A new entity charged with developing and protecting the Gold Coast brand ensuring we stand out from the crowd and compete in both the Australian and global marketplace will be established in coming months.
Today Council resolved to establish Brand Gold Coast, a controlled entity of Council that will develop a well-defined place brand strategy to grow, protect and secure our competitive advantage as a leading Australian city.
Mayor Tom Tate said this was a critical step for a City taking its place on the global stage.
"To be clear, this is not about a new logo and or new tourism marketing campaigns. It's about story-telling and defining who we are."
"In essence, place-based branding is about telling our City's story. It's about ensuring that the Gold Coast continues to shine brightly on the world stage, not just as a place to visit, but as a place to live, work, and invest.
Mayor Tate pointed to examples such as New Zealand and Tasmania, who established brand entities and turned around perceptions within a very short time frame.
"Sheep and penal colonies are no longer what we immediately think of for those two locations and make no mistake – this was an intentional strategic move with significant economic impacts.
"Place branding will help relaunch how the world sees us. They will finally know what we already do – that the Gold Coast is the best place in the world to live work and invest.
Council CEO Tim Baker said Brand Gold Coast would benefit every business in the city as outdated perceptions of the coast are addressed and a more contemporary 'brand narrative' emerged.
"It is building on the City Reputation work that has been underway in council and within our entities and embedding a new Gold Coast story locally, nationally and internationally.
"The current approach, based on collaboration and partnerships, is important but is not enough to fundamentally shift outdated perceptions about who we are as a city and what we want to be known for.
Brand Gold Coast will be established as:
- A controlled-entity with council as its only shareholder;
- Tasked with building ownership of the city's brand as a shared public asset, across government, funded entities, and the private sector;
- Defining and building the Gold Coast story including strengthening the Gold Coast image and reputation locally, nationally, and internationally;
- Increasing favourability and preference for Gold Coast products and services; and
- Undertake brand research, tracking and management.
Mr Baker said Establishing this controlled entity will come at no extra cost to the ratepayer as we will utilise existing funds and resources within our council operations.
"This is about everyone pulling together to tell a cohesive brand story to the world that will allow the Gold coast to stand out from the crowd and compete in the both the Australian and global market place,'' he said.
