ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Izmir, the frontier city of Turkey
Izmir, the third biggest city of Turkey, has developed a new branding and city marketing strategy to promote the city and increase the knowledge of its values and achievements among its citizens and visitors.
Tags: City Branding, Sustainable Tourism, City Development
Challenges addressed
- Create a compelling visual brand image of the city to represent the traditional and forwardlooking values of the place and its population
- Build a solid reputation strategy to build upon the social and economic performance of the city among the local population and beyond
- Develop a storytelling proposition to locate Izmir urban region in the world as a place to visit and invest in it
Main objectives
- Increase the number of tourists and visitors
- Increase the living standard of Izmir’s people
- Increase the amount of national and foreign investment
Facts
Project type Izmir City Marketing Strategic Plan
Promoter Izmir Development Agency
Project dates 2010 – 2017
Inhabitants of the Medina Around 100.000
Website www.investinizmir.com / www.visitizmir.org
Project description
The city of Izmir is the 3rd largest city of Turkey and as well the 3rd most developed city (being the 2nd fastest growing metropol in the world). It gathers yearly 1.8 million tourists and is the 2nd most attractive city for investors in Turkey. With this data, Izmir can make positives propects about its future, but it has to be carried out in a sustainable way.
İzmir City Marketing Strategic Plan started by a perception and recognition survey carried out in 17 cities of Turkey besides İzmir, as well as 10 cities in Europe, America and the Middle East. In addition, an online survey was conducted and face to face interviews were held in various districts of the city. Consulting as a result 3.687 people that contribute to the project.
The main steps of the process are defined in the City Marketing Strategic Plan as follows:
- Situation analysis: values, characteristics, benefits, benchmarking and SWOT analysis
- Brand positioning
- Strategy to promote the brand and the image
- Marketing plan and Performance tracking.
The image of the city is one of the key aspects of the marketing plan and must be used widely to increase its effectiveness. Along with the research results, the low recognition rate of the city and its lack of dissimilarity from the other cities in the region was analyzed.
The vision highlights the “Mediterranean” identity of the city offering various hidden opportunities and experiences to tourists, investors and residents. The action plan includes around 170 creative and innovative suggestions to achieve the objectives of the strategy.
Impact and results
Increase number of tourists
- Building international awareness about Izmir
- Helping people enjoy memorable experiences during their stay
- Contributing to the overall city economy
- Allowing visitors to share their memorable experiences
Increase living standards
- Ensuring that the people of Izmir knows their city better
- Improving infrastructure and social services
- Becoming an international attraction center
- Turning the people of Izmir into the city’s best ambassadors
Increase amount of investment
- Improving communication about the investment opportunities in Izmir
- Strengthening the competitive position of the city in the region
- Increasing the satisfaction levels of investors
- Turning investors into Izmir’s best brand ambassadors
