With urban populations set to double by 2050 and the number of megacities rising, cities need to define their identity like never before. But as Alex Lampe, Co-Founder of Wiedemann Lampe, points out, crafting a city’s brand goes far beyond logos and taglines—it’s about capturing the essence of a place and bringing its story to life.
Too often, city branding is mistaken for a quick marketing fix—a catchy slogan and a pretty logo. But cities are far more complex than that. You can’t boil a place down to a single line. Real city branding taps into the lifeblood of the urban environment—its people, culture, and vibe. The magic happens when a city earns its identity over time, just like Paris became "The City of Light" through centuries of history and progress, or how New York built its raw, restless energy. A city’s brand grows organically from within.
