In the Spotlight

Interviews with the place leaders and CEOs, Directors, CMOs and heads of strategy for place branding teams from around the world.

In The Spotlight

How Swedish cities are betting on storytelling to make the transition to climate neutrality a reality

Getting stakeholders to understand your vision can be a challenge at the best of times. Sweden’s solution to engaging stakeholders in your sustainability strategy? Storytelling. Per Grankvist, Chief Storyteller for the government-funded initiative, Viable Cities, explained to us how they’re pioneering a new approach to driving more sustainable change and how a local-centric approach is key to successfully changing behaviour.

label_outline AdvocacyCitizen EngagementPlace BrandingSustainability
In The Spotlight

Creativity, opportunity, and optimism: how UNBOXED hopes to revitalise the UK

How is UNBOXED - formerly known as Festival UK - aiming to bring creativity and optimism to the forefront in the UK? Before he joins us at City Nation Place UK on November 3, we caught up with Phil Batty, Executive Director of UNBOXED, to understand what the festival hopes to achieve and what the opportunities are for cities, regions, and countries across the UK.

label_outline Citizen EngagementCollaborationCultural HeritagePublic DiplomacySoft Power
In The Spotlight

Creating a place brand strategy that works for all levels of place

How can you create a brand that works for your city and your region? And what's the key to leveraging a nation brand to work for all levels of place within a country? Ahead of his presentation at City Nation Place Global, we reached out to Cor Jansen, Director at Utrecht Marketing, to understand how they have worked to create a complementary place brand strategy that works for all levels.

label_outline CollaborationDestination MarketingPlace BrandingTourism
In The Spotlight

Ukraine is putting cultural diplomacy at the forefront. Here's why.

Ukraine's narrative has been fragmented by the political and social turmoil of their past. Volodymyr Sheiko, Director General at the Ukrainian Institute, explains how the country is using cultural diplomacy to project a more accurate portrayal of life in Ukraine - and how taking a slower approach is helping them to create impact in an ever-changing, fast-paced digital world.

label_outline Cultural HeritagePublic DiplomacyReputationSoft Power
In The Spotlight

The story behind Cardiff’s bid for equality

Hot on the heels of being voted in for a second term, Cardiff’s BID is aiming to position the Welsh Capital as the UK’s first Equality City. Before she joins us at City Nation Place UK this November, Carolyn Brownell, Head of Marketing and Communications at FOR Cardiff, explains how the city has taken it’s first steps towards realising this ambitious vision.

label_outline Economic Development Private SectorReputationSoft PowerTalent Attraction
In The Spotlight

Keeping Austin weird in the face of huge success

Austin has seen phenomenal growth in recent decades, but what does this mean for the future of the city’s place brand proposition? We reached out to Tom Noonan, President & CEO at Visit Austin, to understand how they’ve been managing the momentum of their growth and what they’ve done to support their local residents and businesses as they recover from COVID-19.

label_outline Citizen EngagementDestination ManagementDestination MarketingPlace BrandingReputationTourism
In The Spotlight

How can you evolve key performance indicators for the realities of 2021

As we recover from COVID, there will be lessons from this that continue to affect and shape longer-term strategies going forwards. But what does this mean for the KPIs that we use to measure success? We reached out to Kelly Brough, President & CEO at Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, to understand how they’re evolving KPIs to match new success-criteria and what this means for the future of economic development.

label_outline DataEconomic Development Place BrandingReputation
In The Spotlight

Arctic exploration, Inuit communities, and the future of Greenland’s tourism

What do the polar explorer, Roald Amundsen, and Greenland’s new tourism strategy have in common? Answer: They both built their success around Inuit knowledge and the spirit of exploration. We caught up with Hjörtur Smárason, CEO of Visit Greenland & one of our 2021 CNP Awards Judges, to understand how Greenland is forging a path to recovery.

label_outline Destination ManagementDestination MarketingSustainabilityTourism