London vs. New York - Can London be sexy?

 

I recently got involved in a proposal on the topic of country branding which immediately got me thinking about London vs. New York. Both cities are so similar yet so different…

 

The principles behind branding a country are not significantly different to the strategies applied to branding a corporation for e.g.

·         Ireland – With help of Hollywood, Ireland creates ebullient images of a windy, green island full of freckled, red-haired children along with award-winning, creative advertising of a unique product like Guinness.

 

·         Croatia - In the aftermath of the Balkan conflict, war-torn Croatia was left with a very negative international image. The chosen strategy was one of re-branding and aggressively promoting  one sector that would prove the easiest win – upper market tourism. Croatia is now seen as a country of lovely beaches and picturesque towns for the more experienced traveller. Based on this attractive image, investors and tourists brought much-needed revenue to the economy, in turn raising its international profile

I love both London and New York for different reasons. New York is where I aspire to live, New York is appealing and sexy! Think Sex and City!  

Despite being nicknamed (some may disagree with this and that’s fine!) the Capital of The World, London is cosmopolitan but not sexy  – the Big Smoke’s most famous icons include Beefeaters protecting the Crown Jewels, Her majesty the Queen, Big Ben, Eastenders? 

 

[Click here for a snippet of Eastenders]

 

In your opinion, what makes London so charming? And how could we make London sexy without losing its cosmopolitan side?  J