It’s the first ever ranking and analysis of cities' brand values. All cities need to compete with each other in today’s globalized world, and the brand values – or reputation – of a  city has a dramatic impact on how successful that city  is in attracting tourists, students, business, investment, capital, talent, cultural relations, and marketing its products and services  at home and abroad.

Who is Anholt City Brands Index intended for?

For city administrations and mayoral offices, tourist  and convention boards, airlines and other transport providers, urban development and regeneration bodies, real estate firms and property developers, investment promotion and trade promotion agencies and other bodies and agencies responsible for promoting their city; for corporations whose products or services are strongly associated with their city; for anyone interested in understanding more about how cities are perceived.

Why do I need quarterly City Brands Index data?

To track how the city's reputation responds to activities, promotions and events at home and around the world; to explore different facets of the city brand; to find out whether the appeal of the city for investment, tourism, conventions etc is seasonal or not.  

How does this product compete with other city brand value trackers?

There aren’t any other city brand value trackers.  Most other surveys of cities don't look at global perceptions of those cities but at actual performance indicators, which are not related to brand value. Most perception studies or opinion surveys are related to individual aspects of the city, such as lifestyle, property, liveability, etc: only the Anholt City Brands Index measures and tracks the brand of the city as a whole.  

How do new city brands get on the quarterly study?

If a city isn’t already among the 30 cities listed, it is necessary to purchase a minimum 2 year subscription to the CBI in order for it to be included in the list. The results for that city can either be added to the published CBI or restricted to the private quarterly reports.

What's different about the survey design?

This is the first time that the image of cities has been measured and tracked in a way that is analogous to the way in which commercial brands are measured. An entirely new approach was developed for this purpose, based on Simon Anholt’s City Brands Hexagon© methodology.

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What is the survey design?

Respondents are asked to score each of the cities on a range of subjects which fall under the general headings of The Presence (the city’s international status and standing); The Place (the physical aspect of each city) ; The Potential (the economic and educational opportunities); The Pulse (urban lifestyle); The People (perceptions of the friendliness of the people and safety in general); The Prerequisites (basic qualities, services and infrastructure of the city).  Some of the questions are multiple-choice and many are open ended.

How were the brands chosen?

The cities listed are a mixture of some of the strongest city brands in the world and an interesting mixture of other cities whose brands are particularly fast-growing, strongly negative, struggling or otherwise of interest.

Why did you not include all city brands?

Because there are too many of them and the survey would be too big to publish. However the list will probably continue to grow over time.

Is Anholt City Brands Index available for other countries?

Not at the moment, however new cities are being added all the time.

How easily can I access the City Brands Index data?

Individuals and organizations that purchase the City Brands Index receive a GMI client portal. The GMI client portal is accessible wherever the internet is available. Just log in to review real-time results, view the raw data from a recent study, conduct your own statistical analysis, discuss the data with branding expert Simon Anholt on the Discussion Board, and review your latest customized cross tabs and written reports.

What is the sample design?

The Anholt City Brands Index collects a 17,502 representative sample in 18 countries. Sample sizes range from 500-1000 respondents per country.

The Anholt City Brands Index is representative of a demographically balanced population of informed individuals that are profiled based on age, gender and when applicable, geographical region, race and ethnicity. GMI considers these respondents "informed" because they have access to the internet and maintain email accounts. To the extent people with email accounts are different from people without email accounts, the samples are demographically representative, but includes a selection bias for on-line, or informed, individuals. This potential selection bias is mitigated by the high response rates to the Anholt City Brands Index, with participation percentages that are typically more than 30%.

Country-to-country international comparisons that are made using this data is valid because the same sampling methodology is used in all countries. Therefore, any selection bias that affects this data is similar across all countries.

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What is the survey experience for the respondents?

The respondent is sent an email invitation to take the survey. The respondent then clicks on a secured, unique link to the survey and can take the survey from the comfort of home. Upon completion, the respondent receives MarketPoints that are redeemable for cash or gift certificates.

Do I get data for all of the City brands or just my own?

With an annual or quarterly subscription, you receive all the data, not just your own.

How do I subscribe?

Please click here and fill out the form. A GMI place branding expert will contact you within 24 hours once the form is submitted.

How much does it cost?

The Anholt City Brands Index offers a variety of subscriptions to meet your place branding needs. Please click here to see the variety of subscriptions.

What other information can I overlay?

Existing GMI clients can overlay the City Brands Index results with their own research on the Net-MR platform to compare and analyze the different data sets.

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Which demographic segments can I view separately?

View individuals by age, gender, geographical region (zip code), race, ethnicity, level of education, household/personal income, number of children, age/sex of children, business/holiday travel, employment status, and area of employment.

When does the data collection start?

The CBI research is conducted at the beginning of each quarter.

What exactly do I get for my subscription?

This depends on your level of subscription. For a quarterly subscription, you receive a GMI Client Portal, access to the raw data including demographical variables, and a tailored report by Simon Anholt.

Are there any extras?

Yes, you can add additional questions to the study to track your own research initiatives.

What kind of customer support can I expect?

We respond to all inquries within 24 hours. GMI is a global company with customer support 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.

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If you can't find your answer here, write to us at: http://www.gmi-mr.com/contact/.