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Glasgow: Scotland with style Comes of Age
Tomorrow, March 9, marks three years since the launch of Glasgow’s brand Glasgow: Scotland with style at the Scottish Exhibition + Conference Centre.
More than 400 people attended the launch event presented by Glasgow actor, Billy Boyd, and Scottish television personality, Sarah Heaney, to discover how the then Greater Glasgow & Clyde Valley Tourist Board and its creative agencies had distilled the essence of the city into only a few words, a typeface and a subtle colour palette.
The new brand was more than that, however. It went on to position Glasgow as a cosmopolitan European city, as well as a modern, dynamic location for tourism and investment.
Glasgow City Council, the European Regional Development Fund and Greater Glasgow & Clyde Valley Tourist Board initially invested £1.6 million, and a year later GCC, ERDF and Glasgow City Marketing Bureau (See Note 3) contributed a further £2.8 million to generate a targeted £95 million for the local economy and create up to 1,891 full-time jobs – by May 2008.
Experts believe that it takes at least three years for a new brand to become established, and the following are just a few of the highlights in the life of
Glasgow: Scotland with style:
- Since launch, an additional 359,769 overnight visitors have been attracted to metropolitan Glasgow, generating £41,740,506 for the local economy. See note 1.
- Convention sales grew by 8% from £58.6 million in 2004-05 under Greater Glasgow & Clyde Valley Tourist Board to £63.1 million in 2005-06 under Glasgow City Marketing Bureau.
- The UK government’s International Passenger Survey reported that 775,000 foreign tourists made visits to Glasgow in 2005 – a 25.6% increase on the previous year.
- Average occupancy of Glasgow hotels across 2004 was 70.8%, rising to 71.5% in 2005 and 74.3% in 2006 – the highest since records began and in a climate of increasing supply of hotel rooms due to new builds.
- Glasgow City Marketing Bureau had a hat-trick of awards wins: in October 2006, at the Meetings Industry Marketing Awards, GCMB was given the Gold Award for the Best Brand Marketing Campaign; the International Congress and Convention Association gave GCMB its top marketing award in November 06; and at the influential Meetings and Incentive Travel magazine awards in February 07, more than 3,000 conference industry professionals named the Convention Bureau at GCMB the best in Britain.
- To date, media coverage of Glasgow’s style credentials generated by Glasgow City Marketing Bureau has been seen by a world-wide audience of 1.15 billion, with an equivalent advertising value of £48,158, 472. Note. Some media familiarisation trips are run in conjunction with VisitScotland and VisitBritain.
- Frommer’s international travel guides tipped Glasgow as one of their top ten must-see destinations of 2006 – and the only one in Europe.
- Readers of the prestigious Condé Nast Traveller magazine voted Glasgow their ‘Favourite UK City’ in September 2006.
- The number of people working in tourism in Glasgow prior to the brand launch in 2003 was 25,045. That figure rose to 28,468 in 2004 and 29,640 in 2005.
Councillor Alex Mosson, chairman of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau who are responsible for the development and implementation of Glasgow: Scotland with style, commented, “I am absolutely delighted that we in Glasgow had the vision to create a strong city brand and an excellent delivery mechanism in Glasgow City Marketing Bureau.
“We still have a lot of work to do to meet our targets for the end of May 08, but I am confident that the brand is gathering pace with each passing year and the biggest dividends have yet to come.
“We have just signed up to a major promotion with the Public Broadcasting Service in the USA, have committed to a London radio campaign and have our participation in the Clipper 07-08 Round-the-World Yacht Race to look forward to.”
Scott Taylor, Chief Executive of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, added, “Glasgow: Scotland with style was created with the aim of providing Glasgow with a point of difference with which to compete for tourism and inward investment.
“Three years later it has more than proved its worth, and, I am delighted to say, will be here for many more years to come. It is woven into both Glasgow’s new economic strategy for the next ten years and the city’s new tourism strategy for 2007 - 2016.”
Steve Inch, Director of Development and Regeneration Services at Glasgow City Council said, “Glasgow: Scotland with style is a fundamental element of the city’s economic strategy. It differentiates Glasgow from its competitors across much of its economic activity, and has delivered tangible results.”
Anne Houston, Chief Executive for the Strathclyde European Partnership, said, “The Glasgow: Scotland with style campaign has been a very successful tool in attracting more visitors to the city. The European Regional Development Fund is all about regenerating an area’s economy by boosting employment and transforming its physical amenities.
“Glasgow: Scotland with style has been a key factor in promoting the investment made in improving the city’s visitor attractions which has, in turn, created jobs for local people. The significant impact made so far is proof of its success and, I hope, the start of more to come”.
Graham Hankinson, Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the International Institute for Culture, Tourism and Development at London Metropolitan University, concluded, "Most brands need many years to acquire their pedigree, but now and again a new brand captures the hearts and minds of its target audience very quickly. The rebirth of Glasgow as 'Scotland with style' seems to be one of those exceptions. Its rapid transformation into an international city brand provides an excellent example of strong and clearly focused marketing combined with imaginative product development - an unbeatable formula for branding success."
Ends
Further information from:
Nancy McLardie, Head of Public Relations
Glasgow City Marketing Bureau
Tel: 0141 566 0830
Email: nancy.mclardie@seeglasgow.com
Note to Editors:
1. Overnight visitor figures and spend are calculated using Glasgow City Marketing Bureau’s accommodation supply data representing hotels within a 20 mile radius of the city centre; Lynn Jones Research Ltd’s Greater Glasgow Hotels Association City of Glasgow Forecaster; and the TNS Greater Glasgow & Clyde Valley Visitor Survey.
2. Glasgow: Scotland with style was launched in March 2004 and has a budget of £4.4 million. The project has secured £2 million from Glasgow City Council and £1.8 million from the European Regional Development Fund through the 2000 - 2006 Western Scotland Objective 2 Programme.
3. Established on 1 April, 2005, and funded by Glasgow City Council with contributions from the private sector, Glasgow City Marketing Bureau is engaged in national and international activity comprising:
- Development and implementation of the city branding campaign:
Glasgow: Scotland with style - Conventions, meetings, incentives and exhibition sales
- Conference and event accommodation bookings
- Event creation, attraction, management and marketing
- Public Relations
- Development of the website: www.seeglasgow.com for metropolitan Glasgow