Porto and the Importance of City Branding

As I write this, I'm just off the stage here in Portugal at one of the largest business conferences of the year in Europe at the QSP Summit in the city of Porto. Aside from its picturesque location on the Northern coast, the country's second largest city also enjoys a reputation as an award-winning destination due to a combination of its experiences, food and branding.
Longtime readers may not be surprised to hear that it's the last element that I find the most intriguing. Many destinations compete with one another based on individual experiences. For Porto, a key part of this journey goes back exactly ten years to June of 2014 when a design agency was enlisted to create a new visual identity for the city, describing their challenge in this way:
"We felt like we needed to give each citizen their own Porto. We needed to show all the cities that exist in this one territory. We needed to represent Porto, a global city, the city for everyone."

Today in the city, this brand is across much of what you can see here from the buildings to the experiences and has become a case study in Place Branding. It makes sense that branding should take such a central role in tourism considering the country's rapidly evolving design and branding industry. As the city continues to move forward and its reputation continues to grow, this brand will no doubt be a critical element to help. Landmarks are one way to help a city stand out. Branding is clearly another.