Venlo Partners began life in 2010, but they had a narrow remit: to promote the city centre of this mid-size Dutch city to visitors in order to grow footfall and incremental spend. But the team knew that they could have a much stronger impact if they broadened their scope – in terms of geography, audience, and ambitions.

Yesterday, Venlo Partners have launched the next phase of their work, with the creation of a citywide place brand strategy that has been more than two years in the making. Marcel Tabbers, Director of Venlo Partners, and Inge van Roij, Project Lead Citybranding, sat down with us to explain how a thorough citizen engagement strategy uncovered the place brand values that will now guiding the city’s development – and why they’ve chosen to open-source their new identity.

Congratulations on the launch of your place brand strategy! How does it feel now that the result of your work is finally out in the open?

It feels incredibly rewarding. This brand has truly grown out of the community, so launching it is not just presenting a design or a strategy; it’s sharing something that thousands of people helped shape. Seeing how many organisations, businesses, and residents already embrace it confirms that this is more than a brand; it’s the start of a shared movement for Venlo.

How did you engage citizens in your strategy to uncover the DNA of Venlo?

We built the strategy on the input of more than 2,000 people. Through interviews, conversations, surveys, and sessions with entrepreneurs, associations, young people, and returning residents, we gathered a wide range of perspectives. Despite this diversity, a very consistent picture emerged: being entrepreneurial, enjoying life, doing things together, and staying connected to nature are part of the shared DNA of our community.

Not everything went smoothly, however. Engaging young people proved to be a challenge at first. In the early workshops and panels, we mainly saw older residents, while younger voices were almost absent. Their perspective risked being underrepresented. The turning point came when we stopped expecting young people to come to us and started going to them.

By visiting schools, sports clubs, and other places where young people naturally spend time, we were able to include their views in the process after all. This was crucial, because young people are essential to Venlo’s future. In a community facing ageing demographics and a relatively low share of middle and higher incomes, retaining, attracting, and bringing back educated young people is vital for long-term economic strength, vitality, and liveability.

We love your approach to integrating local marketers as a sounding board for your brand strategy. Can you walk us through how you did this and why it was important to your success?

Local marketers played a crucial role in shaping the brand strategy. We formed a group of around fifteen communication and marketing professionals from Venlo who acted as our sounding board throughout the process. Together, we developed a one-brand strategy to ensure that Venlo communicates with one voice and one story.

It was incredibly valuable to tap into the collective expertise of so many experienced local marketers. They contributed not only their skills and perspective, but also developed a strong sense of ownership and pride in the brand. By being part of the process, they became true ambassadors who are now motivated to carry the brand forward in their own networks and organisations. Many of them live in Venlo themselves and feel genuinely proud of the place, which made them even more committed to helping shape a brand that reflects that shared pride.

There’s always a moment when a team has to decide if they want to work with local voices for that authentic feel or an external agency for a more unbiased approach. What approach did you take, and what impact did it have on your strategy?

We deliberately chose a combination. To uncover the authentic identity of Venlo, we involved local voices as widely as possible, including residents, young people, entrepreneurs, and local creatives. At the same time, we worked with external expertise to ensure clarity and direction. City branding expert Richard Stomp guided the positioning, and Eric Boselie contributed by guiding the process with valuable experience from his work in Eindhoven.

Creatively, we chose to work with local talent. The first concepts were developed in a pressure-cooker session with the creative collective De Verbeelders, and the Venlo-based agencies Studio Denk and Luidspreker translated these concepts into the final brand. It was an honour for everyone involved to work on this project.

You’ve made your place brand identity open source. Are you providing any education to people on how to use the brand identity, or are you letting them adapt it as they choose? Why?

We chose an open approach because we want the brand to live in the community, not just in official communications. The identity is free for everyone to use, whether residents, organisations, businesses, and clubs. At the same time, we are supporting them with workshops and guidance so they can apply the brand in a way that fits their own context while staying connected to the shared story. This combination of freedom and support helps the brand grow organically while maintaining recognisability.

There is only one limitation. Because the municipality has embraced the new brand and integrated the symbol into its own visual identity, the brand mark cannot be used in a way that resembles the municipal logo. This means it cannot be used in the blue-green colour combination or with “Venlo” placed underneath in the same manner. Aside from that, everyone is free to adapt and use the brand in their own way.

We remain available to help wherever needed, offering workshops and guidance, so people can apply the brand in a way that fits their own context while staying connected to the shared story. This combination of freedom and support helps the brand grow organically while still feeling recognisable.

Given your experience, do you have any lessons for other places who are looking to engage their citizens in the development of a place brand strategy?

Start by listening, really listening. Give citizens, entrepreneurs, young people, and local creators the feeling that their voice is not only welcome but essential. Combine broad input with a clear strategic guide so the process remains focused while staying rooted in the community. And make your brand something people can adopt, adapt, and make their own. When people recognise themselves in the story, they will naturally help carry it forward.

Now the place brand strategy is out in the open, what’s next for Venlo?

The launch on 1 December brought together more than 500 people and marked the start of this new phase. At the same time, our new website invenlo.com went live, which will serve as the central platform for all audiences we want to attract to Venlo.

We are now moving from brand creation to brand activation. The brand will be introduced step by step across the entire community, in communication, public space, events, and campaigns. Organisations and companies are already joining, and we will continue to support them through workshops and collaboration. In the coming months, our focus is on strengthening recognition among residents, increasing adoption by partners and encouraging widespread use of the visual identity. The goal is for the brand to grow into a shared movement for Venlo.

Very exciting – we look forward to seeing how your work develops!