Branding Cities For Their Inhabitants: Buenos Aires vs. London

Whilst most cities have a symbol as well as a set of imagery and feelings associated with them, Buenos Aires takes the idea of a ‘city brand’ to a different level. Anything and everything that is sponsored or linked to the council is BA branded in contemporary and vibrant green-yellow design. From rubbish bins, to jazz festivals, to [their version of ‘Boris/’‘Barclays’] bikes and roadwork signs, living here means interacting with the BA brand every day.

This is a far cry from glitzy ‘destination’ branding normally targeted at tourists. The informal, straightforward tone of voice and versatile design are instead used to communicate with and engage the city’s inhabitants in an accessible, fun and helpful way. According to locals, this coherent and wide-reaching public sector brand owes to the private sector background of the city’s mayor Mauricio Macri  (himself with a swanky interactive website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) 

After the spectacular, albeit wet, 2012 no one would argue that Londoners lack urban pride. Moreover, being much older than Buenos Aires, London already has some iconic brands such as TFL, Harrods and Tate to say nothing of the Olympics. This eclectic list is much like London itself – a highly diverse mosaic of communities, styles, interests and attitudes. 

The city’s institutional attempts to brand governmental offices, schemes and departments is a whole different story. Mind-numbingly dull and unmemorable, these ‘brands’ would make the most politically dedicated marketer think twice about entering the public sector. No wonder the brand for London question has already been raised, discussed and abandoned a few years back. It seems impossible to please such a huge range of different stakeholders. 

Yet there is an advantage to doing it the Buenos Aires way. It helps the inhabitants see their city not just as a nuisance that collects council tax and creates jams through road works, but also as the provider of fun and support to which they have responsibilities. I suspect that if the tangible benefits Londoners get from the council were stamped as being such, we might be less complacent about all the ongoing improvements and appreciate how lucky we are to be living in such a great city.

The Travel Agent is Dead: Long Live Travel… Curator?

Ask a discerning young traveller what they think about travel agents and package holidays - and prepare to be rebuffed. High street travel agencies and large buses lead by ex-pat guides have little relevance to them. Baby boomers used to rely on the likes of Thomas Cook for recommendations, assurance and contacts. Yet now there is little they can offer that cannot be done online with a little help from Tripadvisor and Lonely Planet.

Yet recently a new wave of travel services has been emerging aimed precisely at the younger holidaymaker. Consider Festicket, the one-stop shop for festival fans offering packages of flights, transport, accommodation and the festival ticket. Trips to foreign festivals are a nightmare to organize because the quantity of logistical options takes days to sieve through to get the best price. Critically, Festicket - like Expedia – searches the web to find the best deal amongst all suppliers rather than merely selling their partners’ offers.

Young holidaymakers are independent and comfortable exploring new places without any handholding, but do appreciate tips from locals who share their interests. This has spurred on new players such as the budget Couchsurfing as well as Valet and Lime&Tonic at the luxury end of the market. Many of these premium brands term themselves ‘curators,’ thus communicating their function as selectors of the best amongst the best as well as differentiating themselves from the stuffy ‘travel agent’ category.

There is clearly still a place for the ‘traditional’ agent model amongst more mature customers. But when it comes to younger travellers we are seeing a radical shift in the types of benefits that an intermediary can offer. Firstly, information ‘filtering’ or ‘curating’ is far more important than information access. But most importantly – all of these new travel service brands allow the customer to remain in control and make use of many suppliers, rather than locking them in with one brand and its associated partners.