The Art Grup consortium that won the İzmir Development Agency (İZKA) tender regarding the Strategic Plan for the City Branding of İzmir, Vice President of the İZKA Development Board, İZKA Executive Board Members, Promotion and Tourism Working Group Members and related opinion leaders attended the meeting.
In the project to make İzmir a city brand, Wolff Olins which is an expert on city marketing and has realized the strategic work in projects such as New York City, Athens 2004 and London 2012 Olympics; American World Services Corp. which has determined investment areas in cities like Hannover, Madrid, Paris and Frankfurt and attracted investors to those cities; Kita Tasarım Reklam ve Danışmanlık which has taken part in İstanbul city promotion projects and TNS, one of the largest research companies in the world, are going to work.
In the meeting, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Aziz Kocaoğlu has emphasized that with this project, aspects of İzmir which differentiate it from other cities will be determined and promoted. Governor of İzmir and President of the Executive Board of İZKA M. Cahit Kıraç stated that cities now started to work on branding in order to increase their preferability. Indicating that during the preparation phase for the “Strategic Plan for the City Branding of İzmir,” they are going to learn how and how much the values of İzmir are known; Kıraç said that all İzmirians should be aware of this project and embrace it.
Co-President of Art Grup, the coordinating partner of the consortium, Fehmi Özkan; Managing Partner of Wolff Olins Charles Wright, Managing Partner of American World Services Steve Lanier and Owner of Kita Tasarım Reklam ve Danışmanlık Selin Atasoy Hartevioğlu made presentations on their related experiences and the work they are going to do for İzmir.
Özkan stated that they gathered the best companies in the world specializing on city marketing, and that they aim to make İzmir a world city with a strong consortium. He added that in 16 weeks, a concrete strategy will be shaped. Özkan emphasized that in implementing the strategy, the support of all İzmirians is crucial. Saying that the Plan will determine which institutions will be responsible from which duty, Özkan stated, “Writing the strategy is the easy part, the most difficult part is to implement the strategy. Successful strategies written in the past have failed because of stakeholders not embracing them. A sense of belonging in all stakeholders is necessary.” Wright mentioned their work in New York and Portugal and expressed that they will create a story on why İzmir is interesting. Lanier said that they will establish specialized investment areas in İzmir and that with its great potential in renewable, especially wind energy, İzmir can go much further in this area. Atasoy Hartevioğlu said, “If when this meeting is over, we go to different directions, this consortium will mean nothing. It is very important for the İzmirian, for the people on the streets to embrace this strategy.”
With the project, the natural, cultural, economic, historical and social qualities of İzmir will be considered as a whole. It will be strived to highlight the qualities that make İzmir different from other cities and create worldwide awareness in terms of investment and tourism.
The İZKA tender regarding the Strategic Plan for the City Branding of İzmir had resulted on February 15th. A total of 19 bidders consisting of foreign partners – from Germany, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, the UK, the Netherlands, Israel, Switzerland, New Zealand, Italy, Greece and France – and Turkish partners had competed for the project and the Art Grup consortium had won the tender.
