With the Hamburg brand, we jointly present ourselves as a city and as a region – both internally and externally. In our globalised, digitised world, brand as a competitive edge plays an ever-increasing role in positioning and strengthening locations in a sustainable manner.
Strategy & Brand Management
© Mediaserver Hamburg / Christian Brandes
The Hamburg brand:
Hamburg's dedicated brand strategy
Hamburg is the strongest brand among German places.
Surveys have shown that Hamburg is the strongest brand among German destinations. To ensure that this remains the case, Hamburg Marketing once again conducted in-depth research into the public image of Hamburg. The survey was completed in 2022 and addressed German residents as well as residents of other countries. Previous surveys were conducted in 2004, 2009 and 2015. This time, around 4,000 respondents were asked not only which of Hamburg's attractions and functional attributes they particularly valued, but also which emotional features, values and attitudes they associated with Hamburg.
The respondents primarily described Hamburg as energetic, cosmopolitan and forward-thinking. They perceive Hamburg as a place that conveys a sense of freedom and connection with the world, and a place that offers plenty of opportunities for discovering something new.
Maritime attractions continue to be Hamburg's number one sights – across all target groups. The port, the River Elbe and other bodies of water continue to be hugely popular. Moreover, the Elbphilharmonie concert hall is turning into a true landmark of the city. While talent and international guests consider it as a symbol of Hamburg's courage and innovative mindset, entrepreneurs mainly regard it as an important addition for Germany as a cultural hotspot.
Hamburg's strengths: diversity, creativity and innovation
In addition to the top sights, the survey also identified Hamburg's core strengths:
- Diverse leisure activities
- Unique mix of music, entertainment and party scene around the Reeperbahn
- Varied, creative cultural programme
- Mix of tradition and modernity
- Location that embraces freedom of expression
- Great choice of educational opportunities
- Broad range of companies and economic sectors
- Distinct startup community
- Creative starting point for new ideas
- Attractive landscape and bodies of water
Hamburg's new brand manual allows insights into the strategic take-aways from these findings and provides the basis for future brand-related activities. Going forward, the Hamburg brand will be unifying and curious, embracing contrasts and putting people first. The manual serves as a practical guide for all those who represent the City of Hamburg. The brand manual illustrates that Hamburg is being developed as a brand in a targeted and strategic manner, with the aim of ensuring a consistent, coherent image. This should enable everyone to successfully represent the Hamburg brand and communicate its identity in all its facets.
And this is what the Hamburg brand looks like
Our visual language focusses on people: authentic, real, diverse individuals in action. We show them in real places, up close, and we capture their perspectives – not only as individuals, but also as a community. The motifs of our campaigns are characterised by original actions and views. Our images thus stand out from the crowd, portraying Hamburg, its surroundings and locals in an attractive and natural way – we don't believe in stilted beauty shots.
Whenever possible, the pictures show people with a desire to explore soemthing new and a sense of inspiration. To us, it is important to render a positive, candid attitude to life. The people portrayed feel part of a group, experience the moment, are in harmony with themselves and therefore open to discovering new things. The camera is more like an observer ("stolen moments"): models don't always look into the camera, and sometimes the camera assumes the position of the protagonists themselves. This creates moments of truthfulness, as well as closeness and credibility. Everything seems accidental, natural, authentic, laid-back and yet subtle.
To learn more about the methodology and findings of the brand analysis, please feel free to contact us by e-mail and we will be happy to send you a summary.