be at the heart of your place brand strategy. Asbjørn Overgaard Christiansen, CEO of Copenhagen Capacity, joins Constanza Cea, then the Director of Marca Chile, to discover how Chile is connecting values and social entrepreneurship to drive investment into the country.

Canberra is the capital city of Australia. But it’s not Australia’s most famous city. To tackle misconceptions about the city, the team at Canberra are unearthing the city’s DNA to position the city in a way that reflects their everyday reality and showcases Canberra’s strengths to a domestic and international audience. Isaac Mizrachi, Senior Director – Marketing for VisitCanberra, caught up with us to outline the strategy and vision for the city, as well as his top tip for other destinations looking to grow awareness of their place.  

Medway in Kent was one of 25 areas in England awarded a share of £3 million to help them set their own standards for design locally. We asked Virginie Giles, Place Manager & Director for We Are Medway CIC, to explain more about the impact placemaking is having on the area, including the importance of bringing Medway’s diverse communities together to deliver positive change.