Bloom Consulting's approach to Nation and Place Branding goes far beyond a logo, slogan and the boundaries of marketing. The team delves deep into a place to get a real feel for its identity, assets and people. Combined with the data from its inhouse tools, Bloom Consulting's findings feed an actionable strategy designed to empower brand architects to get the most out of the Place Brand through good governance.
The approach is based around the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Wheel © – a proprietary tool created to illustrate the diversity of Place Brand touchpoints and the holistic vision yet different approaches these call for. Its five dimensions help establish the objectives behind each Nation or Place Branding project. Behind each of the wheel's dimensions – investment, exports, tourism, talent and prominence – is a specific target audience with distinct needs.
At the heart of the wheel is the Central Idea – the emotion one feels but cannot quite put into words when they interact with a place in person or online. Bloom Consulting can pinpoint this and establish how to embrace its ability to influence target audiences' perceptions, build reputation and drive purposeful action for the prosperity of the place and its people.
What we deliver:
Research
Strategy
Implementation
Measurement
Bloom Consulting provides a range of services and intelligence tools for countries, regions and cities to audit their reputation, Digital Identity and brand appeal. These services assist places in developing and executing strategies that improve their Digital Identity, create demand towards them and drive positive perceptions of them.
Place Analytics services provide governments and private institutions with intelligence and measurement. The Digital Identity analysis helps to understand the place’s performance and attractiveness in terms of global searches, as well as to identify gaps for improvement in the place’s digital footprint. At the same time, measurement of perceptions provides nations, cities and places with valuable insights regarding the positive and negative aspects of their reputation among the key target audiences. As a result, the places are equipped with the knowledge necessary to improve their strategies and increase the demand potential across key dimensions (tourism, talent, investment, exports), thereby driving positive economic and social impact to the place.
The data is collected and analysed with the use of D2 Analytics — the company’s own intelligence tools, such as D2 Digital Demand (©), D2 Digital Supply (©) and D2 Live Quanti (©). These may be further complemented by a mix of primary and secondary research tools — quantitative and/or qualitative, online and/or on-site — to produce a comprehensive overview of a place’s appeal and competitiveness on a local, regional and international level.
Placemaking I.D. © is the materialisation of a Place Brand in public space, such as cities, where it is driven by public authorities, and real estate developments, such as planned neighbourhoods, initiated by the private sector. By this we understand how the identity of a place translates into positive experiences for residents, visitors, businesses and different sectors of economic, social and environmental development.
Bloom Consulting’s approach to creating vibrant places involves developing a deep understanding of local behaviours, vocations and identities by tapping into the place’s community and users, what they believe, how they live and dream.
In this powerful conceptual tripod of the vibrant place, the vibrancy is not sustained unless all three dimensions are intact. There is no activity without people, no people without meaning and no meaning without the activities which draw people to the place.
A vibrant place also needs other qualities and to be prepared to positively impact the lives of the people who interact with it. After all, places can and should transform lives for the better.
What we deliver:
Community engagement and co-creation
Use and qualification of public places
Experience activation
Bloom Consulting shapes Tourism Development strategies and rollout plans, offering an integrated approach that ensures a project’s alignment with the place’s Central Idea and brand vision.
The Loved Destination – a concept developed by Bloom Consulting – is based on four pillars: willingness, emotion, top of mind, and experience.
A Loved Destination balances sustainability, openness and consciousness to ensure the harmonious existence of tourism alongside other sectors of the economy.
Bloom Consulting’s Tourism Development strategies are therefore aligned with the local population, the Place Brand vision and Central Idea.
What we deliver:
Tourism Development strategy
Destination marketing
Experiences portfolio
Recovery plans
The Bloom Consulting Academy (BCA) provides industry-specific training and tactical guidance, empowering Place Branding organisations and their entire workforces from key stakeholders and managers to front-line staff at visitor attractions.
A “business school” for place branders, BCA is run by practitioners and academics with vast experience of working with Place Branding strategies, skills development and investment in people programmes.
BCA programmes are tailored to meet the specific needs of every stakeholder, such as public authorities, institutions or visitor attractions. The training is delivered via a mix of in-person and online sessions.
Graduates of BCA receive a recognised Continuing Professional Development (CPD) qualification to validate one’s skills and expertise. BCA is the only CPD-accredited training provider in the global field of Place Branding.