Creative HSE Digest № 3: территориальный брендинг
Territorial branding: from history to modern brands
The image of the places appeared at the same time as their sompics — it was shaped by the experience of everyday life and management. Not only did the man build associations with certain locations, but he also associated himself with the territory. The natural landscape, religion, culture and fisheries, architecture, events, personalities and economic ties have been sent to one another in the consciousness of society, creating what we now call local identity. People noticed how one identity turned out to be more attractive than the other: pilgrimages, shopping centers, and beautiful and historic places — travelers. However, it took several centuries for people, faced with the challenges of globalization and urbanization, to reflect on the possibility of transforming the Territory ' s identity into a managed brand. — Alexander Israel. Head of the Territorial Branding Centre
Contemporary approaches
New trends in the development of Territory brands are pre-project expeditions, cultural and visual studies, participatory mechanics and inclusion in the debate on the identity of residents and urban communities, launching of local digital products, building a long-term strategy for integrated development of the Territory through a programme of unique events, changing the urban environment and creating new attraction points, as well as training subject matter specialists in the Territory ' s brand management. The Territory ' s brand is now created by a combination of a unique set of mechanics, which, in addition to the aidenics, include almost all the creative industries that currently exist. — Alexander Israel. Head of the Territorial Branding Centre
Examples of successful projects
The development of the North Certanovo North Certanovo district of Moscow is a bold experiment of the 1980s in Moscow. The purpose of the complex is to create a comfortable environment so that you don’t go to the center every day. There are infrastructure and social blocks for this: kindergartens, schools and sports centres, a pool, a library. In fact, the Northern Certanovo is an autonomous housing cluster. The unique architectural image of the area was the inspiration for the creation of the identics. It developed an information portal, a guide, an app-audiopid and a set of souvenir products with images of residential buildings in the neighbourhood. Photo: project "North Churtanovo»; Olesa Kirillov, curator Leonid Slavin
Project North Certanovo, Olesa Kirillov
The souvenir product collection for the city resort of Fiveigorsk, the first souvenir collection in the history of Fiveigorsk, is designed to fall in love with citizens and tourists in a wonderful city. And also, through products, the mood and atmosphere of this spa site with a rich history that can and should be proud. The style is based on illustrations of the history of the city and the individuals whose stay was left in the city’s memory. The hilarious way shows all the characteristics of resort space: entertainment, pleasure, passion!Fiveegorsk — The Color of Spa Life!Photo: prect: "Suvenir Collection for the City of Fiveigorsk"; Victoria Yekhtarian
«Souvenir products collection for the city resort of Pygorsk»; Victoria Yekhtarian
The branding of the Archangelian region is the idea of brands — a remarkable variety of experiences that await a tourist in this northern province. In 2017, the Arkhangel region developed a tourist idendica, which is used successfully in advertising, souvenir products, and in the design of events. As a sign, several northern Russian symbols — a snowflake, a star, a bird of happiness, a sky, a church, and even a rocket — joined together. Each tourist destination or object of interest in the Territory has its own icon. Excise fonts designed specifically for brands are of a harsh, northern and at the same time hand-made nature. It’s like he’s been cut out of a tree. «This project was requested by the Ministry of Tourism and the Arhangelsk Tourism Centre. They needed a tourist brand to pack up the meanings of the Arkhangel region. It’s basically a model project and an example of how to develop territory brands. The project I was working on together with Natalia Rybalchenko was about, on the one hand, showing the scale of the area and telling me why to go there at all and, on the other hand, raising the self-esteem of the inhabitants of the Territory and showing them what they should be proud of. — Ivan Wetrov, Brending Specialist at the ICU School of Design. Graphic designer, branding and adentics specialist, exhibition designer and multipage publications. Photo: Project "Arhangel region"; Ivan Wetrov
Project «Archangelsk Region»; Ivan Wetrov
Views of the experts
A good brand of territory is always the sum of all the meanings and values that a land already carries, most importantly the people on it. We just have to find them and put them in the center of the communication platform. — Alexey Drudinin, design director and creative project manager for the branding of territories, regions and cities of Moscow Design Lab Photo: Alexei Drudinin
A successful brand is a joint effort by the city’s administration, business, and residents, ___ «One of the major challenges that today confronts all cities that have decided to build their own brand is the sharing of initiative and responsibility for creating and further developing the brand. By spending a budget on limited research, logo development and an Identifier with a standard set of corporate models, the city faces a lack of a strategy to promote and build a brand in the minds of citizens and outside audiences and does not find business support. Without in-depth research, the practice of involving steakholders (including urban residents), without the development of a brand strategy and the training of brand managers, the project is, at best, a PDF profile on the head of city or region ' s desk and is never applied again. In the worst case, this brand goes to the public, becomes a constant line of expenditure in the budget, with no response from the city’s residents, local businesses, or external audiences. The demand for branding is relevant today, primarily because of growing competition between cities: satellite cities and settlements compete with cities for identity and economic autonomy (now called post-suburbanization), tourism destinies compete for the attention of tourists and the possibility of creating unique impressions, and economic centres compete for investment, creative class and new residents. The Territory’s brand, as a strategic tool for bringing together all key ideas, symbols, the senses of the Territory into a single communications system and creating an attractive image of it, is becoming a tool not only for attracting markets for marketing and promoting local products, but also a highly effective tool for dealing with social tensions, ratings, local patriotism and urban communities.» __ Alexander Israel, Head of the Centre for Territorial Branding of the Design Laboratory of the INU School of Design Photo: Alexander Israel
Examples of projects on the Creative City platform
Another interesting example of territoriality can be found at project of the design laboratory of the ICU ECU, Oleg Paschenko and Sergei Clichov "Brending Territories". The city of Satka and the Satkin District" __ The design laboratory of the NlU SCE has developed the brand concepts of Satka Chelyabinsk Oblast, based on a study of the region conducted by students and scientists from the National Cultural Research Laboratory of the SCE.
The design lab project of the ICU, Oleg Paschenko and Sergei Clichov, «Brending Territories. City of Satka and Satkin District»
