It’s Official: Sydney Has Become An International Player

Sydney ranks third in world poll of cities across the world

SYDNEY, Australia (6 December, 2005) – Sydney has officially been named the third best city in the world according to the first annual Anholt-GMI City Brands Index (CBI). After London and Paris, the 17,502 consumers polled believed Sydney came up trumps on issues such as climate, transportation, the cost of living, leisure and sport facilities as well as culture.

The Anholt-GMI City Brands Index, co-created by renowned brand author and consultant Simon Anholt and global market research solutions provider GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.), is the first analytical ranking of 30 cities across the world, including London, New York, Milan, Singapore, Rio de Janeiro and Beijing.* This poll measures the power and appeal of a city’s brand, including international presence*, potential, people and opportunities.

Pollsters firmly placed Sydney’s international brand and image with one icon and one event: the Opera House and the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games 2000 produced an average international awareness of 87 percent in the poll, beating all other possibilities connected to the city, including Bondi Beach, Darling Harbour and even the Harbour Bridge.

Simon Anholt was surprised at Sydney’s relatively quick rise to prominence.

“Most businesses know only too well the length of time it takes to build a strong and positive brand image. The same applies for building the brand of a city. Think of London and you think of Big Ben and Buckingham Place. Think of Paris and you think of the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. These are historical icons built over a century ago. The same cannot be said for Sydney! Its image has grown on a building built only 30 years ago! This city has proved a meteoric rise to celebrity and popularity can occasionally occur. ”

Interestingly, few of the respondents have visited Sydney. It seems this city gets it reputation for infrastructure, services and community from the general positive feeling about the place. It has become the dream city that many want to come and visit.  

Sydney ’s Statistics

• The Presence – The majority of the respondents knew little information about Sydney
• Overwhelmingly, 71 percent of France knew nothing about Sydney
• Only 39 percent of the UK knew a little about the city
• The Opera House was the most famous monument in Sydney followed closely by the Olympics Games 2000.
• 17 percent of Italians remember Sydney for its Mardi Gras
• The Place – Sydney came in first place overall for its climate, cleanliness and physically attractiveness
• In terms of safety, Sydney ranks third place after Geneva and Stockholm
• The Potential – Sydney comes in second, after London, for being able to find a job easily. In terms of setting up a business, Sydney follows in the footsteps of London and New York.
• The Pulse – It seems Sydney is most famous for its food and shopping
• 58 percent of Americans and 59 percent of Canadians chose food as the most interesting feature for Sydney
• 71 percent of Aussies, 59 percent of the Poms and 53 percent of the Germans believed shopping was the highlight for Sydney
• Interestingly, 47 percent of the French and 44 percent of Indians saw the city famous for its sport.
• The People
• Sydney once again tops the charts for having the most welcoming people (as per the findings of the latest NBI Q3 report published in October 2005).
• The Prerequisites
• Sydney ranks third for its public amenities (schools, hospitals, public transport, sports facilities)

Notes to Editors:

*: Melbourne was not included in this poll
*: International presence includes the city’s contribution to the world , how familiar people are with the city and what the city is famous for.

About the Anholt-GMI City Brands Index (CBI)

The Anholt-GMI City Brands Index, an annual ranking of cities around the globe, was compiled from the results of a survey conducted online among 17,502 men and women aged 18-64 in 18 countries.  The 30 cities whose brand was measured include Amsterdam, Barcelona, Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Cairo, Edinburgh, Geneva, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Lagos, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan, Moscow, Mumbai, New York, Paris, Prague, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, San Francisco, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, and Washington.

The six components of the City Brand Hexagon include Presence (the city’s international status and standing); Place (people’s perceptions about the physical aspect of each city); Potential (the economic and educational opportunities that each city is believed to offer visitors, businesses and immigrants); Pulse (the appeal of a vibrant urban lifestyle); People (respondents’ impressions of the inhabitants, community, and safety); and Prerequisites (people’s perceptions of the basic qualities of the city.) 

For further information about the Anholt-GMI City Brands Index, please go to http://www.citybrandsindex.com or contact GMI directly at http://www.gmi-mr.com/contact/.

About Simon Anholt

Simon is recognised as one of the world’s leading authorities on the branding of countries, regions and cities. He advises a number of national governments and UN agencies on brand strategy, public diplomacy, cultural relations, investment and export promotion, tourism and economic development. He is the editor of the quarterly journal Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, and the author of Brand New Justice, Brand America and several other books .

GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) is the only company that provides comprehensive integrated solutions for global market intelligence for both market research firms and corporate market research departments at Global 2000 companies.  Solutions include Net-MR, a suite of software tools to manage and automate research throughout the project lifecycle, desktop analysis tools, 24/7 service bureau capabilities, and one of the world’s largest, highly profiled, double opt-in managed panels, spanning across 200 countries.  In addition, GMI offers high-value, real-time enterprise feedback solutions for customer, partner and employee programs.  Founded in 1999 with world headquartersin Seattle, Wash., GMI has operations on five continents.  More information is available at www.gmi-mr.com.

For further information and a copy of the report, contact:

Vicki Cook/Karen Masters
Upstream Australia
Tel: (02) 9377 1121/ (02) 9377 1120
Email: vicki@upstreamaustralia.com/karen@upstreamaustralia.com