choosing amsterdam

Choosing AmsterdamBrand, concept and organisation of the city marketing

City of AmsterdamSurvey conducted by Berenschot:Carolien GehrelsOcker van MunsterMark PenMaartje PrinsJessie Thevenet

Choosing AmsterdamBrand, concept and organisation of the city marketing

Choosing Amsterdam

Summary 21. Introduction 71.1 Reason 71.2 Two objectives to the amsterdam city marketing research 71.3 Research domain 71.4 Progress of the research 71.5 Structure of the report 82 Promotional organisations of Amsterdam: results, analysis, conclusions 92.1 Basic principle for the organisation research 92.2 Results 92.3 The passion of the 'Amsterdammers' 102.4 The Amsterdam midfield 102.5 Vision and direction 112.6 The organisations 122.7 Sixteen dimensions and representation 142.8 Conclusions and recommendations 153. The Amsterdam brand: results, analysis, conclusions 183.1 Conceptual approach and translation into action 183.2 Amsterdam's place in the world 203.3 Analysis: strengths, weaknesses and opportunities 213.4 Analysis of carriers or slogans of the amsterdam brand 233.5 Conceptual conclusions and recommendations 244. Translation of concept into organisation 264.1 Organisation of the Amsterdam city marketing 264.2 Processing responsibilities into tasks 304.3 Other organisational and financial consequences 315. Decision-making and implementation 325.1 The decisions as proposed by the Municipal Council 325.2 The municipality's implementation project 325.3 Foundation of the partners of Amsterdam 33

Appendices:A. Research framework B. Amsterdam’s place in the world C. Financial overview and notes D. List of discussion partners E. Reports, documents and literature consulted

Index

Brand, concept and organisation of the city marketing2

Why city marketing and why city marketing inAmsterdam?

Amsterdam’s image across the worlddetermines the attitude of companies,visitors and inhabitants towards the city’seconomic and cultural activities. In thisworld in which cities are starting toresemble each other ever more, offeringsimilar basic facilities, a city needs to pre-sent itself, distinguish itself and excel.Cities will benefit from this. Attractingand keeping the right companies, visitorsand inhabitants leads to greater econom-ic and cultural activity.

According to this research, Amsterdamshould intensify its city marketing efforts.The benchmark report comparingBarcelona, Berlin, Dublin, Rotterdam andAmsterdam from early 2003, emphasisesthis. There are various reasons for this.! Amsterdam is competing with many

other European cities, a competitionwhich is becoming ever fiercer due toEuropean unification. More East-European countries are presentingthemselves as attractive alternatives.They are investing intensively in citymarketing to attract the desired com-panies, visitors and residents.

! The market is taking decisions fasterand has access to all possible informa-tion. Amsterdam has not pointed outits advantages clearly and unequivocal-ly. Amsterdam is a competitor in manyareas. "We take part in everything, but

do not top any of the lists."Amsterdam does not emphatically optfor key values and fails to shed suffi-cient light on its distinctive characte-ristics.

! Nobody in Amsterdam feels they havethe final responsibility for the‘Amsterdam’ brand name. We needone view of the Amsterdam brand,based on an unequivocal vision. Othercities have benefited from this. It isabout a clear division of tasks and res-ponsibilities between the municipality,support organisations involved and pri-vate parties. Intensive cooperationshould lead to a stronger identity andimage.

! Other cities have developed theirbrands clearly and consistently in thepast few years, making unequivocalchoices to this purpose. Festivals andevents prove to be important supportdevices when it comes to city marke-ting. Large events encourage (interna-tional) companies to put the city ofAmsterdam on the international map.

Conclusions regarding theAmsterdam brand

Amsterdam has a strong brand name andis associated with many good connota-tions. It simply cannot be summarised inone pay-off or one slogan. The idea is topresent Amsterdam as a brand using thebest design and model work and to havebrand-carriers present ‘Amsterdam’

Summary

Choosing Amsterdam 3

through such things as stories, iconogra-phy, images and people. Amsterdamowes its unique position to a combinationof creativity, innovation and spirit of com-merce and it has therefore been sug-gested to tune next years’ city marketingto these three key values. The region andthe companies too contribute significantlyto Amsterdam’s image.

City marketing targets both current andnew companies, visitors and inhabitants.Amsterdam is associated with variousdimensions or qualities. Research consul-tants Berenschot identified sixteendimensions on the basis of whichAmsterdam will have to set its prioritiesfor coming years. Our research presentsthree dimensions in which Amsterdamalready takes a strong position and threemore to which the city should dedicateitself in the years to come. These dimen-sions can be developed coherently.Continuity is the essential condition asdevelopment of name awareness takestime.

Organisation of the city marketing and promotionalorganisations

We propose introducing a line to guideand promote Amsterdam’s city marketingbased on a new vision and new policy,clearly defining all responsibilities. Thismeans major interventions can be igno-

red. The analysis of Amsterdam’s promo-tional organisations resulted in eighteenconclusions on the organisations themsel-ves and the organisation of city marketingin Amsterdam (see chapter 2.8). Beloware the three most important proposalstargeting a solid city marketing approachfor the city of Amsterdam (see chapter 4).

1. Vision and brand development atthe City of Amsterdam

! Due to its public responsibility it is theCity of Amsterdam that formulates thebrand vision, lays down the brand, veri-fies policy implementation and evalua-tes the brand. This is called collectivecity marketing and ‘brand develop-ment’. The direct control instrumentsare also used from this perspective.The brand will be developed between2003 and early 2004.

! The municipality organises the input ofall relevant parties in and aroundAmsterdam, focusing particularly ondistinctive and unique qualities, nowand in the future. The field will followpolicy because the municipality uses itsguidance and financing tools. So, onceevery year the Municipal Executive setsout city marketing policy based on pri-oritising the sixteen dimensions. Allmunicipal departments involved prepa-re this policy together; they organisethe necessary input of the organisa-tions in and around Amsterdam, theregional municipalities, companies andurban districts. The common actionleads to a critical mass, which is essen-tial in view of the intended marketingimpact.

! Both the municipality and all other par-ties share responsibility for the promo-tion and marketing activities of specificsectors and specific domains. Here themunicipality has a coordinative andencouraging function and acts asbooster of private initiatives. All otherparties also focus on product-basedpromotion for specific target groups.The municipality acts as cooperativepartner.

Key values

Dimensions

Already strong

CreativityInnovationSpirit of commerce

Cultural cityCanal city (old andnew)Meeting place

Strengthen intrinsically/invest

Excellence

Business cityKnowledge cityResidential city


! The Municipal Council initiates the citymarketing fund for four years, inclu-ding the associated marketing cycle, tobe able to establish policy prioritiesand to co-finance specific projects andactivities. In principle, companies willmake the same contribution. These willbe spent on the development of targetactivities and promotions emanatingfrom the conceptual analysis. The fundshould also encourage new partici-pants in the promotional field and sti-mulate existing organisations to inno-vate. The future public-private platformwill have a substantial financial advisorytask.

! The Alderman of Economic Affairs ispolitically responsible for policy anddirection; the Mayor is the face ofAmsterdam and should be seen andrecognised as such across the world.

2. Control and brand management at apublic-private platform

! To manage city marketing both publicand private companies must combineforces and be willing to shed morelight on the city of Amsterdam.Therefore we suggest a public-privatecity marketing platform which will havea supervising task, and which will notbe restricted to city boundaries –‘Partners of Amsterdam’ (AmPro newstyle). Supervision means responsibilityfor policy implementation andboosting new initiatives to better pre-sent the brand. In this new situationsupervision should mean much moredue to policy being supported withappropriate steering instruments andthe city marketing fund.

! On the one hand the control platformmust have great authoritative represen-tation and on the other hand it musthave the power of decision, and bedecisive and efficient. The GeneralBoard control platform consists of twel-ve members from government, thescientific sector, business and socialorganisations. The Mayor is the chair-man of the General Board, which inclu-des a Daily Management Team of four

people who have the power of deci-sion. The Alderman of Economic Affairsis the chairman of the DailyManagement Team.

! The Partners of Amsterdam has a clear-cut development function. They shareresponsibility to strengthen organisa-tions and create new structures thatwill have a role in priority areas. Theyadvise the municipality about theintended city marketing policy.

! Wherever possible and wherever thismay strengthen the Amsterdam brand,the Partners of Amsterdam will mana-ge organisations focusing on specificproducts and certain target groups.

! Events and festivals are instruments parexcellence to present Amsterdam inthe desired manner. So the Partners ofAmsterdam are specifically responsiblefor events and festival policy; the cycleindicates which top events Amsterdamwill pay special attention to in the nextfour years (European and world cham-pionships, world exhibitions, competi-tions and such). This programming isoutlined every four years and adaptedevery year.

3. Introducing a four-year city marketingcycle

The proposal is to introduce a city marke-ting cycle. Once every four years all orga-nisations wanting to be involved in thisfield can submit project proposals whichcan be accepted by the city marketingfund. The Partners of Amsterdam will setthe briefing for the city marketing cycle inthe form of a note of key principles,based on the Municipal Council policyprinciples and the companies’ priorities.On the basis of this, all organisations willsubmit their proposals. Partners ofAmsterdam has a heavy advisory respon-sibility in honouring proposals from thecity marketing fund.

The strength of a city marketing cycle isthe fact that it leads to a considerationframework which on the one hand dove-tails with policy and on the other handcontinues to do justice to the multiformity


and the self-determination of the organi-sations. The basis is a vision and a policywith spearheads, equal evaluation of theperformances of all organisations and theperiodical creation of possibilities to inno-vate. This multiformity expresses itself inthe various objectives and deliverables(products, activities), however the criteriaare the same for all organisations. In prin-ciple, the chances are the same for bothold and new organisations. Such a cycle isthorough, provides clarity and allows thepossibility to create the desired image ofthe city of Amsterdam together.

Decisions as proposed by theMunicipal Council (see chapter 5)

A.Involve regional partners and (internatio-nal) companies in the further develop-ment of the city marketing ofAmsterdam, given the regional andpublic-private nature of the cooperationand to benefit from existing positiveexperiences in this field.

B.Set up ‘Partners of Amsterdam’ (AmPronew style) with a board, daily manage-ment, members, contributors and office.

C.Introduce a four-year city marketing cyclebased on the municipality’s vision on thelong-term development of Amsterdamand city marketing policy.

D.Encourage the city marketing ofAmsterdam, which to implement the stra-tegy, would mean:! Work out the key values of creativity,

innovation and spirit of commerce inspecific brand ‘carriers’: one imagestyle for Amsterdam of all partnerstogether, one basic story forAmsterdam, one festival and eventspolicy, one policy on new media focu-

sing on visitors, companies and poten-tial inhabitants.

! Using the system of sixteenAmsterdam ‘dimensions’ for next year’scity marketing policy (see diagrams onthe last pages of this report). The ideais to benefit from the strong dimen-sions (cultural city, canal city and mee-ting place) and to invest in knowledgecity, business city and residential cityfor the sake of Amsterdam’s medium-long term future.

! Challenging organisations and privateparties to come up with new ideas asto the image of Amsterdam as hospita-ble city.


1.1 Reason

Amsterdam can present itself more effec-tively in the world by making conceptualchanges and combining forces.Amsterdam’s Municipal Council andrepresentatives of promotional organisa-tions are all aware of this, and show boththe ambition and energy to ensure impul-se to city marketing. In December 2002Mr. Dales, the responsible Alderman, thuscommissioned this research on the citymarketing of Amsterdam. The client dele-gates included Mr. Vehmeyer (DirectorEconomic Development Department) andMr. Van Ark (Director Communications ofthe City of Amsterdam).

1.2 Two objectives to theAmsterdam city marketing research

This research has two objectives: a con-ceptual and organisational research. Theconceptual objective is to develop avision on the image of Amsterdam.Research questions included: ‘What isAmsterdam’s mission?’. ‘What should wedo to strengthen the image?’. ‘What islikely to succeed?’, ‘What is not likely tosucceed?’, ‘Who are the priority targetgroups?’ and what is ‘business as usual’?

The organisational objective is to developa proposal for the city marketing organi-sation, whereby special attention is paidto the role of Amsterdam Promotion

(decision-making structure, mission state-ment, interpreting the supervising functi-on) and the social field. Researchquestions included: ‘How powerful arethe social field and the individual factors’,‘who is working together with whom?’,‘where is the overlap?’, ‘who is drawingup their own plan?’, ‘how can we intensifycooperation?’

1.3 Research domain

The research will allow the Alderman ofEconomic Affairs to submit the strategicchoices Amsterdam is facing in city mar-keting, to the Municipal Council on2 June, 2003. Political-governmental prio-rities will be set on the basis of this.Subsequently, both companies and theregion will be involved to detail thesechoices. After the decision process bothconcept and organisation will be devel-oped.

1.4 Progress of the research

The exploratory phase started late inDecember 2002. We had a large amountof studies, including the LaGroup bench-mark research dated 19 March, 2003.

During the detailed phase Berenschotinterviewed representatives of twenty‘midfield’ organisations as to the concep-tual and organisational objectives, as wellas a number of opinion leaders from thesame sector (see appendix D). A number

1. Introduction

of conceptual statements were listed forthe official residence discussion on24 March, 2003. Which was a significantsource for the proposals regarding orga-nisation and concept. The outcome ofthose discussions have been incorporatedin this report. On 7 May a concept ver-sion of this report was presented to therepresentatives of the promotional orga-nisations who reacted positively; remarksand additions regarded mainly furtherelaboration and depth. They have beenincluded in this final version of the report.

In this report Berenschot submits a pro-posal for the Amsterdam brand, a citymarketing system to incorporate policyover the coming years and a proposal forthe organisation. The Municipal Councilwill be discussing this report on 2 Junenext, and on 26 June next it will be dis-cussed by the Economic AffairsCommittee to which the General AffairsCommittee has been invited. The Boardwill be discussing city marketing after thesummer recess. The proposals will beimplemented after the decision process.

1.5 Structure of the report

Chapter 2 analyses the organisations andeighteen recommendations and conclu-sions. Chapter 3 is about the conceptualside of the brand and it also analyses theresults, recommendations and conclu-sions. Chapter 4 describes the conse-quences for the organisations and thebrand whereas chapter 5 summarises themain decisions of the Municipal Counciland discusses the implementation pro-cess.

All terms have been defined in AppendixA. Appendix B provides insight intoAmsterdam’s position in the world withregard to competitors and summarisesthe benchmark report. Appendix C is

about the flow of funds, with a smalladditional note. Appendix D provides alist of our discussion partners in the previ-ous months, Chapter E covers the litera-ture consulted.



2.1 Basic principle for theorganisation research

City marketing is not a democratic pro-cess, nor a centrally guided system. Citymarketing is a combination of many acti-ve actors working on various chessboardsoperating to a great extent independent-ly in their different fields of expertise andnetworks. Too much central guidancecannot function in such a multicolouredfield of operations. The important thing isthat all actors operate from one commonbasis using the same toolkit when itcomes to the Amsterdam brand. Only thecritical elements to this should be arran-ged at central level.

Our approach has been that the cityshould not endeavour to control the enti-re field, but rather steer a restricted num-ber of specific issues associated with thebrand. The municipality will also clearlyallocate tasks and responsibilities, andencourage and stimulate new issues andareas which have been neglected by thefield. Field organisations should have thepossibility to take the initiative, howeverthey must know beyond doubt where themunicipality is heading and they mustalso be familiar with the rules of thegame. These rules will be set out toge-ther with business, ‘the social midfield’*regional interests and other partners.

2.2 Results

Amsterdam accommodates many organi-sations which focus on city marketing orparts of city marketing. All of these orga-nisations have a different history of deve-lopment, different structures and differentparticipants. Many of them receive subsi-dies and contributions which are subjectto agreements. Many of them focus onthe promotion of certain products andtarget groups. The purpose of this rese-arch was to develop a picture of the totalfield, to come up with recommendationsto strengthen Amsterdam’s city marketingorganisation. In other words, this researchwas not meant to analyse strengths andweaknesses nor was it intended to list thecontributions offered by organisations inthe various product market sectors indivi-dually.

Our results were based on more thantwenty interviews with representativesfrom the promotional sector and the offi-cial residence discussion on 24 March2003. We came up with four dominantthemes: the passion of ‘Amsterdammers’(people of Amsterdam) for their city, theAmsterdam ‘social midfield’, vision anddirection and finally bottlenecks in thefunctioning of the organisation. We havemade a note of the various perceptions;sections 2.3 to 2.6 represent a summaryof the results. The last section covers theconclusions.

2 Promotional organisations ofAmsterdam: results, analysis,conclusions

Social midfield or midfield, a typically Dutch term referring to that broad grouping of interests and organisations linking the business and poli-tical environment and people, thus including such bodies as chambers of commerce, representative organisations, branch associations and sup-port groups.

*

2.3 The passion of the 'Amsterdammers'

Inspiration to effort comes from thepassion for Amsterdam’s products Amsterdam’s promotional organisationsgrew from a passion for a certain productor the need to better sell a certain pro-duct. They love Amsterdam, with balanceand subtle distinction. Content drives thepeople behind them: the port, the cruisebusiness, architecture, the airport, sports,science and neighbourhoods of the city.They act as intermediaries betweenclients on the one hand and the rank andfile party on the other hand. Work isoften a mix of content and promotion.Organisations promote certain productsand they also develop activities such asnetwork facilities in that sector, supportthe sales process, employment marketcommunication, and adapt media messa-ges to those specific target groups. Eachof them serves specific target groups andknows how to reach their hearts as theyoperate close to content. They useAmsterdam because the city has a strongposition in the world and because it hasadvantages when it comes to selling theirown products.

Involvement The character of Amsterdammers is saidto lend itself poorly for common city mar-keting. The people of Amsterdam areself-willed and creative and do not wishto be guided. "That’ll never work inAmsterdam." A statement however thatis receiving ever more confrontation. Self-will may easily lead to conceit.Amsterdam was doing so well that it see-med hardly necessary to do anything tokeep visitors, companies and inhabitantscoming. Nevertheless, everyone is noti-cing the competition between cities andwe met great willingness to work toge-ther to launch the city marketing ofAmsterdam.

2.4 The Amsterdam midfield

Numerous supporters involvedAmsterdam has a finely-woven ‘socialmidfield’ which to varying extent dealswith city marketing. We noticed a greatmultiplicity of companies in particular,whereby the striking fact is that organisa-tions often have a whole range of objecti-ves from which marketing and promotionderive. It is about trade organisationswhereby harmony, representation of inte-rests and common purchasing are oftenthe basis of cooperation. Marketing andpromotion are imbedded in these. Asmost trade organisations developed fromthe bottom, many supporters are invol-ved and are willing to make efforts. Thenetwork is relatively tight; especially inspecific sectors (culture, architecture,sports, knowledge, port, airport, the crea-tive industry, hotel business) networks arespecial groups of people who focus ontailored work and operate on the basis ofgreat expertise and a heart that lovesAmsterdam.

City marketing is work of manOrganisations emphasise the fact thatmarketing is work of man above all.Whether anything will develop dependsmuch more on personal relationshipsrather than objective factors as many out-siders might generally believe. Many ofthe institutions which we have studiedinvest the greatest efforts to organisemeetings. We believe the midfield, at theinterface of local business and city marke-ting, is remarkably vital, certainly if com-pared to the image we get from othersectors. This can partly be ascribed toAmsterdam’s special scale: it is bigenough to operate in its own niche, yettoo small to do everything or reach thetop by itself.

The other side of the tight midfieldSector-crossing organisations represent asmall group that invests great effort andfind each other easily. The group is basedon many double functions in terms ofmanagement and organisation. Of course



here we bump into the disadvantages ofthe tight midfield: a small group of peo-ple who meet each other regularly andwho have different positions, whichmakes it difficult for an outsider to sepa-rate the many and various responsibilities.

Criticising each otherOne of Amsterdam’s typical culturalaspects is the fact that the municipality ofAmsterdam and the midfield organisa-tions, who partly owe their existence tomunicipal subsidies, come and go.According to the organisations money isinsufficient, the municipality does notunderstand why good projects are no lon-ger submitted to qualify for project subsi-dies in order to substantiate the econom-ic structure. This affects the images ofboth the municipality and the organisa-tions involved.

International companies do not committhemselves to AmsterdamAnother striking fact is the poor link bet-ween Amsterdam and its top companies.International companies do not want tocommit themselves to Amsterdam andoperate in an entirely different world to,for instance, the municipality and cham-bers of commerce. Top entrepreneurs arenot acknowledged for their contributionsto the city, the municipality and the pro-motional organisations and they are tur-ning their backs ever more on these net-works. We have the impression that theinternational business network is usedinsufficiently for the sake of Amsterdam,despite its enormous power and potential.

Fragmentation All in all we believe the Amsterdam net-work has much more to offer. Companiesfail to submit proposals, organisationsreport, probably too early, that there isno money. Reason could be disinterest,the impression that there are no organisa-tions, or a ‘things-are-going-fine-anyway’attitude. There is nobody to steer all par-ties in the same direction for the field ishighly fragmented.

2.5 Vision and direction

Strong need for one common direction,one visionInterviewees confirmed unanimously thatthe municipality of Amsterdam lacks avision on city marketing, a vision on theAmsterdam brand and related policy.There is no political leader for theAmsterdam brand and no official centre.The municipality operates from the vari-ous portfolios in the various sectors, andthe Amsterdam brand revenues appearnot to be a criterion on which funds canbe assigned. We believe the municipalityis not making clear its target. And we areunder the impression that the central cityand the city district departments aregoing their own way and increasinglydeveloping their own marketing initiati-ves. The lack of vision and continuityresult in poor faith. Companies are saidto be withdrawing from shared activitiessuch as trade missions and portals becau-se of these reasons. The municipality’scomplaints on disintegration and overlapin the field are often waved aside withthe argument that it is mainly within themunicipality itself that there is no agree-ment between the various actors. Theinterviewees are unanimously positiveabout the fact that the Municipal Councilwill come up with a vision and give impul-se to the Amsterdam brand.

Willingness to accept directionThe field needs direction. The availableplans provide the necessary guidancebeacons for Amsterdam’s developmentprocess: the Hermez Economic Develop-ment Programme, the 2010 StructuralPlan, the Art Plan and the Large CitiesPolicy Plan. City marketing does notstand on its own, it needs a foundationbuilt on fact (see appendix A, para C). Inthis context companies should make clearchoices on the city’s functions. The field ismost willing to accept direction. The perception is that private initiativesdrown in bureaucracy in organising, forinstance, sports events or festivals inpublic spaces: the initiative taker has to

visit sixteen city district departments tocome out empty-handed in Amsterdamand end up in Haarlemmermeer.

Lack of direction results from lack ofvision for the Amsterdam brand.Amsterdam has not identified responsibi-lity for the Amsterdam brand. There is nobrand builder, no brand manager, andvarious separate organisations are sup-pliers. In this way Amsterdam misses outon many opportunities; each party investsin its own business, powers are fragmen-ted and other cities thus always scorebetter in all fields. There is nobody tointervene in case of conflicting interests,which leads to sub-optimisation or tosecond, third and fourth place. Lack ofdirection leads to a multicoloured collec-tion of tools such as logos, stories, flyers,brochures, videos, maps, websites, tele-phone information lines and receptioncentres. Amsterdam lacks a proper des-ign it can be proud of. There is harmony,but hardly any cooperation. The onlyform of cooperation is based on personalrelationships.

2.6 The organisations

The selection needed for the sake oftotal overviewBelow we discuss the singularities andbottlenecks of each organisation withinthe scope of Amsterdam city marketing.For a general description of activities wesuggest consultation of the separateannual reports. This choice makes theoverview below incomplete and unbalan-ced. The purpose of this research, howe-ver, is to create a picture of the entirefield and to identify all possibilities ofimprovement. Since the discussions cove-red many topics and because we did notalways have the chance to put things inperspective and make them more pro-found, we restricted ourselves to the firstimportant statements which have brieflybeen reproduced below.

The selection of interviewed represen-tatives of the institutionsWe restrict ourselves to those institutionswhich provided specific promotionalobjectives and receive substantial subsidyfrom the municipality. It should be clearthat many organisations are public-privatejoint ventures; their scopes are oftenbeyond the municipal boundaries andthey often operate at regional level. Themunicipality of Amsterdam is thus one oftheir business partners. Besides compa-nies, the province and surrounding muni-cipalities too participate quite frequently.

Amsterdam Promotions (AmPro) The Amsterdam Promotion Foundation(AmPro) is a public-private organisationwith the aim to substantiate the image ofAmsterdam and its region as a promin-ently economic, cultural and scientificcentre at national and international level.AmPro is the network organisation parexcellence where business and regionalleaders meet. The municipality ofAmsterdam, the province of North-Holland and a number of regional munici-palities provide subsidies and there areapproximately 75 private contributors.

AmPro is suffering from the various rolesit is expected to play: is it a platform,director, producer of promotional materi-al or an organiser of activities? The bor-derlines have always been rather unclearand nobody knows its exact role. Therehas been lack of vision and direction.Effects are not measured, there is no con-tribution policy, the platform hardly getstogether and there are no instruments.The decision-making structure is poor,partly due to too many members of theboard (about 30) while targets remainvague. All in all AmPro does not functionproperly although the AmPro chairmanhas urged an energetic new approachseveral times.

This was one of the primary reasons tocarry out this research. There is a greatwillingness to change whereby the cur-rent city marketing developments are



considered to be an opportunity to givean impulse to the city marketing ofAmsterdam.

The involvement of business deservesexplicit attention. Since AmPro is consi-dered to be a ‘forward position’ of thecity rather than a shared platform, it isperceived that companies have the ten-dency to withdraw from it. Sometimes themunicipality’s action is inexplicably uncle-ar; the status on promotional travelseems illustrative. The municipality isunder the impression that it is providing agood service environment, and that itappreciates participants’ considerableinput, whereas the field blames the muni-cipality for discontinuity and arbitrariness.Business people seem to believe unjustlythat the municipality is deciding wherethis year’s mission will take place and whowill be allowed to go on it.

Amsterdam Tourist Board (ATB) The Amsterdam Tourist Board (ATB) is apublic-private, non-profit organisation.The budgets intended for promotionalpurposes are strengthened by chargingconsumers, companies or other clients forproducts and activities. Commercial ratesare not charged for shared tasks.Thinking in terms of fixed and variablecosts is not widely accepted. Especiallythe hotel sector is critical, expectingmore purposeful promotion and service.The implementation of public tasks isevaluated on the basis of ATB’s satisfacti-on ratings. Many believe visitors shouldbe better welcomed to Amsterdam. TheATB has not yet managed to find a suita-ble location around the Leidseplein. Forthe time being the ATB has redecoratedthe premises in the Leidsestraat. Anotherpoint that needs improvement is how toadapt rates for information services(ATB’s € 0.55 a minute against AUB’s€ 0.40 a minute). ATB’s international pro-motion is carried out by the NetherlandsTourism & Recreation organisation, on thebasis of contract and result, as they main-tain a network of international offices inthe main countries of origin of those visi-

ting Amsterdam. By the participation ofinternational companies and the Ministryof Economic Affairs, ATB generates mil-lions of euros a year extra forAmsterdam’s promotional activities.

Amsterdam Congress Bureau (ACB)Amsterdam Congress Bureau (ACB) ser-ves the market of meetings, incentives,conferences and events (the MICE marketin technical parlance) focusing on promo-tion and sales in particular. Nevertheless,it is too small to make a strong impres-sion in that market. Which explains thedesire to join forces with the ATB. Thefield also seeks harmony between MICEsuppliers and the hotel business.Presently this function is hardly fulfilled.The ATB could play a part in this too.

Amsterdam Uit Bureau (AUB)Amsterdam Uit Bureau (AUB) focuses onbringing the supply and demand for ‘cul-ture’ in Amsterdam, targeting also aDutch audience by means of the ‘Uitlijn’and ‘Uitmarkt’. AUB works closely withATB in terms of information supply to thepublic. There are no plans to merge thesefunctions, however the desire to open upa large tourist and cultural informationcentre in or around Leidseplein hasexisted for years. The AUB does not havethe organisation or the capacity to investin the city marketing of Amsterdam.There is no money for systematic culturalmarketing. International cultural promo-tion is hardly looked at. Nevertheless, thefinal report of AUB’s collective marketingproject clearly demonstrated the need.

AmportsAmports provides services to its mem-bers, serving the entire North Sea CanalRegion, with the Municipal Port Authorityas by far the largest contributor. With asmall organisation Amports seeks toeffectively and efficiently deliver the pro-ducts members demand. Except for pro-motion, Amports is also responsible forservice and harmony between parties inthe port region. Typical promotionalefforts include employment market com-

munication, a newspaper, network mee-tings and activities such as fairs and theHavengilde dinner.

Amsterdam CruiseportAmsterdam Cruiseport focuses onIJmuiden and river-cruise sailing. It is asmall midfield organisation serving alllinks in the cruise chain. The sensitivequestion is whether the organisationshould be a maritime or a tourist organi-sation. Eventually the boats follow thetourists whereas promotion should targetthe tourists. Therefore we believe thissmall organisation should merge with the ATB.

Amsterdam Airport AreaAmsterdam Airport Area (AAA) focuseson the establishment of internationalcompanies in the Schiphol area throughinternational promotional and sales activi-ties. The Schiphol Area DevelopmentCenter (SADC) is ‘chairman’ of the AAA.The AAA recently evaluated theAmsterdam brand and came up with anew pay-off: ‘Nerve center for yourEuropean business’. They have a clearstory for both the promotional and acqui-sition activities, whereby Schiphol’s imageobviously leans heavily on Amsterdam.

ARCAMARCAM deals with Amsterdam’s architec-ture, bringing many parties and initiativestogether and focusing, on the basis ofcontent, on how to promote the city’sarchitecture. ARCAM is seeking the lime-light for instance by declaring 2004 the‘Year of Architecture in Amsterdam’ toge-ther with the ATB.

Topsport AmsterdamTopsport Amsterdam considers contentto be its primary task; the organisationdoes its own promotion but would like tooutsource this to another because itbelieves it is not its key task and becauseit would prefer to progress on the basisof the expertise and knowledge of pro-fessionals in this field.

Knowledge Foundation AmsterdamThe Knowledge Foundation Amsterdamdoes not have a clear promotional objec-tive; it is a functioning network of compa-nies and educational institutions.However it has limited scope and is not ina position to act on initiatives which resultfrom network activities. In the currentcontext it cannot effectively or internatio-nally promote Amsterdam as a knowled-ge city.

2.7 Sixteen dimensions and representation

A large number of parties contribute toAmsterdam’s image on the basis of com-munication or lack thereof. The policehave a major role when it comes toAmsterdam’s image as a liveable city;campaigns influence the feelings of inha-bitants and visitors, press releases maysometimes travel around the world andconfirm unintentionally the ideas aboutAmsterdam as the city where everythingis possible. Transport companies such asGVB (local public transport), Connexxionand the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (DutchRailways) play a major part in the feelingsof hospitality by visitors and inhabitantsalike. It is about availability, accessibilityand the unequivocal character of informa-tion on public transport, parking facilitiesand traffic jams. Organisational power ispoor in a number of areas important toAmsterdam’s image. If policy indicateswillingness to strengthen a certain sectorsuch as ‘residential city’ or ‘knowledgecity’, it will have to better involve existingorganisations in city marketing (e.g.Housing Department) or improve organisation.

The organic growth of the promotionalsector has caused disproportionate atten-tion for those dimensions which togethercreate Amsterdam’s image. Consequentlyvarious target groups remain ignored and Amsterdam misses out on opportunities.Amsterdam should invest in this, depen-ding on the spearhead priorities.



2.8 Conclusions and recommendations

1. The passion of the people of Amsterdamfor their city and for certain sectors andproducts, allow them to achieve greatperformances with relatively thin resour-ces. We confirm that in the city marketingprocess a vital midfield is an essential ele-ment to success and that city marketingpenetrates through to finest capillaries ofurban society. The involvement and the,unpaid, input of many parties is some-thing Amsterdam should cherish.

2. The Amsterdam midfield is strong; someof the possibilities to strengthen it havebeen mentioned. The following links arenecessary in order to excel: ! Amsterdam’s contacts with the interna-

tional top exist, but parties are not wil-ling to commit to the city;

! Connections between the internationaltop, the Amsterdam midfield and themunicipality should be made morefunctional for city marketing by payingmore attention to each other’s interestsand by working on these together.Amsterdam’s typical international com-panies such as Heineken, ABN AMRO,Schiphol, KLM and multinationals whohave clearly opted for Amsterdam(Philips is a striking example), wereoften mentioned;

! It is possible to substantiate relations-hips by crossing the bridge betweenthe general midfield organisationswhich focus on the masses, the small-scale organisations which target multi-form groups, and organisations bet-ween manufacturing industry and bus-iness services.

Each party recognises the greater oppor-tunities of more substantial links, andthey all believe increasing effort isworthwhile. Resources to reinforce areone shared vision, one strongly shareddirection, and binding international com-panies by increasing input in specific acti-

vities and events. In this way it will bepossible to break through the atmosphe-re in which parties watch each other inte-restedly but fail to take action. The Mayorand Alderman of Economic Affairs haveboth already indicated their serious inten-tion to invest efforts to strengthen con-tacts in the scope of Amsterdam’s citymarketing.

3. Amsterdam goes beyond city boundaries.Noordwijk for instance calls itself ‘thebeach of Amsterdam’ and this is but oneof the many examples. There are less, butalso many good experiences in regionaland national cooperation, whereby manyshow a rising line: ATB, the partners inthe port, the partners around Schiphol,partners in sports. It is about initiativessuch as Amsterdam Plus and AmsterdamArea. We recommend developing theseexperiences and using them in the citymarketing project.

4.Fragmentation in the organisational senseis not the main problem. According tothe field one vision provides sufficientdirection, and strong direction makeslarge-scale structural adjustments unne-cessary and undesirable.

5.The field considers the municipality ofAmsterdam to be the one partner whocan take the lead to develop one visionof the Amsterdam brand. At the momentthere are many visions, uncoordinated.

6.The field sees opportunities to strengthenAmsterdam’s image by working togetherto bring in or initiate top events and festi-vals. The current top events can be betterlinked to Amsterdam. At an internationallevel this would be possible through Sail,European football championships, VanGogh Museum, the Rijksmuseum, theRoyal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Ajax,Amsterdam Marathon, JumpingAmsterdam, activities by the creative sec-

tors, dance; at national and internationallevel this would be possible with theUitmarkt (Entertainment market),Koninginnedag (Queen’s Birthday) andthe Museumnacht (Museum Night).

7.According to the field direction is a res-ponsibility which should be shared byboth the municipality and the field.During the interviews and the official resi-dence discussion many parties indicatedtheir willingness to participate.

8.A number of organisations are trapped indouble or unclear roles. AmPro cannotperform the intended function as apublic-private platform being perceptiblytoo close to government. The ATB carriesout public and commercial tasks; thisshould be clarified more in the percep-tion of the public.

9.Some of the organisations are too smallor too weak to contribute to city marke-ting. Mergers or extended cooperativeinitiatives are here the answer.Recommendations:! Amsterdam as cultural city lacks a mar-

keting organisation to focus on theinternational audience; combined for-ces would provide a stimulus;

! The City of Amsterdam might encoura-ge Amsterdam Cruiseport (ACP) towork with the ATB on a more intensivelevel, given the overlap of targetgroups they have in mind. Intensivecooperation with Amports is also apossibility, since it is mainly about shipowners who determine whether tou-rists will call on Amsterdam by cruiseship. ACP, ATB, Passenger TerminalAmsterdam, Amports and the PortAuthority are currently evaluating theresults of the cooperation; the outco-mes should lead to proposals to increa-se the scope of, inter alia, ACP;

! The municipality of Amsterdam shouldencourage the ACB to speed up themerger with the ATB as both parties

realise the fact that a merger will posi-tively effect their effectiveness;

! Knowledge Foundation Amsterdamproved insufficiently capable of presen-ting Amsterdam as a knowledge city,while the Economic DevelopmentDepartment provides sufficient resour-ces. They are interested, but not yetable. The municipality might help themto promote Amsterdam as a knowled-ge city elsewhere, for instance by afuture central organisation;

! Topsport Amsterdam is handling itsown promotional activities through‘sports’, however they would ratherhave one central organisation takingcare of this, partly in view of more pro-fessionalism, continuity and distributionof knowledge.

10.The sectors that will serve as spearheadsfor Amsterdam’s image (e.g. business city,residential city, cultural city) deserveevery assistance.

11.According to the field, departments suchas the Economic DevelopmentDepartment, the Department ofCommunications, the Department ofSocial Development, the Port Authority,the City Planning Authority and the CityDevelopment Company could work toge-ther much better in city marketing. Thefield wants one contact for private initiati-ves for festivals and events.

12.Reallocating funds to promote organisa-tional changes or to increase efficiencyleads to hardly anything. Besides, manyorganisations combine content and pro-motion so it is almost impossible to findout how much money exactly is investedin content and how much goes to promo-tional activities.

13.Financial guidance by the municipalityprovides many possibilities; the currentsubsidies have the character of structural



subsidies. Larger institutions especiallyneed improving by strengthening the linkbetween policy on the one hand and pro-ducts/services on the other.

14.Intrinsic steering is possible; the field is infavour of one city marketing policy withone ‘head’ on top of existing activities.This requires money. City marketing poli-cy allows for the possibility to betterarrange the organic whole. The fundsflows can be adjusted on the basis of shif-ting priorities. Existing institutions willrespond to this approach, new partici-pants will have the opportunity once in awhile and provide fresh blood. In this waythe municipality will be responsible forpolicy rather than responsible for theinstitution as is now the case.

15.The midfield should better use the cur-rently available project subsidies. Largeamounts of money remain unused.

16.The pallet of promotional products showsblank spaces, of wasted financial resour-ces and people’s efforts due to lack of anumber of basic agreements: ! segmentation of target groups devel-

oped organically, however it is not theconsequence of policy. ‘Vision anddirection’ is progressing. Directionmeans prioritising target groups andmay prevent overlap (e.g. in leisureand business visitors, cruise sailors).

! lobbies are incidental and sector-oriented;

! criteria for trade delegations are uncle-ar. We recommend finding out whetherpromotional travels or trade missionsshould be organised from one coordi-nation point or whether companiesshould take the initiative.

17.Promotional activities and related recruit-ment material and activities overlap con-siderably. The municipality’s housestylemight serve as a basic start position for

Amsterdam’s image also familiar to priva-te partners. The field believesAmsterdam’s hospitality would benefitfrom the physical combination of recep-tion and information functions (e.g. theATB and AUB facilities) based on accom-modation and Internet portals.

18.The field is desperate for basic promotio-nal material which has been producedtogether and efficiently (a basic story, animage style for Amsterdam, pictures,maps, stories, events calendar, website).


3.1 Conceptual approach andtranslation into action

Amsterdam is attractive to many compa-nies, visitors and inhabitants. Where is thepower of Amsterdam, now and in thenear future?

Target groupsCity marketing focuses on three targetgroups: companies, visitors and inhabi-tants, both existing and potential groupsat national and international levels. Theyeach look at Amsterdam from their ownperspectives. City marketing is aboutboth current and future customers: afterall that is what leads to growth. The nextphase is to produce a list of targetgroups and related intermediaries whomake contributions in order to reachthese target groups. It is also time tomatch supply and demand in the form ofproduct-market combinations: which tar-get groups are interested in whichAmsterdam products and services? It isabout questions such as: how do weaddress the various geographical mar-kets, business visitors, Dutch tourists andso on. Attention is paid to the variousreasons to visit or even settle in the city.On defining and positioning theAmsterdam brand, the experiences andimages of the target groups should weigh

heavier than municipal boundaries orother institutional barriers.

One element of city marketing policy isthe prioritisation and development ofspecific propositions for the sectors.

Typifying Amsterdam’s profile: a spreadof sixteen dimensions Amsterdam owes its strength to versatili-ty. We thus created a profile ofAmsterdam based on sixteen dimensions.Only together do they clearly typify thecity of Amsterdam. We based this selecti-on on:! Image research among various target

groups (visitors, companies, inhabi-tants).

! Scientific literature about city marke-ting1 and establishment factors.

! Interviews (we asked people aboutAmsterdam’s unique and distinctiveelements).

! The ‘official residence’ discussion on24 March, 2003.

! A large amount of statements aboutAmsterdam, from policy documents totelevision programmes, from travel gui-des to promotional material to news-paper reports (see appendix E).

! The municipality’s Omnibus question-naire among 424’ Amsterdamresidents2.

3. The Amsterdam brand:results, analysis, conclusions

Porter, M. (1990) The competitive advantages of nations. London: The MacMillan Press.Kotler, P, D.H. Haider en I. Rein (1993) Marketing places. Attracting investment, industry and tourism to cities, states and nations. London: FreePress, H. Grosveld, The leading cities of the world and their competitive advantages, Naarden, 2002, Patteeuw, V. (red) (2002) City branding.Image building and building images. Rotterdam: NAI Uitgevers/Publishers.The way in which respondents were asked to score was slightly different between discussion partners and the Amsterdammers who were interviewed. However we believe this does not interfere with the outcomes and emphases.

1

2


In fact, the city marketing vision on thesesixteen dimensions dovetails with theintrinsic view on Amsterdam’s develop-ment process; product and promotionshould be in line.

The key valuesAmsterdam’s profile - with the sixteendimensions - presents a number of keyvalues. Of course here too we usedimage research, interviews, the officialresidence discussion, promotional materi-al and travel guides.

When combined the key values are uni-que and distinguish Amsterdam. Theycannot be expressed in a slogan or a pay-off - that would be adding cream to acream cake - but are the underlying termswhich present the basic ingredient to allstatements - cream in the cake. They des-cribe the character of Amsterdam.Amsterdam owes its unique position tothe combination of creativity, innovationand spirit of commerce (basic groundsfollow in sections 3.3 and 3.4). They canbe developed in coherence. Continuityhowever is a necessary condition, crea-ting familiarity takes time.

These key values are connected to sto-ries, symbols, images, people to "load"the terms with brand carriers: that is howthe terms will live, that is how they will beable to transfer and that is how many sta-tements will contribute to properly pre-senting the Amsterdam brand to theworld.

The brand carriersAmsterdam is a strong brand, with manygood connotations which simply cannotbe summarised in one pay-off or slogan.

We choose present Amsterdam using thebest model and by having brand carrierspresent ‘Amsterdam’ such as stories,icons, images, festivals, events and peo-ple who carry the brand.

The power of the carriers can be establis-hed by positioning them in a ‘naming tri-angle’ or ‘slogan triangle’. This representsthe link between names and slogans onthe one hand and the possibility to addassociations, stories, images, people andicons on the other. On top you find theimaginary terms, frequently used in themarketing of consumer products such ascrisps or chocolate bars. A name like‘crispy’ says nothing but by addingcolours, smells, sounds, flavours and asso-ciating this with a brand name, the con-cept or term will come to life. Bottom leftinside the triangle is the descriptive termswhich refer to an intrinsic aspect of a pro-duct, e.g. ‘North-South Line’ or ‘StationNeighbourhood’. Bottom right is the des-criptive process terms, which call onusers’ own imagination. The trick is tofind carriers that rise as high as possiblein the triangle, that are distinctive andrecognisable because of the carrier’scargo. The higher you get in the triangle,the more characteristic, the easier thedirection.

Already strong

CreativityInnovationSpirit of commerce

Strengthen/invest

Excellence

Key values

Imagination

Content Process

! Amsterdam nerve centre of Europe

! Amsterdam Capital of Inspiration

! Mokum

! Global village

! Amsterdam has it! The nine streets! Residential city

! Business city

! Cultural city

! Amsterdam metropolis


3.2 Amsterdam's place in theworld

City marketing’s starting point is the cur-rent position of Amsterdam in the world.So La Groupe also carried out benchmarkanalyses of the municipalities ofBarcelona, Berlin, Dublin, Amsterdam andRotterdam for organisational structure,strategy and activities, finances andachievements. Appendix B provides anoverview and summary.

Cities are often evaluated on the basis ofvarious criteria. Recent research showedthat the ‘quality of life’ in Amsterdam wasnumber 10 on the list of great urban cen-tres3. Between 1995 and 1999Amsterdam was also the best businesslocation in the world4.

Nevertheless, other lists claimAmsterdam’s competitiveness is underpressure. More East-European cities arepresenting themselves as interestingalternatives. Brussels too is becoming afeared competitor due to its attractive-ness as ‘European capital’. Competitionfocuses greatly on city marketing andknows how to attract the desired compa-nies, visitors and inhabitants. Example:after London (44 million), Paris (23 mil-lion), Rome (10 million) and Dublin (8 mil-lion) Amsterdam is the fifth tourist city at7.2 million international nights, followeddirectly by Prague (7 million) and Vienna(6.3 million). In the past few yearsAmsterdam accommodated fewer confe-rences, going down from number five tonumber eleven.

Such lists provide a clear yet fragmentedpicture. A more complete picture ofAmsterdam’s international position was presented by Grosveld in 2002, a study among ‘city makers’ in eighty cities5.The study presented an image of the per-

ception of 1,300 prominent ‘city makers’6.This study proves that Amsterdam scoreshigh, mainly in trade & transport andmuseums (both at number six). AppendixB provides a more extensive overview.

On the basis of an integral analysis of thevarious clusters that can make or break acity, Grosveld came to the conclusion thatAmsterdam was number twelve on theworld list of leading cities, together withFrankfurt for quite different reasons (seeappendix B).

Mercer Global Information Services, March 2003. The ‘quality of life’ is based on 39 indicators which provide an image of the political-social clima-te, economic development, social-cultural development, health, education, recreation, consumer goods, accommodation and natural environment.Economist Intelligence Unit, 2000See: Grosveld, H. (2002) The leading cities of the world and their competitive advantages. The perception of city makers. Naarden: World CitiesResearch.City makers include: art institutions, tourist organisations, architects and property traders, transport and trade companies, business service provi-ders, universities, media institutions, governments, multinationals and financial institutions.

3

4

5

6

Cluster

Trade & transportMuseumsPerforming artsBusiness servicesHospitalityUniversitiesInternational organisationsMultinationals & financial sectorMediaProperty & architecture

Order

6 6 89

13131414

>20>30

Table 1. Amsterdam’s place in the world according to1,300 prominent city makers based on a number ofclusters

City

LondonNew YorkParisTokyoHong KongLos AngelesSydney

Table 2. Opinion of ‘city makers’ about the classificationof the ‘world leading cities’

Order

1–41–41–41–45–65–67

City

ChicagoSingaporeWashingtonBeijingAmsterdamFrankfurtBrussels

Order

8–108–108–101112–1312–1314

3.3 Analysis: strengths, weaknesses and opportunities

How do we find the priority dimensionsand key values? Appendix A3 tables showthe strengths, weaknesses and opportuni-ties of each dimension, supplementedand summarised. Here we have alsotaken account of the context: what willthe internationally important competitivevalues be in the near future? What areAmsterdam’s opportunities in this con-text, given the intrinsic plans used?International trend studies and researchprovide the decisive answer (also seeappendix E).

The graphical presentation in the form ofa spiders’ webs shows a number of stri-king similarities and explicable differen-ces. Amsterdam scores high on canals(old and new, atmosphere, history ofmonuments), culture (artistic and enter-tainment) and as a meeting place (inclu-ding the dimension people).

If we compare the Omnibus score to pre-vious research among Amsterdammers, itdoes not surprise us that they would likea more liveable city in the future: safer,cleaner, better accessible, greener. Insome cases the current image and targetimage are quite the opposite, as is thecase with interviewees ideas on the ‘sex,drugs and rock & roll’ dimension. It wassaid that some of the images are alreadyso deeply established that there is noneed for the municipality to carry out anypromotional activities in that area.

If we look at the strengths, weaknessesand opportunities we end up with animage which obtains its power from ver-satility and which at the same time shouldbe careful not to lose itself in this versati-lity. There are plenty of opportunities todifferentiate the city. Appendix A3 pre-sents a qualitative analysis for eachdimension, with the conclusion showingthe target image as set off against thecurrent self image.

Amsterdam’s strengths: the versatile cityAmsterdam’s strengths lie in the combi-nation of the Amsterdam associations,the versatile city. Amsterdam’s canals areso special that many see them as a won-der of the world; as boulevards they pro-vide necessary style. The canals createnew connections. However there is moreto Amsterdam than the city centre, or theold city boundaries. It is the capital of theNetherlands, connected to places andfunctions across the Netherlands andEurope. Schiphol (within 20-minutedistance) from the inner city, the port (thefifth in Europe) and the many virtuallogistics centres, Amsterdam is one of themost popular business and tourist juncti-ons in Europe. Amsterdam offers low bus-iness set-up costs and high-quality busin-ess properties for all kinds of enterprises.

However, there is more that makesAmsterdam an attractive business city.Compared to London, Paris andFrankfurt, thanks to its relatively low bus-iness set-up costs, special historic innercity, highly-skilled and multilingual wor-king population, the possibility to live in acity, receive proper education and enjoythe cultural climate, Amsterdam is aninteresting alternative to investors and agreat business location for companies.Amsterdam is a unique combination ofairport, seaport, international city andregion which fulfils the set-up needs forinternational companies. Both the peopleand the city’s design express opennessand diversity, inviting you to meet and fallin love with the city. The presence of art,


Already strong / benefitfrom

Cultural cityCanal city (old and new)Meeting place

Strengthen, invest andbenefit from later on

Business cityKnowledge cityResidential city

Dimensions

culture and entertainment, fromRembrandt’s ‘Night Watch’ to galleries,from dance events to Ajax football cluband its many monuments, seduce manypeople to the city. A complete city, whereone can find anything one might need tofeel both inhabitant and tourist at thesame time and which is always interestedin more. Amsterdam’s various elementssupplement each other, the power lies inthe combination. Amsterdam is the citywhere you want to be, not only to see.The complete city stretches until waybeyond the official city boundaries:Schiphol, the bulb fields, the beach,Almere, het Gooi too belong toAmsterdam, certainly to foreigners.

The city’s weaknesses: Amsterdampoorly organisedThere is also another side to this versatilecity. Whoever can do everything cannotdo anything properly … that isAmsterdam’s image. For instance, the cityshould better emphasise the fact thatneighbourhoods have their own identity,whereas urban district departmentsshould realise that it would be better tojoin hands with Amsterdam rather thancompete with the city to make it evenstronger. Facilities and services are underpressure. Matters that are considered tobe the power of Amsterdam such asopenness, high educational levels, multi-lingualism, the historic centre, requirebetter investment. Amsterdam is beco-ming less hospitable and accessibility too.A problem, partly due to coming year’sbuilding work in the city. Internationalaccessibility remains a point of attention;visitors find the regional and local trans-port system quite complicated.

Whoever is tolerant offers freedom tomany tastes, but at the same time risksare involved. Amsterdam must be sharp-eyed to a decline of the city’s ‘style’,cheap, less authentic, restricted quality ofthe retail picture. Many European citiesgrimace when they see cheap touristflights arriving. A compact city can some-

times be very small, Dutch and hardlydistinctive.

Amsterdam’s opportunities: the pro-gressive cityThe progressive city has produced itshistory and today’s Amsterdam. That iswhat typifies Amsterdam. Rembrandt, thecanals and trade are the products of amodern city. The history of Amsterdam asa progressive and free city is an opportu-nity for the future. The combination ofold and new makes Amsterdam unique inmany ways. Amsterdam needs to betteridentify and claim these unique elements.

Amsterdam’s historic and monumentalplaces are icons of creativity, innovationand spirit of commerce of the city throug-hout the centuries. The icons allow thecity to meet today’s opportunities. Oldand new can be combined proudly anddaringly, without harming the old and wit-hout making concessions to the new.Amsterdam hardly needs to think of any-thing new, it should only claim more, likeits region which should benefit from thefact that it belongs to Amsterdam, andwhich would turn Amsterdam the junction(airport city) into a more attractive busin-ess city. By which the villas outside thecity also belong to Amsterdam.Amsterdam is better known to the worldthan the Netherlands, and from this per-spective the entire Randstad (urbanagglomeration of Western Netherlands)belongs to Amsterdam. New develop-ment projects imitate and elaborate thestyle of the old canals, in a way appropri-ate for this century and new houses.

Other areas too present the possibilitiesto combine old and new, present andfuture. Amsterdam the knowledge cityhas much to offer, it could also claim thenearness of other universities in institu-tions and emphasise intrinsic fields suchas life sciences and sustainability.Amsterdam excels in medical knowledgeand sciences and the GG&GD(Department of Health) dominates at a



national level. Both in terms of healthcareand art, Amsterdam can combine arenowned past, presence and future.

Art and spirit of trade for example findeach other in the creative industry: des-ign, fashion, dance, photography, televi-sion and multimedia. Most happeningstake place in Amsterdam. Both the newZuidas (Southern city axis) and the esta-blished Museumplein (Museum Square)are potential icons of the progressive city,for economy has become culture and cul-ture has become economy. The develop-ment of Amsterdam as a knowledge city,business city and residential city shouldimprove the city’s long-term economichealth. It is precisely these qualities whichare becoming ever more significant in aworld where globalisation leads to worl-dwide competition between cities. Dueto the omnipotence of the knowledgeeconomy only social and economic addedvalue will be created wherever top per-formances are made. Amsterdam tooprovides ‘quality of life’; to this endAmsterdam has plenty to offer to excel,shed light on its unique qualities andjustify high ambitions.

3.4 Analysis of carriers or slogans of the Amsterdambrand

Over the past few years Amsterdam hashad many brand ‘carriers’; remains of oldbrands - or are they still used? – can befound in promotional material.‘Amsterdam has it’, ‘Amsterdam Capitalof Inspiration’, ‘Capital of Sports’, ‘SmallCity, Big Business’ and ‘Cool City’ aresome of the examples of carrier sloganswe ran into. However Amsterdam needscontinuity, while carriers need time to berecognised and become functional.

What should brand carriers comply with?An intrinsic descriptive name is recognisa-ble yet less distinctive and specific for the

brand it refers to: there are severalartistic cities in the world so ‘Amsterdamcity of art’ or ‘Amsterdam the metropolis’is not quite unique and distinctive when itcomes to the communication war bet-ween cities. The same goes for a process-based descriptive name: a slogan such as‘Amsterdam has it’ does not say muchabout Amsterdam’s identity. In the newworld of brands and identities it calls upan image of dull lack of colour rather thana unique distinctive profile. Which doesnot mean that these intrinsic and process-oriented slogans cannot work well inareas of city marketing. Slogans such as‘Amsterdam airport area. Nerve centrefor your European business’ prove functi-onal in the logistics sector. So carriersshould also provide specific sectors thepossibility to build on these slogans.Mokum is an example of an imaginaryname. An imaginary name is creative, sur-prising and creatively refers to the brand.The disadvantage, however, is that recog-nition might cause problems because theimaginary name only means something ifit is combined with the brand. Theseterms often come up undirected orunmanaged. Inventing them requires a lotof energy because they need to be asso-ciated in the market. Unique carriers suchas Big Apple and the City of Light leadinstantly to associations and are recogni-sed by all. These are loaded imaginarynames which have developed a hugemeaning.

Contact points to loading the new brandinclude: Zuidas including Schiphol andZuidoost, the Museumplein, the theatredistrict with the Leidseplein as the centrepoint, the Dam square with the stylishPalace, the area between Central Stationand the passengers terminal, soon withthe new musical building and the library;making beautiful ‘destination areas’recognisable to people with specific pur-poses like shopping, the nine streets andthe markets, architectural visits to interalia old and new canals and the routealong tram number 7.


Famous inhabitants are also on hand(Rembrandt as the best known internatio-nal name yet strongly associated with ‘artfor the large audience)’. We need to findout which associations go along withwhich Amsterdammers: H.P. Berlage,Johan Cruyff, Coornhert, Coster,Descartes, Anne Frank, Freddy Heineken,Albert Heyn, Constantijn Huygens,Johnny Jordaan, Henrick de Keyser, WimKok, Abraham Kuyper, Antonie vanLeeuwenhoek, Leibniz, Harry Mulisch, thehouse of Orange, Albert Plesman, Isaacde Pinto, Rembrandt, Michiel de Ruyter,Sint Nicolaas (Amsterdam’s patron saint),Spinoza, Jan Tinbergen, Tuschinsky, PaulVerhoeven, Joop den Uyl, Jelle Zijlstraand so on. When offering brand carriersto the market certain personified con-cepts provide advantages. We may referto persons: images, stories, physical pla-ces, social context, ideas, works and acti-ons. And in our media-based societycommunication by means of idols isaccepted more widely.

3.5 Conceptual conclusionsand recommendations

1. Based on the conclusion of the associa-tions and the images which theAmsterdam brand calls up, we come tothe conclusion that we should not targetone or a combination of dimensions andthus exclude other dimensions.Amsterdam’s power lies in the combina-tion of Amsterdam associations,Amsterdam the versatile city. Amsterdamshould not reject sectors, as did ‘TilburgModern Industry City’ in the past. Oursuggestion is not to choose AmsterdamSports City or Cultural City to the detri-ment of the Sex, Drugs and Rock & Rollprofile. We choose to make the entirerange of dimensions as strong as possi-ble. This is also the strategy used by NewYork about ten years ago: it attackedboth dirt and non-safety, but it also gaveimpulse to the city’s culture, knowledge,hotels, shops, housing and so on.

2.According to our research Amsterdamshould take advantage of the strengths ofits current image based on dimensionssuch as cultural city, old and new canalcity (extensively including history) and asa meeting place, referring to values suchas creativity, innovation and spirit of com-merce. Amsterdam can easily cash manyopportunities (see ‘dimensions’ at thediagram on the last pages of this report).Nevertheless, the municipality needs tobetter display these dimensions.

3. Our research also shows thatAmsterdam’s opportunities in the medi-um-long term (2005 – 2010) lie in thedomain of the development of dimen-sions such as business city, knowledgecity, residential city, linked to excellenceand intellect. In a couple of yearsAmsterdam will be able to score well inthese dimensions however in order topresent them emphatically, investmentswill have to be made and paid for. Whichdoes not mean that Amsterdam will dropits current good dimensions (cultural city,canal city); it does mean that Amsterdamwill gradually use its distinctive dimen-sions to increase its competitiveness andeventually use this competitiveness (com-pare to New York’s strategy years ago).

4. Amsterdam also needs to find new brandcarriers. Carriers that have been selectedin such way that they emphasise theaspects of the Amsterdam identity whichwe would like to strengthen. Amsterdamneeds to select a unique and recognisa-ble concept which is both attractive andpowerful. Using people as a symbol willmake it is easy to communicate messa-ges. To the question which famousAmsterdammer would best profile themessage Amsterdam wants to bringacross, depends on what messageAmsterdam wishes to convey. The messa-ge should regard the three key values ofcreativity, innovation and spirit of com-merce and to ’load’ this message with the


current strengths of the image (culture,history, meeting place) and future ambi-tions in which Amsterdam needs to investbefore using them (business city, residen-tial city, knowledge city). So it is aboutpeople who personify those key values; itcould be artists, philosophers, sportsmen,architects, businessmen or politicians. Theideas developed by the interviewees andresearchers will be elaborated in theimplementation phase.

5. The development of an intrinsic and a citymarketing vision for Amsterdam areclose. We suggest information exchangein the current projects as to vision andpolicy development, communication andcity marketing. The power of this will beone strong approach to vision, policy andbrand.

6. Amsterdam could strengthen its brandname using both existing and new eventsand festivals emphasising whatAmsterdam stands for. An internationalcomparison shows that these are impor-tant brand carriers and significantmilestones to mobilise the entire field.Amsterdam should focus on bringingtogether large international events andfestivals which give shape to the key valu-es and emphasise the priority dimensions.In autumn for instance, Amsterdam willbe hosting a great international happe-ning of cities that will lead the ‘creativeindustries’. Events such as Sail emphasisethe old and new trade, events like rowingchampionships on the Bosbaan turnAmsterdam into more than just a city cen-tre, the same goes for two top sportsevents every year. Queen’s Day for instan-ce could emphasise the purpose of theareas every year; which means street the-atre in the theatre district, new forms ofart in a new context, the Zuidas. All col-lected and generated ideas will be wor-ked out in the implementation phase. TheDepartment of Social Development hasalso made the first move to formulateclear basic principles:

! The events should contribute to a wideand high-quality urban facility level.

! The events should have at least aregional image, at least half of them anational/international image.

! The events should dovetail with thekey values and dimensions. This wouldbe expressed in the programme: theCanal Festival strengthens the imageof the Canal City, a new image streng-thens the image of Amsterdam theKnowledge Centre and so on.

! The events should contribute to thecity’s development. This would bemainly about paying attention to newurban areas, urban renewal, tourism,cultural climate and so on.

! The events should be well spread overthe year.

! Many events are annual or biannual.This increases the familiarity, communi-cative power and the number of repeatvisits.

! A number of creative and innovativeevents should be selected every year.Partly responding to that year’s citymarketing themes, partly as research &development for new events and festivals.

! Organisers are expected to show (bus-iness plan, knowledge, experience)that they are capable of organisingevents professionally.

7.Amsterdam needs to work on and investin the hospitality factor (one of PhilipKotler’s four conditions, see appendix A),without mentioning this explicitly in allstatements to the target groups. It is aconclusion which people draw instinctive-ly during their visit to Amsterdam. Themunicipality of Amsterdam should createframeworks in which private parties, orga-nisations and private individuals feel thechallenge to take the initiative and workon these initiatives together, for instancefor a welcoming reception location at theLeidseplein. Connection to current initiati-ves.

4.1 Organisation of theAmsterdam city marketing

Basic principleWe suggest guiding and promoting thecity marketing of Amsterdam by means ofa new vision and a new policy. Clearlypointing out the responsibilities. Whichmeans major actions can be left out.

Below we outline recommendations; wedo not repeat recommendations mentio-ned in previous chapters.

The new thing about this proposal is thefact that:! The municipality of Amsterdam will be

operating on one line, at both contentand organisational level.

! Content and financial guidance will bebased on policy.

! Input will be increased, both humanand financial input.

! A larger and new group of people willbe involved.

Vision and brand development at themunicipality of Amsterdam! All interviewees believe that, due to its

public responsibility, it is the municipa-lity who should formulate the brandvision, set the brand, supervise policyexecution and evaluate the brand. Thisis called collective city marketing andbrand development. The direct stee-ring instruments will also be used fromthis perspective. This brand will bedeveloped in 2003 – early 2004.

! The municipality organises the input ofall relevant parties in and aroundAmsterdam, focussing primarily ondistinctive and unique dimensions, nowand in the future. These are ‘culturalcity’, ‘historic/canal city’, ‘meetingplace’, ‘residential city’, ‘business city’and ‘knowledge city’. The field targetspolicy as the municipality uses itsmanagement and financing instru-ments. Once every four years theMunicipal Council sets out city marke-ting policy based on sixteen dimen-sions. It is about presenting a progres-sive vision on Amsterdam’s image inthe long term based on key values,brand carriers and the priority of thesixteen dimensions. This policy is pre-pared by all previous mentioned officialdepartments involved. They will organi-se the necessary input of organisationsin and around Amsterdam, the regionalmunicipalities, companies and urbandistrict departments. The shared actionwill lead to a critical mass which isessential to realise the intended ‘mar-keting impact’.

! The municipality and the field areequally responsible for the promotionand marketing activities of specific sec-tors and fields. The municipality has acoordinative and encouraging role, italso acts as a ‘booster of private initia-tives’. The field also focuses on pro-duct-based promotion for specific tar-get groups. The municipality also actsas a cooperative partner.

! The Municipal Council initiates the


4. Translation of concept intoorganisation


launch of a city marketing fund for aperiod of four years, to be able tocarry out policy priorities and co-finan-ce specific projects and activities. Theofficial residence discussions provedsufficient consensus. In principle com-panies contribute equally. The fundswill be spent on developing spearhe-ads and actions which result from theconceptual analysis. This fund shouldencourage new participants in the pro-motional field and motivate existingcompanies to continue to innovate.The future public-private platform willhave a substantial financial advisorytask.

! The Alderman of Economic Affairs ispolitically responsible for vision anddirection; the Mayor is the face ofAmsterdam and must be recognised assuch across the world.

Direction and brand management on apublic-private platform! Direction of city marketing is only pos-

sible if all public and private interestsare combined and all have the willing-ness to raise familiarity as to the city ofAmsterdam. The city marketing ofAmsterdam is not subject to city boun-daries. The added value of the

Amsterdam brand is also substantial atregional and national level. Therefore itis essential to act together which iswhy we suggest a public-private citymarketing platform which will have asupervising task, and which is notrestricted to the city’s boundaries:‘Partners of Amsterdam’ (AmPro newstyle or rather the conversion of theAmPro foundation). The platform doesnot concern Amsterdam only; attentionwill be paid as to how regional andnational partners could participate.Supervision means responsibility forpolicy execution and boosting new ini-tiatives to better present the brand. Inthis new situation supervision couldmean much more due to a policy withappropriate steering instruments andby using the city marketing fund.

! On the one hand the control platformmust have great authoritative represen-tation and on the other hand it musthave the power of decision, and bedecisive and efficient. The GeneralBoard control platform consists of twel-ve members from government, thescientific world, companies and socialorganisations. These are all authoritati-ve Amsterdammers; city marketing iswork of man. Together they have a

Meeting

Region

Innovation

Food/retail

Service provision

Industry

Bank

Mayor of Amsterdam

General Board(12 people)

Members/Contributers

Knowledge

Culture

Living

History

Alderman of Economic

Affairs

Business Business

Regio

Daily Management

(4 people)

powerful network especially in the sec-tors which are significant toAmsterdam. They contribute a minimalamount of for instance € 25,000 a yearor they generate this amount from sup-porters. They get together three timesa year. The Mayor is chairman of theGeneral Board. Members are admittedby the chairman. The General Boardincludes a Daily Management of fourpeople who have the power of deci-sion. The Alderman of Economic Affairsis the chairman of the DailyManagement Team. They get togetheronce every three months. And finallywe have the monthly official meetingon the preparation and updating of thedecisions. A new policy for membersand contributors will be presented. Finally, in the next stage the organisa-tion of city marketing in Amsterdamwill be worked out in an organisationchart, clearly describing tasks, respon-sibilities and authorities together indeliberation with twenty promotionalorganisations. It is not quite aboutimplementation, but rather a combina-tion of vision, policy development andknowledge, product development andinitiatives of marketing and promotio-nal activities.

! Amsterdam’s partners have a clear-cutdevelopment function. They share theresponsibility for stronger organisationsand the creation of new structureswhich are important to the prioritydimensions. If Amsterdam wants topresent itself strongly as a businesscity, it should encourage organisationssuch as ATB, AUB, Arcam, CityPlanning Authority and HousingDepartment, companies and the artsector to take new charismatic initiati-ves. They advise the municipality onthe pursued city marketing policy.

! Wherever possible and wherever thismay lead to a stronger Amsterdambrand, the partners of Amsterdamsupervise organisations that focus onspecific products and certain targetgroups.

! Events and festivals are the instrumentsper excellence to present Amsterdamin the desired manner. Therefore thePartners of Amsterdam are specificallyresponsible for the events and festivalpolicy; the cycle indicates which topevents Amsterdam will pay specialattention to in the next four years(European and world championships,world exhibitions, competitions andsuch). This programming is outlinedevery four years and adjusted everyyear.

Introducing a four-year city marketing cycleThe idea is to introduce a city marketingcycle. Once every four years all organisa-tions that want to join this work domaincan submit project proposals which maybe accepted by the city marketing fund.The Partners of Amsterdam will set thebriefing for the city marketing cycle in theform of a note of key principles based onthe Municipal Council’s policy principlesand the companies’ priorities. On thebasis of this all, organisations submit theirproposals. Partners of Amsterdam has aheavy advisory task in honouring the pro-posals from the city marketing fund.

The power of a city marketing cycle is thefact that it leads to a consideration fra-mework which on the one hand dovetailswith policy and on the other hand conti-nues to do justice to the multiformity andthe self-will of organisations involved. It iscertainly not about steering a new courseonce every four years, this would not dojustice to the efforts and time that arerequired to present a recognisable brand,but it is indeed about shifting accentsevery four years and meeting new deve-lopments.

The basis is a vision and a policy withspearheads, equal evaluation of the per-formances of all organisations and theperiodical creation of possibilities torenewal. This multiformity expresses itselfin the various objectives and deliverables


Start of the CM cycle 2004-2007


(products, activities) however the criteriaare equal to all organisations. In principle,opportunities are the same for both oldand new organisations. Such a cycle is

scrupulous, provides clarity and allows forthe possibility to create the desiredimage of the city of Amsterdam, together.

City marketing cycle Amsterdam 2003-2007

MunicipalityCouncil assig-ning structu-ral subsidies

Start of the CM cycle 2007-2011

Policy execu-tion in thedepartments

Determinationof program-me

AssigningCM funds

FormulatingCM policyMunicipalityDepartments

New propo-sals on orga-nisations sub-sidies

Foundationof Partners ofAmsterdam

CM decisionbyMunicipalityCouncil

Determinationof program-me

AssigningCM funds

MunicipalityCouncilassigningstructuralsubsidies

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Policy execu-tion in thedepartments

Evaluation ofpolicy andimplementa-tion

New propo-sals on orga-nisations sub-sidies


4.2 Processing responsibilitiesinto tasks

The municipality and the platform needto work closely together. Physical proxi-mity is important. We recommend study-ing the advantages and disadvantages.

Tasks of the municipality of AmsterdamMunicipal coordination includes:! Wielding the pen on formulating the

municipal city marketing vision ! Contributing to the input of all relevant

private partners! Carrying out the municipal city marke-

ting vision:- Working out the brand and the

brand carriers- Presenting brand carriers with

appropriate visual style- Encouraging policy makers to give

shape to the city marketing policy- Encouraging urban district depart-

ments to carry out the city marke-ting policy in the specific areas andaround events

- Steering fund flows to the fieldbased on clear-cut choices and per-formance agreements with institu-tions by the shared departments

! Protecting and observing agreementswhich have been made by organisa-tions on behalf of all city departmentsinvolved with regard to projects thatare financed by the municipality.

! Coordinating activities for the sake ofinstruments and basic promotionaltools which have been assigned to themunicipality:- Input for programming- One shared website and the supply

of content to a shared portal- Management of the municipal data

and information system.

Tasks of the Partners of AmsterdamagencyThe ‘Partners of Amsterdam’ control plat-form includes an agency which is respon-sible for the daily management of thebrand. The agency can only be steered atpublic-private level because it regulatesthe daily execution of decisions whichhave been made by Partners ofAmsterdam.

The Partners of Amsterdam agency! Encourages new companies and par-

ties to contribute promotionally andfinancially to the Amsterdam brand [bymeans of Amsterdam’s image].

! Sets the briefing for the four-yearcycle.

! Protects the plan and control cycle aswell as the related financial matters.

! Implements the strategy in 2004, forinstance through target-group-basedactions, campaigns and so on, wherebyharmony with current campaigns andpromotional activities is necessary.

! Draws up a new events and festivalpolicy, taking account of the existingpolicy of the municipality and the orga-nisations.

! Detects blank spaces in the city marke-ting field in Amsterdam and bringspowers in the field together; timelyboosts dimensions.

! Makes sure the basic criteria for all sta-tements are observed.

! Sets up a share portal for Amsterdam! Manages the data base of public and

private organisations.! Prepares the board’s meetings.

To carry out its tasks, the agency will con-sist at least of a board secretary, a brandmanager who is responsible for imple-mentation and an events/festival manageras well as two assistants.


Instruments and basic promotionalmaterialAmsterdam lacks a number of essentialinstruments and basic promotional mate-rial. It is about the following: ! The municipality provides the basic

story about Amsterdam based on thecity marketing vision.

! Partners of Amsterdam:- Provides a basic image style for the

city marketing of Amsterdam- Sets up and manages an image

database (photo, video and Internet)- Organises delegations and any pos-

sible international trade missions.

4.3 Other organisational and financial consequences

The introduction of the above proposalsinvolves a number of organisational andfinancial consequences. ! The current AmPro should be conver-

ted to be able to handle its new mis-sion and fulfil the roles of the ‘Partnersof Amsterdam’ agency.

! The municipal organisation needs toprepare itself for this new policy, whereby the official coordinative centre(Department of Communications) willhave more difficult tasks.

! Representatives of the promotionalfield are involved in further develop-ments, as well as the region, compa-nies and urban district departmentswherever relevant.

! A reasonable amount of money isnecessary to carry out tasks/responsibi-lities; another reasonable amount ofmoney is necessary to present thebrand with appropriate statements. Anumber of preparatory calculationshave already been made to be tackledduring the discussions for the 2004budget.

5. Decision-making and implementation

5.1 The decisions as proposed by theMunicipal Council

A. Involve regional partners and (internatio-nal) companies in the further elaborationof the city marketing of Amsterdam,given the regional and public-privatenature of the cooperation and to benefitfrom existing positive experiences in thisfield.

B.The municipality of Amsterdam will takepart in the foundation of ‘Partners ofAmsterdam’ (AmPro new style) with aGeneral Board, a Daily Board and anagency. Moneys from subsidy estimateswill be shifted to cover the higher costscompared to the current AmPro.

C.Introduce a four-year city marketing cyclebased on the municipality’s intrinsic visionon the long-term development ofAmsterdam and the city marketing policy.

D. Give impulse to the city marketing ofAmsterdam, to implement the strategy,which means:! Work out the key values of creativity,

innovation and spirit of commerce inspecific brand ‘carriers’: one imagestyle for Amsterdam of all partnerstogether, one basic story forAmsterdam, one festival and events

policy, one policy on new media focus-sing on visitors, companies and poten-tial inhabitants.

! Using the system of sixteenAmsterdam dimensions for next year’scity marketing policy (see diagrams onthe last pages of this report). The ideais to benefit from the strong dimen-sions which are cultural city, canal cityand meeting place and to invest inknowledge city, business city and resi-dential city for the sake ofAmsterdam’s medium-long termimage.

! Challenging organisations and privateparties to come up with new ideas asto the image of Amsterdam as a hospi-table city.

5.2 The municipality's implementation project

The entire field expresses the wish tocarry out more profound discussions withcompanies and the region in the nextstage. To this end a project will be set upafter 2 June, 2003, which might consist ofa consultation session in the region andofficial residential discussions/dinners.

Specific activities:! Discussions with companies and the

region by the Mayor and Alderman ofEconomic Affairs, as of June 2003.

! Further development of official delibe-rations with departments involved, asof April 2003.



! Prepare the city marketing policy to beset by the Municipal Council, on deter-mining the main lines on 2 June 2003.

! Start of the official coordination andimplementation process for specifictasks as described in this chapter.

5.3 Foundation of the Partners of Amsterdam

June 2003! The Alderman of Economic Affairs

approaches the Mayor of Amsterdam,Mr. Cohen, as chairman of ‘Partners ofAmsterdam’.

! The Alderman of Economic Affairsinforms promotional organisations onadjustments and the introduction ofthe innovation fund.

! The Mayor and Alderman of EconomicAffairs approach eleven other mem-bers from top companies, and topscientific and social organisations.

Summer 2003! Constitution meeting of ‘Partners of

Amsterdam’.! Meetings of promotional organisations

on further shared elaboration and har-mony.

Autumn 2003! Determination of the new Amsterdam

brand with appropriate statements,images and a basic story.

! Formulating the basic principles for thebriefing on the city marketing cycle.

Winter 2003 – 2004 ! Start of the city marketing cycle for

2004 – 2007.

Appendices


1. Necessity, horizon and playing field

Public and private parties both endorsethe necessity to focus on city marketingin Amsterdam. These are the specific reasons: ! Amsterdam competes with many

European cities, a competition which isbecoming ever fiercer due to Europeanunification.

! The market is taking decisions fasterand has access to every possible pieceof information. Amsterdam has notprofiled its advantages clearly and une-quivocally.

! City promotion seems to be greatlyfragmented and nobody takes the finalresponsibility for the Amsterdambrand.

2. Defining city marketing and related activities

Amsterdam’s image across the worlddetermines the attitude of companies,visitors and potential inhabitants to thecity’s economic and cultural activities. Inthis world in which cities are starting toresemble each other more offering similarbasic facilities, a city needs to presentitself, distinguish itself and excel. Citieswill benefit from this: attracting and kee-ping the right companies, visitors andinhabitants leads to greater economicand cultural activity.

City marketing is a matter that concernsall who contribute to the city. Companieshave a major role, being major users ofthe city. Inhabitants give meaning to whatAmsterdam stands for. Visitors enjoy theattractive aspects and thus co-determinethe image. Besides, they develop a cer-tain image which they introduce to theworld. This makes companies and inhabi-tants consumers and producers at thesame time.

In the past few decades tens of (scientific)publications were published on the sub-ject of city marketing. We take two stri-king definitions:

"City marketing is the market-orientedoperation of a municipal organisationin order to bring urban actors farenough to have the city present itselfto the outside world as a whole" 7

"City marketing is a collection of thecity’s activities to promote, simplify andspeed up exchange transactions, inso-far these activities fit the strategy ofand are coordinated by the municipality" 8

In all definitions two things attract atten-tion: first of all the fact that all urbanactors should present themselves as awhole to the outside world and secondlythe fact that activities within the scope ofcity marketing should meet the municipa-lity’s strategy.

Appendix AResearch framework

Krouwels (1994)Daniels, A.J. (1995) Strategic planning of cities: an approach from city marketing. Rotterdam: Erasmus University

7

8

Appendices2

Kotler, P. (1999) Marketing places Europe.City of Amsterdam (2002) It’s the outcome that counts. Board’s approval 2002-2006 PvdA-VVD-CDA.City of Amsterdam (2002) Working together on the city’s power. Action plan for the large-cities policy 2002-2009.TRN carries out a major part of the Holland Promotion for the Amsterdam Tourist Board (ATB). To this end the ATB offers about € 600,000 everyyear, whereas TRN as well as national and international companies add approximately € 600,000 and € 900,000 respectively.

9

10

11

12

A third definition from the literature con-sulted is the necessary balance between acity’s identity and image. It is about thecombination of Amsterdam’s identity andAmsterdam’s image. The image determin-es at large the choices of the city’s poten-tial users. The heart of both the identityand the image present the city’s persona-lity, or rather its character. The overallpicture of people, history and economic,social and cultural facilities determinesthe personality and expresses itselfthrough behaviour, symbolism and com-munication.

The fourth basic principle is the fact thatthe phrasing and depiction of a city’sbrand hides a certain ambition which des-cribes the path from self-image to thetarget image. Amsterdam needs to investin this target image to be able to presentit as the future’s image. Presenting thisimage takes at least five to ten years.

City marketing is an instrument to deve-lop identity and image. It is about fourtypes of activities: 9

! Developing a strong and attractiveposition and image for the city, startingby choosing a number of unique anddistinctive key values which, combined,characterise the city and magnifyAmsterdam’s characteristic features.The position allows a city to present acertain feasible ambition; claims andproofs go hand in hand.

! Efficient and accessible supply of thecity’s products and services, whereby itis important to provide proper infra-structure, high facility level, new attrac-tions/events to maintain new activityand public support and also to attractnew investors.

! Promotion and communication: tellingthe world what Amsterdam is and whatthe city has to offer. It means promo-ting the city’s attraction and advanta-ges, to emphasise the distinctive

advantages. A second instrument is tooffer interesting incentives to currentand potential buyers and users of pro-duct and services.

! Inhabitants too determine the city’sidentity and image, therefore it isimportant to be friendly and hospitableand to bring across the positive ideasabout the city to new target groups(‘civil pride’).

3. City marketing does not stand on its own

City marketing goes hand in hand withthe municipality’s social-cultural, econom-ic and physical spatial policy as it hasbeen laid down in the current board’sprogramme10 with the related elaborationin policy documents (e.g. Hermez) onAmsterdam’s economy in 2004 - 2008,the Kunstenplan 2005 - 2008, theStructuurplan 2010, the Nota Topsport2003 - 2010 and ‘Grote Stedenbeleid’programme11. The programmes are thepolicy’s points of departure for the city’scondition and image. In addition, theAmsterdam programmes include manyactions which target better living andworking conditions in terms of safety,accessibility, healthcare, education andsocial measures.

Also, there are various similarities to andlinks with national promotional policy. TheDutch Tourism & Recreation organisation(TRN) already has a significant coordinati-ve role in the international promotion ofthe Netherlands and Amsterdam12. Theypromote incoming and internal tourismand focus on how to attract business tra-vellers, international conferences andevents. Besides the promotion of specificproduct-market combinations Holland‘branding’ has become more significant.In this Amsterdam is an important touristand business magnet. The Holland Image

Choosing Amsterdam 3Appendices

Working Group is the coordinative body,consisting of national public and privateorganisations that deal with internationalcommunication in a structural manner13.

The region too has an important role.Whereas regional cooperation on trafficand transport provided better results forthe Amsterdam region in the past, nowparties are also inclined to work togetherat promotional level to present the city tothe outside world. Source is the intensify-ing cooperation of many municipalitiesand the province in the public-privateorganisations.

Participants are: Netherlands Government Information Service, Ministry of International Affairs (+ International Information Department),Economic Information Service Department, Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency, Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries(+ Industry and Trade Department), Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management (Information Department), Ministry of Health,Welfare and Sports (Sports Department), Association of Netherlands Municipalities, TRN, MKB Nederland, VNO-NCW, Amsterdam Promotion(AmPro).

13

4

1-41-41-41-45-65-678-108-108-101112-1312-1314151617-1817-181920/

21263031-3231-32333540

LondonNew YorkParisTokyoHong KongLos AngelesSydneyChicagoSingaporeWashingtonBeijingAmsterdamFrankfurtBrusselsShanghaiBuenos AiresMilanoTorontoMexico CityRio de Janeiro

BerlinRomeBarcelonaMadridZurichViennaStockholmPetersburg

‘Leading cities’: Top-20

Other important ‘competi-tors’ to Amsterdam

Ranking based on integralperception

Ranking based on functional perceptions (‘top city’ status)

Performingarts

21411---7---8----6---

5----3-10

Hospitality

1235-6418-191295-614-16-1314-1617------

8718-1914-16-10-11--

Property &architecture

2137410-1112-14512-14---10-11-9-15---

6178-----

Trade &transport

217-83411-95--67-81310-----

--------

Universities

13-423-4-6-9-101613-15-----17--

8-----13-15-

Appendix BAmsterdam’s place in the world

‘Leading cities’ in the world: Top-20 and a number of Amsterdam’s important‘competitors’ (source: Grosveld, 2002)

Appendices


1-41-41-41-45-65-678-108-108-101112-1312-1314151617-1817-181920/

21263031-3231-32333540

LondonNew YorkParisTokyoHong KongLos AngelesSydneyChicagoSingaporeWashingtonBeijingAmsterdamFrankfurtBrusselsShanghaiBuenos AiresMilanoTorontoMexico CityRio de Janeiro

BerlinRomeBarcelonaMadridZurichViennaStockholmPetersburg

‘Leading cities’: Top-20

Other important ‘competi-tors’ to Amsterdam

Ranking based on integralperception

Ranking based on functional perceptions (‘top city’ status)

Businessdepartments

12546--8127

9313------

--------

Museums

32116-12-14-15-5-612-14-------

47118-9-10

Media

2154117---36-9-108

-----

9-10

13

---

Internationalorganisations

213610-1113---5-1410-117------

129

8

Multinationals& financialsector

12435-6--87---5-6-------

-

9

6

Summary of the outcomes of La Group Benchmark, 19 March 2003

Organisational structureAmsterdam dedicates about 36 full timeemployees to city marketing, which iscomparable to Barcelona. Dublin is farbelow (9), Rotterdam and Berlin are ontop at 52 and 99 respectively. Marketingstrategies and regularly structured inten-sive discussions between local promotio-nal organisations take place in Berlin andRotterdam.

Strategy and activitiesBerlin and Rotterdam have a position sta-tement; Berlin maintains consistently theslogan ‘Das Neue Berlin’ using frequentlythe same Brandenburger Tor logo. Allparties in Rotterdam have complied withthe new Rotterdam recognition image.And all cities have a clear picture of theirtarget countries and current competition.

FinancesIf we compare finances we see the follo-wing:

ResultsIn Berlin all marketing organisations mea-sure the results of their activities; ‘PartnerFür Berlin’ carries out the image research.In Barcelona almost every marketingorganisation measures the results of itsactivity. Amsterdam’s results are measu-red by the ATB and AUB; the ATB andthe municipality carry out market researchwhereas AmPro and ATB are responsiblefor image research.

Description of research for each cityFor the city of Amsterdam we studied anumber of organisations: the StichtingAmsterdam Promotion, the AmsterdamTourist Board BV, the AmsterdamCongres Bureau, the Amsterdams UitBuro and the City of Amsterdam. Wehave come to the conclusion that city‘branding’ is fragmented and poorly wor-ked out. In terms of marketing theAmsterdam brand is a ‘cash cow’: the citylives on its own strength, investing insuffi-ciently in a new image.

Berlin’s city marketing has been mappedby analysing Berlin Tourismus Marketing,Partner für Berlin, Referat für Tourismus,the TechnologiestiftungInnovationszentrum Berlin and theWirtschaftförderung Berlin. The PPS orga-nisation Partner für Berlin has the mainresponsibility for city ‘branding’, determi-ning the basic approach (position state-ment, slogan) of the marketing strategy.The fall of the wall forced Berlin to startfrom a new ‘zero situation’. Berlin hasopted for the ‘much market, little govern-ment’ marketing principle and a ‘bottom-up’ approach.

In Rotterdam we studied the munici-pality’s executive department (image poli-cy and cultural affairs), the RotterdamMarketing Foundation, the RotterdamDevelopment Company and theRotterdam Festivals Foundation. InRotterdam promotional institutions areworking on a common recognition imageunder Rotterdam Marketing’s supervision.The project manager for image policy is

Appendices

AmsterdamBarcelonaBerlinDublinRotterdam

(x 1 million euro).

Local governmentOutsourced

4.61.5

16.20.427.96

Local governmentInternal

1603.381.15

Non-government

4.852.23

17.750.757.26

Total

10.459.73

33.954.55

16.37


responsible for the protection of budgetand public affairs. Rotterdam, which isrepresented by promotional and munici-pal institutions, believes in and also sup-ports city marketing providing money,time and manpower.

In Barcelona we studied the followinginstitutions: the Direcció deCommunicació and the Direcció deServeis de Promoció Turistica I Qualitatde Vida within the Ajuntament deBarcelona, the Turisme de Barcelona, theInstitut de Cultura de Barcelona, deBarcelona Activa and the FundacióBarcelona Promoció. The 1992 OlympicGames introduced the city to the world.To this end major investments, including astrategic plan for the city, were made waybefore the year 1992 (30% for sports,70% to upgrade the city and the cityinfrastructure). In 2004 the city will investin five large-scale projects which, in termsof investment, exceed largely the invest-ments that were made for the OlympicGames.

As for the city of Dublin we mapped ArtsOffice, Corporate services and theEconomic Development Unit within theDublin City Council and the DublinRegional Tourism Authority Ltd.According to the organisations involvedthe ‘Dublin’ brand is like an ‘untouchableproduct’ combining elements such as‘quality of life’, ‘hospitality’ and ‘culturalinheritance’. The ‘Celtic Tiger’ showsgreat economic and tourist growth figu-res in the past few years, however theycan hardly be ascribed to local city mar-keting efforts as the organisational aspectis still in its infancy.

8 Appendices

Department of Communications

Department of Economic Development

Social Department

City Planning Authority

Port Authority

City Development Company

Total contribution City of Amsterdam

Members/contributors

Regional municipalities

Province of Noord-Holland

Chamber of Commerce

ATB

Sponsors

Income from activities

Other

Total other income

Total in general

Income from AmsterdamPromotion(AmPro)

148

148

6.8

302.8

305

61.3

29.5

22.7

23.6

442.1

744.9

AmsterdamTourist BoardBV

2,700

2,700

173

450

364

3,917

292

5,196

7,896

AmsterdamCongressBureau

12.5

12.5

143

12.5

22

139

33.5

350

362.5

AmsterdamUit Buro(AUB)

1,700

1,700

400

1,800

1,600

3,800

5,500

amounts x 1,000 euro

Appendix CFinancial overview and notes


AmsterdamPorts

263

263

337

337

600

TopsportAmsterdam

544.5

544.5

499.2

499.2

1,043.7

AmsterdamAirport Area

22

22

22

66

250

250

316

AmsterdamCruiseport

25

25

50

40

40

45

125

175

Industrial promotions

25

25

0

25

ARCAM

156

155

311

121

83

204

515

Total

160.5

2,920

2,400.5

155

316.8

22

5,974.8

1,208

61.3

519.5

75.2

22

930

5,856

2,531.3

11,203.3

17,178.1

10 Appendices

Note to the overview of financal flows

The overview covers the regular structuralamounts which are spent on intrinsic acti-vities, organising meeting, promotionalactivities and, sometimes, activities suchas city marketing. Some of the amountsare spent on the promotion ofAmsterdam as part of, for instance, thepromotion of the province of Noord-Holland (€ 460,000). The ATB receivesfinances from Amsterdam and otherregional governments; the latter can beretrieved in ‘income from activities’ and‘other’.

A great circle of, legally, incidental meanswith a structural nature (budgets whichare intended for reoccurring projects).Finally a number of project budgets,which are assigned on the basis of projectplans.

It is about annual finances from theEconomic Development Department inparticular:! promotional activities € 220,000! public attracting events € 400,000! substantiation of

tourist activities € 2,200,000! substantiation of economy,

product innovation € 8,000,000


List of participants in the official residence discussion on 24 March 2003

Note: the official residence discussion on Amsterdam’s international competitivenessin February 2003 covered the subject of city marketing. Discussions were attended byrepresentatives of international companies and Dutch multinationals, headquartered inor around Amsterdam.

Participant

Berger, J.C.Claus, F.Dales, G.J.Diender, S.G.M.Faber, W.G.Gehrels, C.G.Guttmann, F.Hellendoorn, J.C.Helmann, M.H.Hermanides, P.Hodes, S.J.Kervezee, R.T.Leeser, B.Luijten, P.Meggelen, B. vanNoorda, S.J.Praag, M. vanRaaij, W.F. vanRamakers, L.Rost Onnes, J.J.N. Taminiau, O.Stutterheim, D.C.P.Van Ark, R.J.Vehmeyer, W.Veldhuis, A.L.Wijsmuller, M.A.Windt, F.H.

Organisation

De Bijenkorf BVClaus & Kaan ArchitectsAlderman of Economic Affairs AmsterdamAmsterdam Tourist BoardAlderman of Economic Affairs AlmereProject manager city marketing AmsterdamCanal Bike & Canal Bus BVKLM N.V.Eurocongress Conference Management BVHotel ArenaLa GroupVan Gogh MuseumGassan Diamonds BVSchiphol GroupIdee & Organisatieontwikkeling MaatwerkUniversity of AmsterdamAFC Ajax Katholieke Universiteit BrabantMojo concertsAmsterdam Promotion FoundationAmsterdam Promotion FoundationID&TMunicipality of Amsterdam, ConcerncommunicatieMunicipality of Amsterdam, Economische ZakenAmsterdam New Media AssociationWorldWise Marine Holding BVMercure Hotel Amsterdam Airport

Appendix D List of discussion partners

12 Appendices

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.6.

7.8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.17.

18.

19.

20.21.22.

Organisation

AMPRO

AMPRO

ARCAM

Amsterdam AirportAreaAmsterdam CruiseportAmsterdam PortsAssociationTopsport AmsterdamAmsterdam TouristBoard

Amsterdams CongressBureauAmsterdamsUitbureauBedrijvenverenigingZuidoostCity of Amsterdam

City of Amsterdam

City of Amsterdam

City of Amsterdam

Industrial PromotionsKunst en Meerwaarde

Amsterdam Chamberof CommerceCity DevelopmentCompanyORAMSADCFoundationAmsterdamDestination

Discussion partner

Mrs. O. TaminiauMr. E. BökenkampMr. J. Rost OnnesMrs. O. TaminiauMr. M. KloosMrs. A. TooropMrs. L. Kuijer-CampfensMr. H. van AppeldoornMr. W. Ruijgh

Mr. T. KrijnsMr. S. Diender Mrs. A. Bevers

Mr. M. Schreuder

Mr. M. Buchel

Mr. M. La Rose

Mrs. T. van den Berg

Mrs. R. MarijnissenMr. G. Dales

Mr. W. Vehmeyer

Mr. R. J. van Ark

Mr. H. GersonMr. H. Bosma

Mr. P.D. Hoogenraad Mrs. F. Gieben

Mr. J. BevaartDrs. P. OderrmattMr. J. Swaans

Mr. J. SteynMr. W.M. TrommelsMrs. H. Hooftman

Position

Director Marketing ManagerChairmanDirectorDirectorBusiness ManagerMarketing Manager

ChairmanDirector

DirectorDirectorCommunicationsManagerDirector

Director

Director

Director of theCultural DepartmentProgramme ManagerAlderman of EconomicAffairsDirector of EconomicDevelopmentDepartmentDirector ofCommunicationsDirector Port AuthorityCommunicationsManager PortAuthorityIndustry ManagerDirector, member ofthe ATB boardDirector-City of Amsterdam

DirectorDirectorRepr. of local hotels

Date

29 January 20033 March 20036 May 20036 May 200325 March 200325 March 200318 February 2003

18 February 200312 February 2003

5 February 200331 January 200326 March 2003

7 March 2003

26 February 2003

6 February 2003

3 February 2003

17 February 200311 Dec. 200213 March 2003Two-weekly as of Jan.2003

14 March 200314 March 2003

12 February 200318 February 2003

18 February 2003

17 February 2003

12 February 200318 February 200319 February 2003

Interviewed representatives from the promotional field


23.

24.25.26.

27.

28.

29.30.

31.

Organisation

KnowledgeFoundationAmsterdamDe BalieMaison DescartesGroentenkraam Jopie

De Waag – Society forOld and New Media

University ofGroningen

Imca Group BV

University ofAmsterdam

Discussion partner

Drs. H. Eppink

C. BuchwaldC. De VoogdJ. Roozen

Mw M. Stikker

Prof. dr. G.J. Ashworth

E. de VliegerP. Kranenberg

S. Majoor

Position

Director

DirectorDirectorOwner of M5200Albert CuypDirector

Professor in city mar-keting and urbangeographyDirectorFormer chairman ofAmProDoctoral student citymarketing

Date

7 March 2003

6 March 200324 March 200320 March 2003

24 March 2003

6 March 2003

19 March 20037 March 2003

25 March 2003

Note: almost everybody attended the preliminary talks on the draft report on7 May, 2003.

14 Appendices

Books! Berci, F., Hommaas, H., Speaks, M., Synghel, K. van, Vermeulen, M. City Branding,

Image building & building images. NAI Uitgevers: Rotterdam, 2002. ISBN: 90-5662-262-5

! Daniels, A.J. (1995) Strategic planning of cities: an approach from city marketing.Rotterdam: Erasmus University

! H. Grosveld, The leading cities of the world and their competitive advantages,Naarden, 2002,

! Kotler, P.J., D.H. Haider en I. Rein (1993) Marketing places. Attracting investment,industry and tourism to cities, states and nations. London: Free Press,

! Kotler, P.J. Marketing places Europe : how to attract investments, industries, resi-dents and visitors to cities, communities, regions and nations in Europe. Harlow:Prentice Hall, 1999. ISBN 0-273-64442-4

! Patteeuw, V. (red) (2002) City branding. Image building and building images.Rotterdam: NAI Uitgevers/Publishers.

! Porter, M. (1990) The competitive advantages of nations. London: The MacMillanPress.

Research / plans! Amsterdams Uitbureau, Collective marketing of Amsterdam art. Amsterdam,

October 2000.! City of Amsterdam (2002) It’s the outcome that counts. Board approval 2002-2006

PvdA-VVD-CDA.! City of Amsterdam (2002) Working together on the city’s power. Action plan for a

large-cities policy 2002-2009.! La Groupe, Benchmark Barcelona, Berlin, Dublin, Rotterdam, Amsterdam,

Amsterdam, 19 March 2003.

Brochures, flyers! ACB Bulletin, Eurocongres Conference management, 2002. ! Allianties, Kunstplan 2001-2004, City of Amsterdam, 2001.! AmPro.com, Stichting Amsterdam Promotion, April 2002.! AmPro.com, Stichting Amsterdam Promotion, November 2002.! Amsterdam conference book 2003, Amsterdam conference bureau, 2003.! Amsterdam Time, AmPro, 2002-2003.! Amsterdam, The newsletter, Stichting Amsterdam Promotion, June 2002.! Business locations in Amsterdam 2002, Municipal Port Authority, Municipal Land

Development and Management Service (Gemeentelijk Grondbedrijf), EZ, DRO,2002.

Appendix EReports, documents and literature consulted


! Exclusive board rooms in Amsterdam, Amsterdam Congres Bureau, 2002.! Ports of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Ports Associations, 2002. ! Open day for the manufacturing industry and the port of Amsterdam, the municipa-

lity of Amsterdam, November 2002. ! Property Guide to the Amsterdam Airport Area 2002, Amsterdam Airport Area,

2002.! Sports in Amsterdam 2002-2006, TopSport Amsterdam / Amsterdam Sports

Counsil, 2002.! The seven worlds of a global village, City of Amsterdam, Economic Affairs, 2002.

Annual Reports! Amsterdam Ports Association.! City of Amsterdam, Economic Affairs, 2002 Annual Report.! Amsterdam Port Authority, 2001 Annual Report.! Stichting Amsterdam Promotion, 2001 Annual Report.! Topsport Amsterdam, 2001 Annual Report. Stichting Topsport Amsterdam.

Communication plan, research! Imago Amsterdam 2000, the Amsterdam Bureau for research and Statistics, 2000.! Space for tourism, strategic marketing and communication plan for tourist

Amsterdam 2001-2004, Amsterdam Tourist Board, 2001.

Meeting placeAmsterdam is a great place, this is supported by the identity of its residents: world-oriented, curious

and multilingual. The image of a grand café: a collection of individuals. Opportunities lie in facilita-ting informal meetings, combination of high and low culture, combinations of art, science and

society and gatherings involving themes such as religion.

City of canalsThe appeal and boulevard function of water: Amsterdam life, works and leisures on the water. The

canals as image of old Europe, symbol of style and prosperity, a wonder of the world. The cityof canals threatens to lose its authenticity if the heritage is not preserved.

CapitalTo the rest of the world Amsterdam is the Netherlands and vice versa. As capital the city com-petes with The Hague, whicht is the Dutch political centre. The Dam Palace is an opportunityto claim the city’s ‘grandeur’: the palace as international symbol of the city: events, grandevents, Remembrance Day, demonstrations. Amsterdam as capital of Europe at specifictimes.

Business cityAmsterdam has a good mix of soft and hard establishment factors, which makes it a competitor ofLondon, Paris and Frankfurt. Its scale gives it enormous potential: the city is large enough to possessmany disciplines, it excels in some areas, and at the same time is so small that you must combine for-ces to achieve anything. It enables the city to take on projects collectively, as in the field of the creati-ve industries. For international business it must increase its scale by bonding with other regions. Thecombination of Amsterdam Schiphol, Southern Axis, South East and the city centre is unique throug-hout the world.

Sex, drugs and rock&rollThe city’s disorderly character shows its freedom of expression and behaviour. Sex, drugs and

rock&roll occurs in most major cities in the world in one way or the other. More exceptional isAmsterdam’s historic link to the sex industry and the port, the romantic side of the ‘wild life’.

PeopleThe city’s diversity: the residents are cosmopolitan, individualist and informal. However the so-called open

and accessible culture does shows gaps: there are no middle class groupings, drop outs are very noticeable,there is strong segregation, Amsterdam has many faces and celebrities (Spinoza, Descartes, Leibniz, Rembrandt,

painters, writers, business people, sporters and architects).

Liveable cityWe see tension between spacious and green Amsterdam, with its water, the low building height of monuments and parks on

one hand and unsafe, dirty, decrepit Amsterdam on the other. Residents are happy to live in the city, non-residents are happy not tolive there. Its opportunities as residential city do not just lie with maintenance, renovation and modernisation of the infrastructure,but also with the people: to cherish the visitors and the city and to express hospitality.

ArchitectureAmsterdam is the symbol of the Golden Age, access to architectural heritage must improve. Visitors must be able to see things up

close. The architectural high points of the 17th century show through in multifaceted, innovation and quality of house building of the20th century, from Berlage to IJburg.

Compact cityAmsterdam is a global village, everything is accessible on foot. Compact can also mean constricted and snug. Improving the profi-

le of the areas will add to the benefits. The challenge is to ‘label’ areas in the city, with the emphasis on proximity. Easy access to openareas: you can be out of the city and in the country site or on the open water in no more than ten minutes.

Artistic cityThe combination of high and low culture provides interesting crossovers creating new forms of art. The city has anenormous amount of culture to offer. It could create a place on the Southern Axis for example in the right context to

draw potentially large numbers of people: a cultural centre with constant programmes, with exhibitions on display formany weeks and surrounded by symposiums for persons involved, with a world-wide reputation.

The challenge is to cherish renowned artists.

Night lifeAmsterdam has a lot to offer in this field. However the city is threatened with becoming a ‘theme

park’ as well as with vulgarisation. The city’s style and allure which it had in the 1920s has disappeared.Trendy cafes in the region are an interesting phenomenon, the Amsterdam-by-the-sea feeling. The chal-

lenge is to combine high and low culture, content and context.

Shopping centreA varied supply but inaccessible: a lack of parking space is often an argument to avoid Amsterdam. Theshops are ordinary, shoppers do not visit the city to find something specific. The challenge is to excel in

variation, to claim sector brands like Milan has done for haute couture.

City of eventsThe city misses international events with the exception of sports (Sail, Ajax, European Championships). There

is no suitable area for this in the centre. The second ‘ring’ of the city (Amsterdam South-East) providesopportunities for large-scale events geared to the area’s function (theatre festivals on the Leidseplein, Art

events on the Museumplein).

City of knowledgeThe city’s intellectualism and creativity are rooted in its past. Examples are the VOC (Dutch East India Company)

printers and publishers. The city’s strength with regard to knowledge is its drive to experiment: a free havenand breeding place. It must excel in certain areas instead of just offering a broad range of fields, for exam-

ple the field of life sciences.

Residential cityAmsterdam characterizes as ‘urban living’ on a human scale: a global city. As opposed to what is commonly thought,

space in Amsterdam is not scarce. Amsterdam is the least densely populated major city in the world. Opportunitiesfor improving liveability and architecture lie in connecting old neighbourhoods and newly developed areas, via

the new canals for example (KNSM, IJburg).

HubAmsterdam functions as an infrastructure link (Schiphol, the port, A10 ring road) in the Netherlands and in the world, also the digital world. Amsterdam is

Europe’s nerve centre, also because of AMS-IX (Amsterdam Internet Exchange) as the largest hub on the European mainland. Although the city suffers fromcongestion, this is limited compared to other capitals.

Appendix F Proposal to build the brand / basis for city marketing policy

Streefbeeld

Huidige situatieCurrent situation

Target picture

Accessibility campaignRandstad South connectionAirport City concept connectionto IJmuidenHuman dimension qualityNew trams

SchipholFifth European portA10 Ring roadNerve centre of business EuropeVirtual logistics centreThe digital city Amsterdam. Thefirst of its kind in the world, AMS-IX (Amsterdam InternetExchange) is the largest Internethub on the European mainland. Gateway to Europe

CongestionInsufficient public transport, espe-cially outside office hoursQuality of public transport outda-tedLimit on Schiphol Airport’s capaci-tyLow innovative capacity

1. Hub function

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities

Labeling/ creating distinct profileof areasCombination of high and low cul-tureGrand café feeling (alone buttogether)Social and cultural networksInformal meeting places (chess onthe squares)Religious places

Neighbourhood barsSquaresKnowledge of foreign languagesAmbianceSociable, feel at homeOrganised and facilities available

Peer group cafés, no mixingNetworking and groups

2. Meeting place


Details/variationNew canals (KNSM, IJburg)Preserve heritageAppeal

Water has numerous functionsCombined function: living andworkingConnection via water, canals makeboulevardsAmsterdam is seen as a wonder ofthe world from the waterImage of old EuropeExpresses style and wealth

DirtyToo many functions in the ring ofcanals (too much pressure)Too many new buildingsLoss of authenticity (Damrak seenas character assassination)

3. City of canals


LobbyDam palace as heart of theNetherlands (demonstrations,Remembrance Day)Give back the Dam Palace to thepeopleEuropean capital

EventsAmsterdam is the NetherlandsResidents proud of the city

Not a political centreConfusing for foreignersArrogance

4. Capital


Southern Axis, South-EastUrban livingCombination society, knowledge,cultureBusiness climatePricesEnormous potential due to scale(PPS form)Co-operationCreative industries (IT, marketing)creative citySilicon AlleyRegionHang on to businessesTV makers move North, in otherwords, Hilversum is emptying

Proximity of airport and seaportcombined with appealing cityPlenty of business accommoda-tionLow business set-up costs compa-red to Paris, London, FrankfurtHigh level of work forceConurbation effectGood mix of hard establishmentfactors (price/quality ratio) andsoft factors (dynamic, competen-ces)

Bureaucracy, too many desksInaccessibleLegislation and regulationsobstructRoom for investmentSmall scale characterNo cityNo sector brandsQuality of the work force underpressure

5. Business city


Jacques Brel’s harbour romanceHistoric link prostitute harbour

Economically interestingToleranceTeasing/appealFreedom of expression and beha-viour

DirtyDisorderlyNot appealing for familiesNo modernisation, saturatedDrugs industry (politics, criminals)

6. Sex, drugs R&R


Outdoor lifeAmsterdam’s inhabitantsPower of diversityBrand faces (the idols ofAmsterdam)ReligionHistory: faces ‘live’

DiversityLanguagesCelebritiesIndividualism

Groups (English, Chinese) withregard to scaleCity routingLack of middle class groupsDrop outs too noticeable

7. People


Objective safety increasingHospitalityCleanup actionsAmsterdam is a metropolis, withadvantages and disadvantagesChallenging environmentWell-laid out, accessible (trafficsigns in the city and periphery)Invest in green areasRenovation and renewal of sportsfacilities

ParksWaterBuilding heightStreet heightHuman dimensionRelaxed atmosphere

UnsafeDirtyInsufficient orderFearDeteriorationCheapPoorly maintained neighbour-hoods early 20th century

8. Liveable city


Urban livingNorth-South lineLabelling areas: emphasis onproximity‘Everything available’ sectorsInterrelatedness

Global villageCosmopolitan village

InaccessibleInconveniently arranged publictransportToo full Parking

10. Compact city


ARCAMHouse building (IJburg, East portarea)‘Renovation’ architecture combina-tion old and newSouthern Axis/ South East (banana) Dam Palace: style, fair toStationsplein, South EastPortuguese Synagogue

Old, Golden AgeAmsterdam SchoolStyle, 1900IconsMultifaceted[Human size]

Modern can also be ugly or aneyesoreLimited access to old buildings,disappointing

9. Architecture


Crossover: combination of highand low culture results in veryinteresting new forms of art.Combination of content and con-textCreative industriesMuseam SquareRijksmuseum renovationThe free Rijksmuseum formula atAmsterdam Airport unique inworld.Specialist tradesDesign museum Southern AxisSpinoza (religion, Portuguesesynagogue) Descartes

Concentration of art/cultureCourses, performance, stageTrend settingLiterature/writersPaintingsFestivalsAmsterdam is the sceneMuseumsSandberg Institute – esteemed,Rietveld slightly less so

Quality; artNot open enough

11. Artistic city


Restructuring old neighbourhoodsConnections to new develop-mentsBusiness location factor for high-grade companiesExcellent homes for Internetmanagers/professors

Compact, everything in the areaGlobal villageArchitecture of homesUrban livingSpace is not scarce: Amsterdam isthe least densely built city in theworld

Middle class groups have leftSegregationOutdated housing stockDifficult for starters

16. Residential city


Combination ticketsMusic (Paradiso, Heineken MusicHall, ‘Vrienden van Amstel’ con-certs)Trendy beach tents ‘Amsterdamby the sea’Parading/flauntingAppealing to young people

Varied availability of theatreCabaretAUB: accessibilityCity of premieresDrugs (party)Wallen (red-light district)TrendyEverything is available

Strict closing timesDifficult to parkLimited access/accessibilityInsufficient information aboutnightlife Chic nightlife (allure) not availableCity is turning into an amusementparkTaxis are not appealingRancidNo chain management withregard to nightlife

12. Night life


Doors of perceptionSpace in the ‘second ring’ (not incentre)Amsterdam and South EastSportsConcert hall/orchestra

Ajax football clubSail Roeien Amstel (rowing)Uitmarkt marketQueen’s birthdayRAI exhibition centre

Insufficient public space in centrefor eventsNo major festivals Dutch appeal instead of interna-tional

14. City of events


Special because of combination ofscience, culture and societyEverything in the area (LUW, TUD,RUL, space travel)InternationalisationSpecialist tradesKnowledge infrastructureITLife sciencesSustainableIntellectual climate

Two universitiesAMC/VU HospitalsStudentsColleges of higher educationScience parkEducation (numerous fields, inter-national, specialities)Amsterdam’s creativity

Not highly profiledNo achievement/individual lea-dershipNo campusDecline in quality

15. City of knowledge


Quality/excellenceVariationLabeling (Waterlooplein, PCH,markets, 9 streets)

Huge varietyWide range PC Hoofdstraat (shopping street)Bijenkorf (department store)

Difficult to parkNo ‘areas’No special shops, same as inother placesNo distinctive clustersNot enough livelinessBuilding pit

13. Shopping city


Appendix G SWOT Analysis

Results of interview sessions

2. Meeting place

3. City of canals

8. Liveable city

4. Capital

7. People

6. Sex, drugs, R&R

5. Business city

14. City of events

13. Shopping city

12. Night life

11. Artistic city

10. Compact city

9. Architecture

16. Residential city

15. City of knowledge

1. Hub function

Self-image

Image

Target

City of AmsterdamAmstel 11011 PN AmsterdamMs. Marian VisserCity Marketing Manager+31 020 552 [email protected]

BerenschotEuropalaan 403526 KS Utrecht+31 30 291 [email protected]

Published by: City of AmsterdamDesign: Let de JongPrint: Aeroprint B.V.Cover photograph: Lex DraijerOctober 2003

choosing amsterdam

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