City Nation Place Awards 2023

9th annual awards

Congratulations to all our winners and our highly commended entries.

To access all the winning case studies -as well as the case studies for all our finalists from the past five years, please subscribe to our new Place Brand Portfolio where you can search by geography or strategic challenge to be inspired and inform your own approach.


WINNERS 2023



BEST CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT

Winner

THE BAHAMAS
People-to-People Experience
Entered by The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Aviation and Investments

The jury were full of admiration for the work that has gone into this project – recognising how difficult it can be to engage citizens in tourism in this way.  The Bahamas has recognised the growing consumer desire for more authentic tourism experiences and have responded, not only adding value to the tourism product but also enhancing civic pride.

Highly Commended

TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA
Little Tasmanian
Entered by Brand Tasmania


Logo for The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism

BEST COMMUNICATION STRATEGY:
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Winner

VILNIUS, LITHUANIA
Vilnius TechFusion - Got Fired By Meta/Twitter? Move to Vilnius
Entered by Go Vilnius

The jury were hugely impressed by the connectedness of Vilnius’ strategy – they loved the opportunistic approach with the campaign to attract those laid off by META and the viral impact of this, but there’s so much more in the entry given the continuing contribution of the International House of Vilnius and also the “Befriend” ambassador scheme to integrate new talent into community life in Vilnius.

Logo for Go Vilnius

Highly Commended

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
Positioning Copenhagen As The World’s Leading Life Science Hub
Entered by Copenhagen Capacity & Copenhagen Convention Bureau



THE SAINT JOHN REGION, CANADA
Find Your Future – Targeted Talent Attraction & Retention Campaign
Entered by Envision Saint John: The Regional Growth Agency



BEST COMMUNICATION STRATEGY:
PLACE BRAND

Winner

UKRAINE
#WhatWeAreFightingFor

Entered by Brand Ukraine NGO

The jury is in awe of the Ukraine brand’s team ability to continue to have such a clear vision of the nation brand they want to project to the world, and to continually think so creatively about how to do so.  This is one of those examples where, in retrospect, to show #whatwearefightingfor makes so much sense but it requires that strong foundation of a clear understanding of the country’s values, and the execution of the campaign is very impressive.

Logo for Brand Ukraine

Highly Commended

SCOTLAND
How Trojan Horses Helped Scotland’s Nation Brand Leap Ahead
Entered by Brand Scotland





BEST COMMUNICATION STRATEGY:
TOURISM

Winner

FIJI
Where Happiness Comes Naturally
Entered by Tourism Fiji


A tourism campaign that is not only changing opinions of the destination - successfully shifting from a fly and flop proposition to one that offers an authentic experience and a strong cultural heritage – but has also delivered great results for the place economy.

Logo for Tourism Fiji

Highly Commended

ICELAND
OutHorse Your Email,
Entered by Business Iceland
[Credits: SS+K, Peel Iceland, M&C Saatchi TALK, Republik]




BEST PLACEMAKING INITIATIVE

Winner

BRIXTON, ENGLAND
Brixton X Harlem Twinning
Entered by Brixton BID


The jury were impressed by how the Brixton BID team have taken the idea of town twinning to another level – a level which adds real value to the businesses and citizens of Brixton.   Twinning with Harlem is one of those ideas that is so obvious in retrospect, which is what makes it so clever – and the creative leveraging of a twinning relationship built on shared values and cultural heritage through place-shaping events that engaged citizens has been really effective.

Highly Commended

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND
Look Up
Entered by Marketing Sheffield


Logo for Brixton Business Improvement District











BEST USE OF DATA

Winner

GLASGOW CITY REGION, SCOTLAND
Using Data Storytelling To Showcase Glasgow’s Tech And Investment Story
Entered by Glasgow City Council (Digital Economy), 
[Credits: Glasgow City Council]

An innovative example of data-led reputation building for the place brand.  The jury were impressed by the vision and the execution of this open-source intelligence platform – recognising the challenge of successfully engaging the private sector in such initiatives and how Glasgow has achieved this with a clear value proposition.

Logo for Glasgow City Council

Highly Commended

SALT LAKE COUNTY, USA
Overtourism On Mountain Trails - Insights Show It’s The Resident Not The Visitor Entered by Visit Salt Lake, [Credits: Zartico]




BEST USE OF DESIGN

Winner

SEATTLE SOUTHSIDE, USA
Seattle Southside Gets A Brand New Identity
Entered by Seattle Southside Regional Tourism Authority, 
[Credits: 123W]

The jury loved the creativity of this place brand design, based on clear insights and delivering strong results.
 


Logo for Explore Seattle Southside

Highly Commended

HIGH POINT, USA
High Point Community Brand
Entered by CivicBrand



PLACE BRAND OF THE YEAR

Winner

LEIDEN, THE NETHERLANDS
European City of Science, Leiden 2022 
Entered by Leiden&Partners, [Credits: Leiden2022, Municipality of Leiden, Leiden University, Leiden Kennisstad, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Hogeschool Leiden]


This is an impressive story of how a city chose to live its brand having successfully leveraged its established reputation as a city where science and art meet to win a major international science event and the title of European City of Science for the year. The jury was impressed by the ambition and creativity of the program of activities delivered and the strong focus on delivering for their citizens as much as on building international reputation for visitors and investors.  There is also a clear sense of legacy – an intention to continue to build this brand as a city of discovery.


Logo for Leiden&Partners