helsinki brand concept · the brand concept helps guide all kinds of activities the shared...

Helsinki Brand Concept

Photo: Jussi Hellsten

1. Foreword ...............................................................32. The Helsinki brand .................................................63. The core and cornerstones of the Helsinki brand ..................................................... 9

Key characteristics of the Helsinki city brand .................................................... 14What does the Helsinki brand mean for Helsinkians, businesses and visitors? ............................................................ 17

4. Experiencing Helsinki: where and how is the Helsinki brand created? ....................................18

Encounters all around the city ................................. 19Personality ............................................................... 19Tone of voice ............................................................ 19Visual identity ........................................................... 19The City of Helsinki’s service promise, culture and communications .................................. 20

5. Concrete actions by the City of Helsinki to support the brand concept ..................................... 21

6. What is Helsinki known for at the moment? ..............23

222.04.2016 WWW.BRANDNEWHELSINKI.FI/2020

01. Foreword


Helsinki in 2020: the city of people, encounters and actions that make an impact.


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Helsinki in 2020: the city of people, encounters and actions that make an impact.

The change has already begun. Helsinki is one of the fastest-growing and fastest-developing cities in Europe. Our city feels more international and new neighbour-hoods are being built in the very centre of the city.

At the same time, our city has a new kind of resource: a unique sense of urban com-munity that is shaping Helsinki and making it a better place to live, study, visit, and do business.

The Brand New Helsinki project took nearly a year. It surveyed Helsinki’s strengths and weaknesses and created a vision of what Helsinki wants to be known for around the world.

The Helsinki brand is created whenever and wherever people experience the city. The most important contributors to Helsinki’s brand are its citizens. We have more than one million potential brand ambassadors in the capital area. Any of

us – and all of us – can affect Helsinki's reputation. Being “Helsinkian” is not limited to residents – it’s an attitude, a feeling, a way of life.

Measured by quality of life, Helsinki is already one of the best places in the world to live. Our city is one of the best locations for innovative businesses and start-ups. Helsinki is also a refreshing destination for tourists, thanks to our unique combination of urban nature and city culture.

We want Helsinki to develop and become an even better place. The core of the City’s marketing strategy is to challenge and support everyone to make an impact – and make Helsinki an even better place to live and do business.

In our marketing, we emphasise what we are and where we are heading. Effective marketing and communications requires that we use a more consistent visual identity throughout the City organisation. Our objective is to attract people who have the passion to make a better world, maintain a high standard of living and

enjoy our fascinating city. By 2020, we also aim for Helsinki to feel significantly more international than it does today.

Helsinki offers excellent infrastructure for user-driven development. Our fast-growing city is an ideal testing ground. You can take advantage of pioneering approaches to open data and easy access to networking opportunities.

If you are looking for a city where you can realise your dreams, this is it. Make your dream come true in Helsinki!

The City organisation alone employs thousands of people that are motivated to create a better Helsinki. In addition, there are many specialists and entrepreneurs in our city building a better world through their research and business operations. We hope that very many Helsinkians – private people, as well as organisations and companies – want to tell their stories of the people, encounters and actions that make an impact in Helsinki.

Jussi PajunenMayor of Helsinki (2005-2017)


02. The Helsinki

Brand


The idea of our city’s brand is perhaps easier to understand if you replace it with the word “reputation”. What is our city’s reputation at home and abroad; what are Helsinki’s unique characteristics; what makes our city memorable?

Everyone contributes to our city’s brandWe cannot just invent our city’s reputation with marketing or communications. Our reputation is the result of real encounters, actions and experiences. Our reputation, our brand, is the real essence of Helsinki and the impact the city has on people – and the impact that people have on the city and each other.

The brand of a city cannot and should not be controlled. Instead, it can and should be steered by proactivity. The brand concept for Helsinki defines our shared vision for the future of our city. Helsinki is growing and changing. The brand helps us focus

on goals we want to reach and challenges we want to overcome together. It helps us make wise decisions and strengthens all the positive characteristics that make Helsinki unique.

The brand concept helps guide all kinds of activitiesThe shared experiences that make up our brand take place wherever and whenever we encounter the city: at events, while travelling, online, through speeches, in customer service situations, and in many other ways. The Helsinki brand is not just a logo or slogan for marketing materials. Our brand concept is a guiding hand for all kinds of communications activities and concrete actions. We want to highlight the city as a desirable location for both business and living, and help create the buzz that can make Helsinki a more interesting destination for visitors and events.

Helsinki’s unique spirit of openness and participationThe Helsinki brand is not an announcement. It’s an invitation. All Helsinkians can continue to contribute together, including citizens, companies, organisations and our visitors.

The Finnish legal concept of “Everyman’s Rights” helps to make Helsinki unique. It encourages us to create and enjoy ideas, initiatives, events and activities that make the best use of our urban environment and improve our quality of life.

This open and responsible participation is the spirit of Helsinki. It’s what tourists and other travellers remember from their visits. We welcome everyone to join in and share their experiences of Helsinki with the rest of the world.

Introduction


In the future, we want Helsinki to be known for people that boldly experiment and combine new ideas: people that want to positively impact their urban community and change the world for the better. We want Helsinki to be remembered for fascinating contrasts: pulse and peace, science and arts, creativity and business, people and technology. It’s these fascinating contrasts that help energise Helsinkians to create original urban culture, unique events and happenings. We want the world to recognise that Helsinki is the city that values diversity.


03. The core and

cornerstones of the Helsinki brand


One Hel of an impact

People with impact Encounters with impact Actions with impact

Helsinkians are people with the passion to solve meaningful problems and create the world’s most advanced everyday life.

We want to be the most attractive knowledge hub for people and companies that want to make the world a better place. When we positively affect things that matter, we contribute to future well-being.

Helsinki offers incredible expertise. We must highlight strengths, grow competence, and encourage more talented people to participate and grow with us.

What is the world’s most advanced everyday life? Everyday life in Helsinki goes smoothly. Helsinki works. Helsinki is known for work-life balance, high education standards, and for its supportive environment for families.

We have solid foundations and the energy left over to create and invent. This makes Helsinki attractive to visitors from near and far.

Unique and diverse Helsinki

Fascinating contrasts of

Helsinki

Transforming Helsinki

Smart and functional Helsinki

REQUIREMENTS

DIFFERENTIATORS

IDENTIFIERS

People with impact

Encounters with impact

Actions with impact


PEOPLEwith impact

ENCOUNTERSwith impact

ACTIONS with impact


“One Hel of an Impact” is not a slogan. It’s an attitude that challenges everyone to think big. Instead of incremental developments, this attitude encourages us to take exceptional actions that have major impact and draw global attention. Even the smallest actions make an important contribution. The Brand New Helsinki research found that Helsinkians are motivated to make an impact and positively affect their city and their world. That’s why “One Hel of an Impact” is at the heart of our future vision. It can help make our city stand out and tells about our attitude and uncompromising desire to make lasting positive impact together.


People with the passion to solve meaningful problems and create the world’s most

advanced everyday life.

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The idea of differentiation is to understand how the Helsinki of the future will stand out from other cities.

One Hel of an Impact: People with impact Encounters with impact Actions with impact

Helsinkians have the passion to solve meaningful problems and create the world’s most advanced everyday life. But how will this make our city stand out in the future? We have a unique combination at the core of the Helsinki brand:

1. In Helsinki, people work together to make the world’s most advanced everyday life

2. The good things that people do in Helsinki flow around the globe and make the world better for all

This combination, driven by values-based decision-making, gives Helsinki the unique opportunity to stand out among competing cities.

“Helsinki is the most attractive city for people and companies that want to work towards a better world. At the same time, we want to make everyday life increasingly smooth, comfortable and fun.”

How can we make use of this differentiating positioning?It’s not about repeating the word “impact”. Our actions must do the talking. Our approach is simple. We aim to highlight

all kinds of Helsinkians’ actions that have a positive impact on well-being, on an individual, local or global level. We are going to tell more about Helsinki and its strengths from a human point of view: People with impact, Encounters with impact, Actions with impact

Actions speak louder than wordsHelsinki’s strengths lie in shared intellectual and social capital: we Helsinkians, communal well-being, expertise, equality, accessibility, how we embrace technology, our connection to the built environment, and our unforgettable fusion of Nordic nature and urban culture. A new kind of urban activism has been born in Helsinki. People are working together to grow our communal well-being. This desire for a good and meaningful life is an intrinsic value built into our Nordic society.

But what makes us different from other cities? What makes Helsinki memorable? What’s new? Why is our future so exciting, so alluring? The answer is in our story of people, encounters and actions with impact.

KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HELSINKI CITY BRAND

Differentiators


Identifiers are the interesting characteristics for which Helsinki is known.

Helsinki has a unique, recognisable style and atmosphere that Helsinkians are proud of. We don't want to be overly polished. We are authentic and the city has a certain edge.

Fascinating contrasts, such as pulse and peace, light summers and dark winters, the city and nature, science and arts, are just a small step apart. This helps energise Helsinkians to create unique urban culture and explains why our visual identity is raw and concentrates on real life experiences.This comes across in how our urban culture is developing, the transforming cityscape, events of all shapes and sizes, as well as in all communications.

Authentic Helsinki Our open and participatory culture keeps producing new and unexpected phenomena. Helsinki encompasses unique thinkers, designers, artists, events and happenings that are internationally recognised for their contributions to arts, science, urban culture and business life. The secret to Helsinki lies in its rich and varied neighbourhood identities. You can discover all kinds of local happenings and citizen initiatives that represent authentic urban culture and benefit the whole community.

Identifiers



Requirements: the detailed basic necessities that we must deliver to be remembered and considered by our target groups In the future, successful cities must offer

fully functioning facilities, infrastructure and services, and the ability to be competitive in a rapidly changing and transforming society.

By taking excellent care of quality of life and public services, Helsinki is able to foster the world's most alluring knowledge hubs, an attractive business scene, and the world's most advanced everyday life. Helsinki has been widely recognised for its urban infrastructure, public services and support for entrepreneurship.

Our city provides a platform for people to take pioneering actions. We must continue to invest in this development to stay ahead of competing cities. We must also remember that the best facilities and services in the world will only mean something to our target groups if our communications make them aware of our strengths.

Helsinki’s exceptionally strong foundations are highlighted by two of the brand cornerstones:

Smart and functional Helsinki Helsinki is a smart, safe and compact city where we design modern urban life together. Helsinki is a pioneer in user-centric design and is an ideal testing ground for scaling digital innovations.

Transforming Helsinki Helsinki is undergoing significant, even historic transformation. This is opening up incredible opportunities for new ideas and actions. Helsinki is one of the fastest-growing cities in Europe.

Requirements



What does the Helsinki brand mean for Helsinkians, businesses and visitors? People are fascinated by Helsinki’s unique urban culture and closeness to nature. Helsinki is full of surprises.

Visitors, such as tourists, travellers, business people, students and Finns from around the country, can experience the Helsinki way of life and unique people, encounters and actions. Helsinki is a true example of a city that cultivates well-being for everyone, including visitors. We can all experience the energising and memorable effect of Helsinki, the pulse and tranquillity, and the city’s genuine, open and participatory culture.

Our city supports us to do good things

Helsinki is known for well-functioning, safe and active daily life. The idea of the most advanced everyday life means more opportunities to enjoy both the pulse and peace of the city. When the city recharges your batteries, you have the energy to

create new urban culture, events and initiatives. It is Helsinkians working together that influence the kind of world we will live in tomorrow.

What does the brand mean for business life? Helsinki is an ideal testing ground. You can make your dream come true in Helsinki.

The competence clusters around our key sectors are bustling with inspiring collaborations and entrepreneurial spirit. Helsinki is home to multi-disciplinary, agile business models and attracts companies, specialists and investors on a global scale. Helsinki has an excellent reputation for its high standard of living, bold experiments in clean technology and digitalisation, and innovations that change the world and promote well-being.

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04. Experiencing Helsinki: Where and how is the

Helsinki brand created?


kuva: Suvi-Tuuli Kankaanpää

Experiencing HelsinkiWhere and how is the Helsinki brand created?

Encounters with the city are everywhereOur brand, Helsinki’s reputation, is created constantly, in all kinds of encounters with the city: in public transport, at customer service desks, in schools, travel blogs, city construction site bulletins, outdoor concerts, and much more.

Any and all of us can contribute to the Helsinki brand. Different stakeholders experience Helsinki in e.g. the urban environment (all of the city spaces), digital channels, social media, customer service facilities and encounters, city communications and marketing channels, as well as at events and happenings.

PersonalityThe personality of the Helsinki brand is its attitude, style and behaviour: • Active and inspiring • Dedicated to its values • Open-minded• Proud of its authenticity • Diverse

Tone of voice We want to communicate our closeness to people, openness, and wholesome self-confidence. We are smart, transparent and trustworthy. Inspirational people, ideas and events tell our story in the best light.

Visual identity Through visual communication we convey the fascinating contrasts and authenticity of Helsinki.

In addition to presenting our best-known landmarks, the purpose of visuals is to summarise the unique, genuine and human atmosphere of Helsinki that stands out against other cities around the world. We use imagery that represents people and the emotion that people can feel and experience in Helsinki.

We show genuine, everyday images of Helsinki, of Helsinkians living good and meaningful lives, doing things together, and the joyful and fun details.


The City of Helsinki’s service promise, culture and communications

The City of Helsinki organisation’s service promise is: “Let’s act together to make an impact!”

The City’s goal is to be a solution-oriented partner whose skills and services add significant value to the initiation of new ideas and experiments. We are constantly developing our culture and our way of working, and most importantly, we aim to remove unnecessary obstacles that hinder people from making an impact and living a better everyday life.

City of Helsinki communication is open, up-to-date, honest and interactive. We believe in one Helsinki for all. We continue to develop our digital channels and services together with Helsinkians to make them more user-friendly.

To achieve our future vision we need to renew our marketing activities, and develop the City’s communications in line with our strategy.

The City aims to develop the style and tone of communications to be more receiver-oriented, human and appealing. Communications should be focused on user experience and solutions.

Effective marketing and communications also requires that we use a more consistent visual identity throughout the City organisation.


05. Concrete actions by the

City of Helsinki to support the brand concept


kuva: Jussi Hellsten

The Helsinki brand needs actions, not words. The city is undergoing major transformation, and this transformation needs to be decisively led in the right direction. Concrete actions to build the Helsinki of the future include: the removal of unnecessary obstacles that hinder encounters and actions with impact; the unification of marketing communications content and visuals; and the further development of communications about attractive destinations and our start-up ecosystem. There are some key practical measures that the City is taking to help build our reputation, such as: consistent ongoing international marketing; continuing to develop and offer spaces and locations for events and happenings; and improving our digital services.


06. What is Helsinki known

for at the moment?


When compared to other major cities, Helsinki does not offer world-famous cultural, historical or geographical sights, or utilise enormous resources for marketing. Instead, Helsinki is known for being the “social capital”.

Our strengths lie in shared intellectual and social capital: our people, well-being, expertise, equality, accessibility, technology, the built environment, and the unique experiences offered by Nordic nature and our urban culture.

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Summary of research

Helsinki is currently recognised for its facilities, not for content. Our sights and history awaken some interest but do not offer sufficient reasons to visit.

However, intellectual and social capital is advanced in Helsinki. It's why we need to start highlighting our attractive urban culture, innovative knowledge hubs, and quality of life.

What currently differentiates Helsinki? • Helsinki as a way of life • Communal urban culture • Experiencing nature • Transformation and the future

The Brand New Helsinki research also highlighted traditionally important factors that do not strongly differentiate us against the competition. These include: the urban coastline, closeness to nature, seasonal cycles, cleanliness, safety, and Finnish design. However, some of these factors are appropriate key messages for specific target group profiles.

The research studied businesses, citizens, and tourism and it was found that they are interrelated and should not be treated

completely separately when it comes to marketing.

Rewarding, fulfilling, active life is challenging without economic well-being. Without active urban everyday life, interesting cultural content will not get created for Helsinkians and visitors.

The City wants to help people make an impactResearch found that bureaucracy is considered our greatest weakness. Securing employment and entrepreneurship require more flexibility. We need to build better services for international specialists to support and accelerate employment and integration. Key sectors, especially tourism, could employ more people than they currently do. Helsinki is not a typical mass tourism destination but offers excellent potential for developing conference tourism and more individual lifestyle tourism, as well as events.

The City organisation must transform to become an enabler, coaching partner and supporter. When Helsinkians create interesting content during their work and

leisure time, the city can become more appealing for everyone.

Helsinki is advanced, authentic and open to allHelsinki’s exotic small-metropolis atmosphere is attractive to people and provides the potential to differentiate. Helsinki is felt to be an advanced yet rugged and authentic hometown. Safe, high-quality living environments are increasingly valued around the world. Everything works in Helsinki.

However, the city also needs more colour, vibrant life, contrast and renewal. Helsinki must become more attractive to talent. Creative groups are interested in tolerance, a moderate cost of living, and flexible permit procedures.

Helsinki's communications content and visual image should be unified.We also need the courage to create urban space that is alive, diverse and open. We want to enable, encourage and energise people to create new content and activities, so we can all enjoy our urban space and fill it with life, character and attitude – and make an impact.


Photo: Aleksi Poutanen

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