RoleCall x UK: 5 Things We Learned in London
We’re lucky enough to travel a lot in our work, but this past week we hit a new milestone: our first international trip! Tim and Winona spent the week in London for the City Nation Place Global conference, where RoleCall was a finalist for the Best Citizen Engagement Strategy for our Relocation Help Desk project in North Dakota. We had the BEST time, and brought home some insights along with our souvenirs…
1. The talent crisis is global.
Our conversations with economic developers, chamber professionals, and employers across the country have made it clear to us that the labor shortage is a problem at every level: small towns, mid-sized cities, major metros, and states are all struggling to effectively attract and retain workforce. Conversations we had at City Nation Place confirmed that these struggles are not limited to the United States; the race for talent is global, and entire countries are putting massive amounts of resources and creativity into winning.
2. Great marketing is important, but it’s not enough.
CNP focuses on place branding, which means the level of talent and creative output on display at this conference is incredibly high. This is a gathering of the best place marketers on EARTH, and seeing their work was inspiring.
And yet…
After the third or fourth gorgeous “live, work, play” montage video and the sixth or seventh beautiful city logo, they all start to run together. The reason we started RoleCall was because we saw a need for a “What’s next?” in place marketing, and we found ourselves asking this same question after every presentation at CNP. No one is going to pack up and move because they saw a two-minute video of people laughing and eating and shopping in a beautiful locale.
Our question to places that are investing in talent marketing is and always has been: What are you doing to actually get people there?
If your beautiful video works, it means you’ve captured someone’s curiosity. How are you leveraging that curiosity? What are you asking them to do next? What are you doing to support their next steps? (Want to talk about what this looks like? Book a meeting with us!)
3. Nothing matters more than authenticity.
Authenticity is a buzzword in place marketing, and one that we’re guilty of using frequently — because no matter what your goals or challenges are, honing your place’s authentic voice is crucial. At CNP we had the opportunity to hear from Maria Lypiatska, Strategic Communications Advisor to the Foreign Minister of Ukraine and head of Brand Ukraine. When Russia invaded Ukraine, Maria’s team sprang into action to communicate what was really happening, and to share the heart and soul of this beautiful country with the world. Authenticity was suddenly not just the key to a place branding strategy, it was key to an entire country’s survival.
Very few of us will ever experience a situation as dire as the one Maria and her team are navigating, but hearing her story underscored the fact that authentic storytelling is not just a quest for digital impressions and social metrics. The work we do to capture and communicate the heart of our places matters. It builds understanding and fosters compassion. It sparks curiosity and creates a global community.
Every time we dig a little deeper and tell a little more truth, we’re sharing our humanity. We’re taking care of each other.
4. Placemaking opportunities are everywhere.
Now, for a slight change of pace: let’s talk about London’s iconic red double decker buses. We took the bus all over the city every day. If those buses had been regular buses in any other city, getting around would have felt like a chore. Because those buses are such an indelible part of London’s character, it felt like an experience.
Every time we boarded one of those buses and giddily ran up the stairs to snag a seat up front, we didn’t feel like we were schlepping across town. We felt like we were interacting with a place. A place that’s special and different from anywhere else.
So here’s a question for all the civic leaders, place marketers, and community builders reading this:
Are there any basic elements of daily life that you could creatively pull into your placemaking efforts?
What is something your citizens interact with everyday that seems mundane (or straight-up unpleasant) that could be transformed into something unique, something that tells a story, something that unequivocally connects them to where they are? What if a bus wasn’t just a bus? What is the experience, municipal program, or routine that is waiting to become part of your city’s brand?
5. Our logo looks really good 443 feet above London.
Just saying. We might need to rent some office space on the London Eye and make it official.
Want to talk more about any of this stuff? We’d love that. Book a meeting with us below!