‘Wild’ Oulu to Rebrand Itself Again
The city of Oulu is in the process of rebranding yet again; reflecting its expansion in 2013.
Oulu, a creative, young city.
According to Jonne Saivosalmi of Place Marketing, the future of the ‘new Oulu’ brand will be based on its position in ‘Scandinavia’ and ‘the north’ and also its relatively youthful population. This is currently being encapsulated in the phrase ‘wild Oulu,’ though he stressed to 65DN that the eventual slogan ‘may be very different. This is only for a report of what we’ve done so far.’
‘The new brand is for the whole bigger city region,’ Saivosalmi explained. ‘It reflects what the new situation will be like.’
Place Marketing have been doing a great deal of research into what will make the new Oulu distinctive and have concluded that an important factor is that ‘talent’ comes to the city from many parts of the country.
‘People have the power. There is a youthful age structure, people here are bold, open-minded and creative, but still comfortable and relaxed,’ he explained in a press release. Saivosalmi insisted to 65DN that this was not just marketing jargon but was based in interviews with many Oulu people about what they felt made the region distinctive. His research indicates that Oulu is regarded, around the country, as a more ‘creative’ place than some other Finnish cities.
He accepted that the significant demographic presence of conservative religious groups in the region might lead some question just how ‘open-minded’ and ‘relaxed’ people are. But he countered that the majority of Oulu people feel that they react against this presence by being even more relaxed and open-minded. ‘Religion came up but people feel that it gives them a kind of opposite strength; they react against it,’ he said.
Place Marketing have been helping to brand various other cities including Seinijöki in which ‘a lot of new people want to live. There is a strong entrepreneurial spirit.’
Branding is fake, instead a town’s reputation should be allowed to evolve organically, slowly, over time. The city council should let visitors to Oulu make their own minds’ up. The previous attempt to brand Oulu as an ‘international city’, was, frankly, laughable.
Why?
The facts were incompatible with the desired brand image. Oulu is not an international town. It would be like Fazer trying to re-brand chocolate bars as a healthy snack
Disagree somewhat, Nigel.
I expect you’ve been on at least one of those “Maahanmuuttajien Koulutus” courses? Enough international students to sink a battleship. University here has students flocking from warmer shores to study here.
Did Coca-Cola suddenly think “Wow, we’re successful! Maybe we should invent a brand”?
(Well, actually they did, which is why ‘Joulupukki’ since the ’30′s is in a red suit with a white beard….)
Chicken-and-egg. Brand first, then success, or success then brand?
When us ‘internationals’ put our backs into making the city ‘international’ – entrepeneurship, sudy, industry, then we can do our bit.
Sorry, mate, but I love this city, and want to do my bit. Just finding my “bit” is a bit difficult at the moment.
(Nothing wrong whatsoever with Fazer chocolate as a healthy snack. Ask any mountaineer.
But what about the facts Andy?
What percentage of Oulu’s population was born abroad / have ethnic or cultural ties abroad?
I would say that the term ‘international city’ might apply to places like London, New York or Marseille. But Oulu, do me a favour!
@ Nigel.
Pretty high percentage, I’d guess. Been on a bus lately? Headscarves in abundance (and that’s just the the women!) – I’ve even seen a burka once (Don’t know who was under it…).
Yet to see a kilt this year, but my my Scottish mate ‘threatened’ to wear one on ‘Burns Nicht’. Not a pretty sight, he’s got hairy legs and ****bly knees.
I guess a rising immigrant population makes the city “international”, but I go back to “Chicken-and-egg” scenario.
New York, London et. al. ar big cities. Oulu isn’t by those standards.
But at a guess, the percentage of immigrants in each would be about equal to that of Oulu.
Little bit of work required on the swearword filter. Laughed like a drain when I saw “****bly” censored when I actually wrote “k.n.o.b.b.l.y” (without the dots)
Although British, I am a Docent at Oulu University, and have visited the city frequently. There seem to be more foreigners than there used to be in Oulu city when compared (say) with near by communities like Haukipudas. However, today the Helsinki Times reports the following:
There are clearly fewer foreign citizens living in Finland than the average for the EU, according to figures released by Eurostat on Wednesday. Of Finnish residents last year, some 2.7 per cent were foreign citizens while the EU average is 6.4 per cent. The share of foreign citizens in Finland is also clearly smaller than in the other Nordic countries. In Sweden, Denmark and Norway the share is around 6 per cent, in Iceland it is as high as 8 per cent. Proportionally, Luxemburg has the highest number of foreign citizens, while Poland and Romania have the lowest. Numerically, Germany has the most foreign residents, over 7 million. Of Finland’s 142,000 foreigners last year, some 52,000 were from other EU countries and 90,000 were from outside the EU.
I suspect that there are more proportionately foreign citizens living in Helsinki that the rest of Finland, as Helsinki is nearer to places like Estonia and the rest of central Europe.
Personally, I can’t understand why Oulu needs to re-brand itself, it is a wonderful city – despite the fact that Kärpät did not win the championship last year!