City Nation Place announce City of Parramatta as award finalist in design and place branding

Following the receipt of a record number of entries for their awards this year from cities, regions, and countries all over the world, City Nation Place have announced the City of Parramatta’s entry ‘City of Parramatta, The Centre of Global Sydney – The Parramatta City Brand Story’  as a finalist in two awards – Place Brand of The Year and Best Use of Design.

On the range of entries received, City Nation Place advise that the strategies and thinking they represent “provide ample evidence of the continuing creativity and commitment of destination marketing organisations, economic development teams, and investment promotion organisations working to deliver value and support to their place communities.”

For the design category, the jury were looking for examples of the brand identity in use and to understand how it is contributing to the strategic approach to engage citizens, attract talent, attract investment and/or tourism while for the place branding category, the jury were looking for entries which demonstrated that place branding teams brought everything together effectively – showing a committed approach to building team structures to support a long term strategic approach to managing and promoting the place brand.

The jury also looked for evidence that the place is factoring in considerations for the sustainability of the place brand strategy: for a destination or place management strategy that is working to balance the needs of the place environment, of citizens, of business, and of visitors.

Parramatta’s new dynamic branding campaign - ‘Where it’s AT’ - was launched on 12th March - at a sell-out NRL match between the Parramatta Eels and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.

The campaign uses local stories and imagery to showcase the City’s competitive edge and highlights major developments across the CBD, transport, sports, entertainment, education and healthcare sectors.

The new ‘Where it’s AT’ brand and marketing strategy aims to position Parramatta as the destination of choice for residents, visitors and businesses.

The brand uses visual cues and the word Parramatta to promote the City as being ‘Where it’s AT’, and has been designed to be able to adapt to multiple uses to promote the City’s various precincts and offerings.

Council also established a new City Marketing Alliance – partnering with major stakeholders from various sectors to help support the new brand strategy through a range of collaborative activities. Among the first to join the Alliance are the NSW Government, Transport for NSW, Western Sydney University, National Australia Bank, University of New England, Western Sydney Business Chamber, Parramatta Chamber of Commerce, AFL club Greater Western Sydney Giants, the NRL’s Parramatta Eels, A-League outfit Western Sydney Wanderers, Sydney Olympic Park and Parramatta Park Trust.

City of Parramatta Council Chief Executive Brett Newman said the new brand was designed to illustrate what makes the City so attractive and to propel continued economic growth adding “this is not just a new brand – it’s an investment in Parramatta’s future. It demonstrates our commitment to encourage further investment and we will work closely with our partners to reinforce Parramatta’s position as the centre of global Sydney."

City of Parramatta Lord Mayor Bob Dwyer advised “Parramatta is a hub of opportunity – culturally-diverse, innovative and fast emerging as an economic powerhouse. Its transformation is well underway and this new brand captures that energy and excitement. We want to spread the word that Parramatta is where it’s at.

“Stakeholders and the community have said they want Council to play a strong role in advocating for the City – and the Where it’s AT campaign is a critical part of this strategy.

“By working with our Alliance partners we will be able to take our message far and wide for the benefit of the city as a whole.”

“Parramatta is critical to the whole of Sydney’s success, driving real economic growth and activity. Our City is becoming a world-class destination for business, arts, sports and entertainment – and this campaign tells the story of this incredible transformation.”

Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development are also a finalist in the City Nation Place award place branding category for their entry ‘Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland is Calling’ and Brand Tasmania has also been announced as a finalist in the design category for their entry ‘Tasmania, Storytelling Through Story-pairings’.

The winners will be annonced at the close of the City Nation Place World Congress on the 12th November.

Image above courtesy of City of Parramatta