How an effective place-based brand can cut through the noise

Every place has a story. A unique blend of heritage, culture, industry, architecture, people, and ambition.

Our towns and cities are competing nationally and internationally for investment, talent, and occupiers. Telling their story, with the help of an authentic and compelling place-based brand, is the best way to cut through the noise.

Think about the most successful global cities – New York, Paris, Tokyo – we instinctively know them and have ideas about them and their neighbourhoods, even if we’ve never visited. The ‘I heart NY’ logo, for example, is one of the most recognisable and impactful in the world

Effective place branding can deliver the same effect in Solihull, Slough, Stockport, or Bradford – capturing the culture, articulating the vision, and inspiring a brighter future.

Local partnerships made up of councils, combined authorities, and inward investment agencies have the responsibility to lead and manage their own place-based brand.

There are strong examples across the country of highly effective campaigns. For example, the West Midlands Growth Company – on behalf of the region – recently launched the ‘It Starts Here’ campaign. It’s an approach which has been very well-received regionally and nationally.

It works because it supports and highlights the region’s established strengths. It leverages the West Midlands’ industrial heritage, high-value manufacturing, innovative universities, young population, and world-class connectivity.

It works because it’s authentic, clear, future-looking and aspirational.

However, local partnerships are not in full control, unlike corporate branding teams which often shape the message of a company or organisation much more directly.

Whilst the public sector takes the lead, to have real impact effective place branding must involve partnership working with communities and the private sector.

At Prestwich we have worked with our local partners at Bury Council, and community stakeholders to capture the essence of a place that is creative, fiercely independent, family friendly and community focussed. Building on what is already special about Prestwich will ensure a successful town centre regeneration.

Residents, community groups, investors, employers, and regeneration partners are all critical in helping to shape the narrative and story a place tells about itself. By working in partnership, places can unlock doors which the public sector alone simply can’t access. It’s a way of telling the same story to new and engaged audiences.

As we deliver regeneration opportunities, having an established place-based brand can also strengthen our own approach. It helps us deliver in a way which aligns with the values and strengths of an area, and in a way which amplifies the efforts of the local partnership.

That’s what people want too. No one wants to live or work in a cookie-cutter community. We choose the places we want to visit, start a family, or commute to based on – fundamentally – brand values that align with our own. It’s how we cut through the noise.