On the eve of Finland’s independence centenary in December 2017, the goal was to create a moment of togetherness - a low-threshold way for Finns to join in and tell the narrative of Finland - using the simple medium of a grocery conveyor belt.

There has been a monumental shift in the way that consumers engage with places. However, despite early commentators highlighting that this could be the end of the high street and the physical store, in fact the recovery has begun. What do places need to do to bring visitors back to their high streets?

Over the years, we've been privileged to see some of the best and brightest of place branding and place marketing campaigns from around the world. As we gear up for the 2021 City Nation Place Awards, we wanted to revisit this list to share some of our personal favourites from the Awards archive and to update it with the campaigns from 2020 that we just can’t stop thinking about!

Sri Lanka had so much to offer - but it struggled to compete with more established neighbouring competitors. A new campaign showcased the diversity and beauty of Sri Lanka through the eyes of some of their greatest assets: the wildlife that make experiencing Sri Lanka so magical.

How do you market a destination to people who are not allowed to visit and keep an industry alive when it is not allowed to operate? The answer: You get them to keep dreaming of the one day that they can. Discover more about the Western Cape's award-winning strategy here.

Metal isn’t a subculture in Finland; it’s mainstream, and Finland's goal was to provide the metal community with a way to engage in discussion with the global audience. The metal community is about inclusivity, and fosters a spirit of togetherness, mirroring the aspects of Finnish society that they wanted to showcase.

How do you create a promotional message that sparks interest in an over-saturated market? Discover how Iceland created a viral success by challenging people to the hardest karaoke song in the world - and how they educated visitors on being more responsible tourists at the same time.

To become as happy as a Finn, you can rent one and learn how.

Discover the details behind the award-winning campaign from Visit Finland.

The marketing benefits of digital and social media channels are a fact at this point. You’re not the only one telling your story though. Anyone with their own Twitter, LinkedIn or TripAdvisor account is sharing your story too – and it might not be a story you're proud of. So how do you manage your digital place reputation?

Azerbaijan took the world by storm with their 2018 “Take Another Look” campaign which encouraged travellers to see the nation’s wonderful diversity. We reached out to Fidan Aliyeva, Azerbaijan Tourism Board, to understand the key to their successful design identity and how an organisation that is still forging its path adapted to the new challenges of COVID-19.

What does it mean to be a destination when visitors can no longer travel? Far from obstacle or paralysis, COVID-19 should be a call-out for innovators to create new and timely solutions. How can you utilise this time to make your destination seem so desirable that it's the first place people want to visit when the travel restrictions are lifted?

There are echoes from the recent past in what the global economy is facing today. The SARS epidemic, two Gulf Wars, the bursting of the dot-com bubble, 9/11 and the 2008 financial crisis, although different, were external shocks that required swift and focused action. From first-hand experience during those times, and reviewing some of the best initiatives IPAs around the world are already taking today, here is a battle plan for what to do.

In late 2018 it was announced that the Mexican Tourism Promotion Council would be disbanded. A year and a half on, we spoke with Carlos Alberto González González, Director General of the newly relaunched Visit Mexico, to understand how they’re collaborating with industry partners as well as how data is enabling a low-budget promotion strategy during COVID-19.