204 / 268
www.konyaexports.com
Konya Exports October 2014
194
“W
e targeted to develop a proposal for brand
building process for Konya that foresees to
accumulate necessary data and knowledge
in order to develop a special business model through com-
municating with related partners in the city. When comple-
ted the project will empower the economy, wealth and the
quality of life in the province.
“It is not about “selling” Konya. It is a professional “marketing”
project that connects companies, public authorities and other
partners towards a shared future. Marketing adds more value
on the products and services produced in their markets.
“Economic development leads to new dynamics and com-
petition increases. Like products and services, countries and
cities have to “market” themselves and their assets. City
marketing becomes a hot topic in marketing circles.
“This was not an academic consulting project. We take this
as a project of business model development, brand mana-
gement and marketing. We talked to our governor Aydin
Nezih Dogan and saw that we need a special sustainable
professional proposal depending on the dynamics of the
city and we have to define our strategic objectives for the
next ten to fifteen years.
“Then we studied five successful branded cities in Europe,
mostly utilizing from the studies of Eurocities, an establish-
ment of the EU. We have to know about regulations in our
country. We studies the new law of local administration. We
seek a suitable model for our city.
“In England Manchester seemed the most effective, a
project that was carried out by Marketing Manchester,
a non-profit company. They take the city as a dynamic
marketing object that produces a multi functional mega
product to the world markets. Staffed by 100 people this
was one of the best examples for us.
“While working on the project we saw that leading pe-
ople in the city saw it was composed only from promo-
tional activities. So we decided that the priority in our
efforts should be determine the strategic targets and
to explain the importance of expected results. Among
them were:The project can affect all activities and
investments in the city.
Branded cities and City
Marketing Project in Konya
Started in 2012 by Konya Platform, Branded
City Konya project, running under
Rifat Ergan management, is supported tech-
nically by Mevka. Ergan is the first ad pho-
tographer in Konya, owner of Plato Agency
which publishes Konya Life since 2005.
Rifat Ergan shared his views and activities: