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.

After over 400 interviews, the team at Brand Tasmania distilled the Tasmanian spirit into six words: the quiet pursuit of the extraordinary. But how do you express that identity through design?

It starts by understanding your customer – who you want to reach, why and what would make them engage with your place brand - and then acting based on that information. That hasn’t changed but it has got a lot smarter.

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.

As Charles Landry - the renowned pioneer of the “creative cities” concept - notes, “the stories we tell ourselves are a big part of how we become us.” At a most basic level, Landry asserts, places can say “yes” or “no.” In other words, is this locale open to change and possibility or not?

How does place branding evolving during a pandemic? Mark Thomas, President of the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance - and one of our jurors for the upcoming City Nation Place Awards - joined us to explain the thinking behind Pittsburgh's re-brand and how they're putting the focus on inclusive recovery. 

 A 2019 SWOT analysis of Gastronomy Tourism showed that Lithuanians – unlike Georgians or Italians – don’t have a unified and shared vision of their national cuisine. But Lithuania Travel saw an opportunity to unearth a new culinary identity for the nation....

What if we could conclusively demonstrate the link between place branding and the growth of your economy?

It’s the holy grail of place branding. Which is why we’re delighted to be partnering with Bloom Consulting on a ground-breaking research project to do just that – and we’re inviting place brand, destination marketing, and investment promotion organisations to join the study.

We talk about the key ingredients for a successful place brand strategy, but what about the reverse? Here are the six roadblocks to watch out for if you’re launching or managing a place brand strategy…

With people forces to cancel or postpone their trip to the Faroe Islands during the spring of 2020, the team at Visit Faroe Islands developed 'Remote Tourism' - an innovative campaign that allowed virtual visitors to control the actions of their guide using a digital remote controller.

People are places, and places are people – but residents often have the quietest voice at the stakeholder table. How can we change this?

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.

Since 1996, Lithuania has made several attempts to build a national brand. Unfortunately, historically, these efforts have not been very successful. Taking into consideration the previous lessons learnt, the Brand Lithuania Group has decided to build a new strategy for presenting Lithuania abroad based on strict nation brand methodology surveys

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?

Last week, we welcomed over 300 place branding leaders organisations across North America for two days of inspirational and thought-provoking discussions on how places can adapt and evolve to meet the new realities we’re facing. It was a challenge boiling the conference down to just a few key takeaways, but these are the four themes that resonated most for us throughout the conference...