|
|
London Calling: International Survey Finds That London Is The World’s Favourite City BrandAnholt-GMI City Brands Index finds that London is No. 1 for visiting, finding a job and doing business, but visitors should expect rain and a cold shoulder London , December 6 th 2005 – London is the world’s favourite city brand according to the Anholt-GMI City Brands Index, an annual survey which measures the strength of a city’s brand. The Index was co-created by branding expert Simon Anholt and global market research solutions provider GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) The Index is unique because it demonstrates how we respond to city brands in exactly the same way as when we're shopping for cars or clothing brands. Second place in the survey went to Paris and third place went to Sydney. The highest American entry was New York in seventh place behind Rome (4th), Barcelona (5th) and Amsterdam (6th). In the first poll of its kind, the Anholt-GMI City Brands Index surveyed 17,502 people worldwide about how they judged 30 cities’ culture, people, appeal as a place to visit, work and live and international status. London is the top ranking city in the Index. Most panellists felt they knew more about London than any of the other cities by a wide margin. It is the second most visited city, coming in a fraction behind Paris: 30% of people have visited on holiday and 10% have been on business. London is ranked top for ease of finding a job, for doing business in, for obtaining a valuable educational qualification and for ease of finding a community where one can fit in. The city came 2 nd place after Geneva for a general standard of public amenities, such as schools, hospitals and public transport, and was second after Paris for overall lifestyle. The difficulty of finding affordable accommodation, the climate and the friendliness of the people are the only categories where London scored poorly. The City Brands Index also showed that host cities for the Olympic Games benefit hugely from staging the event, creating massive global awareness of their city brand. In 2012, all eyes will be on London as the city hosts its first games since 1948. The Index also showed that the strength of a city’s brand can also lead to false perceptions. Perceptions of London are so positive that people imagine it to be cleaner than it is: it came 13 th in our poll, but was ranked 102 nd out of 215 cities for actual cleanliness in a global survey of cities carried out by Mercer, a consulting firm, in 2002. People also underestimate the cost of living in London. In a recent study, UBS ranked it as the world’s 2 nd most expensive city, but it is ranked 7 th in the City Brands Index. “The fact that many people think that London is one of the world’s cleanest cities is a clear symptom of the strength of its brand,” explains Simon Anholt. “The Olympics will provide London with a huge opportunity to further strengthen its image abroad. The City Brands Index has shown us that former host cities such as Tokyo and Sydney all enjoy a long legacy from hosting the Games. London and Beijing will already be boosting their brand awareness purely through anticipation of the Olympics.” The complete ranking from top-to-bottom ranked city is as follows:
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 Before the publication of the City Brands Index, Simon Anholt developed the concept of the Nation Brands Index, which was first published in April 2005. He 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, including the UK government and UN agencies, on brand strategy, public diplomacy, cultural relations, investment and export promotion, tourism and economic development. He is editor of the quarterly journal, Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, and the author of Brand New Justice, Brand America and several other books. For more information, please visit: www.earthspeak.com. About GMI 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 headquarters in Seattle, Wash., GMI has operations on five continents. More information is available at www.gmi-mr.com. Media contacts: Helen Ablett/ Sebastian Townsend
|
 |