Many of you may have seen the amazing work the ad agency Wieden+Kennedy has done for Chrysler when you watched the Super Bowl this year. The theme work that sells the true power of Detroit behind the Eminem track is powerful and indeed makes me rethink what Detroit stands for today.
I live in Edmonton a northern city in the province if Alberta. Edmonton is a capital city on a similar northern parallel as Moscow. Since I returned here in 2007 I have heard many people discussing what this city should stand for, how should it differentiate itself, and quite honestly I think the brand of the city is lost. The sad thing is that this city has so much going for it. It sits at the base of the second largest oil reserve in the world. It has a citizenry that is smart, well educated and full of heart, yet not afraid to get their hands dirty, and it sits on a river valley that is the envy of any city in the world. While it is true for a good part of the year this river valley is dusted with snow and the river is frozen over but that is also part of the beauty of the city. Edmonton has seasons, definite seasons.
It is not my place here to define a brand for the city of Edmonton, not yet anyway. My place is to highlight the fact that cities can be branded powerfully, as Weiden+Kennedy has done for Detroit via a commercial for Chrysler, and those with the power to do so for Edmonton, should take note.
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6 comments:
Agreed - brand for City needs to be clear - could be as simple as Edmonton - The River Valley and Festival City but we need to highlight our core strengths - who we are and what we value. Things like the U of A, recreation possibilities, quality of life, Art Gallery, etc. are all assets but the brand needs to differentiate us.
Thanks Bruce, could not agree more we need to go deeper and stop feeling like we are not worthy of celebrating where we live. Let's own where we live and be proud of it. There is definetly nothing else like it on this planet now let's figure out what our DNA and shout from the mountain top.
I love that commercial. It works on multiple levels.
How should Edmonton be branded...that's hard to figure out.
Thanks for the input Tait. Indeed building brand Edmonton is a challenge but I think taking a page from the challenge Detroit faces may be a good place to explore.
great and very gutsy work. It may have been difficult to sell the client that one at first try. As the VO says "this is probably not what you've read about (Detroit)". But a great attempt to re-instill appealing brand values into Crysler by analogy to Detroit. Values or feelings I immediately get are ruggedness, reliability, pride, conviction, craftsmanship etc. Reviving the city imagery and that of the brand simultaneously. Nice stuff
Thanks for taking the time to comment on the blog and the spot John. Indeed W&K did a great job with the Chrysler and Detroit revitalization piece.
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