Values arestronger than

slogans

Oslo Brand Management2017 Report

Background 04

About the Oslo Brand Alliance 06

This is what we do together 08

Funding partners 10

The Oslo Brand Strategy 12

What is the Oslo brand? 14

Measuring progress 18

Brand Insight 20

Brand Toolbox 22

Brand Projects 24 Runway Oslo 26 The Great Escape 28 The Big O 32 Skam 34 Future Library Oslo 36 Oslo Innovation Week 38 The Nobel Peace Prize 41 Oslo Urban Peace Week 41 Oslo Freedom Forum 41 Guided by Fans 42 Table Tales 46

International press clips 48

Brand Meetings 52

Regional Business Development 53

Oslo: State of the City 54

Digital Footprint 60

2017 Results 62

Accounting 64

Content

Background

Oslo is one of the most unknown cities in the world. Anyone trying to get international attention for Oslo faces a tough challenge, as nobody chooses a city by coincidence, whether for investment purposes, employment, study, startups or travel. All in all, Oslo lacks visibility, and a memorable position as a brand. But we are improving.

This invisibility, combined with a global trend of urbanization, where other cities compete actively to get recognized, was the driving force behind developing a Brand Management Strategy for the Oslo region. The process was initiated by the City council in Oslo and the Oslo Region Alliance in 2014. In June 2015 the city government in Oslo and the board of the Oslo Region Alliance adopted the strategy unanimously.

The strategy process has involved almost 1.000 people from private business andpublic sector, from culture, academia, and organizations.

Unlike many brand strategies that focus entirely on an individual city, this strategy takes a regional approach. The Oslo Region is gradually becoming more integrated with respect to business structure, labour markets, housing markets, leisure and culture.

04

About the Oslo Brand Alliance

To implement the strategy, the Oslo Brand Alliance (OBA) was established in January 2016, not as a formal organization, but as collaboration between Oslo Business Region, VisitOSLO and The Oslo Region alliance. These institutions have established mandates and resources central to the place brand management, and they already cooperate with many regional and national bodies and organisations concerned with marketing of Oslo and Norway worldwide.

The Oslo Region alliance is a collaborative, political membership organisation, the goal of which is to strengthen the Oslo region as a competitive and sustainable region in Europe. The Oslo Region alliance was established in 2005 and consists of 79 local authorities, including the City of Oslo, Akershus, Buskerud, Hedmark, Oppland and Østfold counties and the municipalities surrounding Oslo.

Oslo Business Region as works to raise the number of startups with international potential, combining startup support services with international profiling and regional business development. Oslo Business Region is a limited company fully owned by the municipality of Oslo, and was established 2014.

VisitOSLO as is the official marketing organization for Oslo and the surrounding regions. VisitOSLO is a limited company with share holders from the city’s travel trade and commerce. The company is responsible for visitor services such as the official tourist information office Oslo Visitor Centre and the official website. www.visitoslo.com

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This is what we do together

The Oslo Brand Alliance orchestrates the broad collaboration needed between public and private organisations in the region, to get international recognition.

These efforts come in addition to all the three organizations having implemented the Oslo brand strategy into their core business.

The three organizations have different roles in the Oslo Brand Alliance:

Oslo Business Region and VisitOSLO have been in charge of brand insight, brand toolbox and brand projects. The Oslo Region alliance has worked with the municipalities and the counties in the region in order to get them to contribute financially. All three have been involved in brand meetings.

Oslo Business Region has taken the lead in coordinating the parties, and in developing action plans and reporting.

The Oslo Brand alliance implements the strategy thru:

Brand Insight

Brand Toolbox

Brand Projects

Brand Meetings

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PartnersIn 2017 the following municipalities and counties have contributed to the funding of Oslo Brand Alliance:

Funding

• The municipality of Oslo (thru Oslo Business Region): 2,6 mill NOK

• From municipalities and county authorities in the region (thru the Oslo Region alliance): 3,4 mill NOK

• Total funding 2017: 6 mill

The funding in the region is based on a fixed fee per inhabitant, NOK 1,-. Oslo, which is both a municipality and a region, pays a double fee per inhabitant.

The municipality of Oslo, together with 20 municipalities in the region and 3 county authority funded the work of the Oslo Brand Alliance in 2017:

Oslo Brand Alliance 2017OsloSkedsmoAkershus fylkeskommune FredrikstadAskerVestbyBærumLunnerNes (Ak.)HolmestrandUllensakerHofTønsbergLøtenHamarStangeLørenskog RingsakerRingerikeJevnakerHoleØstfold fylkeskommuneGjerdrumHedmark fylkeskommune

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The Oslo Brand StrategyThe Oslo Brand Management Strategy was addopted by the municipalities and counties in the Oslo Region in 2015. This brand strategy helps all stakeholders to build Oslo’s identity internationally, deliberately developing and demonstrating Oslo’s values through appropriate and aligned actions.

To implement Oslo’s international brand management strategy, the Oslo Brand Alliance (OBA) was established in 2016. This is not a formal organisation, but has worked as a collaboration between Oslo Business Region, VisitOSLO and The Oslo Region alliance.

The Oslo Brand Alliance orchestrates the broad collaboration needed between public and private organisations in the region, to get international recognition. We implement the strategy thru oslobrandbox.no, strategic projects, workshops and brand meetings. In 2017 we hired a Brand Manager to be in charge of operations and to maintain and develop the toolbox.

1Attention

increase Oslo’s digital footprint (social media and press)

by 20% yearly.

2Image

is the increased attention building the right image of Oslo

3Support

increase the number of stakeholders getting on-brand.

The KPI’s for OBA are:

Vision: The best is yet to come

Goal:the world’sfavouritecompact

city

Values: Pioneering, Enriching, Real

off brand off brand

off brand off brand

off brand off brand

off brand off brand

OSLOyoung

pioneringcity

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Oslo is a compact city, with a short distance between concrete and grass. Between people and power. Work and play. Office and home. Career and family. Combine this with almost 5.000 live cultural performances a year, a booming startup scene, internationally ac-knowledged architecture and new neighbour-hoods coming alive – with the most tech savvy people on earth – and you get the essence of Oslo. We don’t believe in empty slogans. We live by our values every day: pioneering, enriching and real.

Oslo IS the brand.

Oslo is Greater Oslo Oslo is the brand for the region as a whole and when we go out in the world, it´s impor-tant to remember that we are on the same mission. We are not competitiors, we are partners and allies. To increase attention, the right image and to make sure the world get to know us we have to stand together under one brand.

What is the Oslo brand?Pioneering, enriching and real

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Messuring progressBrand building is an ultra-marathon, and not a 100-meter dash. It takes time to become internationally visible and recognized. That said, it is important to measure progress in all the small steps taken. Our KPI’s are meant to provide an overview of the implementation of the strategy, and allow for timely evaluation and adjustment of the related activities.

It is easy to think that key performance indicators for the Oslo Brand Alliance should be related to growth in numbers of international visitors, investors, students and more. These are the wanted long time effects of branding. But key performance indicators as these are not directly related to the work of Oslo Brand Alliance, they are covered within the core business of VisitOSLO, Oslo Business Region and The Oslo Region alliance, as well as other organizations in the region.

KPI’s for the Oslo Brand Alliance must indicate to what extent the perception of Oslo is changing in the strategically chosen direction.

So, in this setting, it is more fruitful to talk about key perception indicators, to underline the place brand management approach we’ve chosen. Of course, these are still in effect key performance indicators when taking the managerial viewpoint.

The three KPI areas for OsloBrand Alliance are:

1. AttentionOslo is not yet well known by the world, and it’s imperative for Oslo to increase its visibility. We measure the international attention Oslo gets in press and social media (digital footprint).

2. ImageIs the image of Oslo changing in the right direction? We analyse international press coverage and progress in the yearly Oslo: State of the city benchmark analysis.

3. On brand actions and supportWe want to give Oslo attention and recognition on the international stage through an increasing number of on-brand activities involving more and more stakeholders. We conduct a stakeholder survey, a citizen survey, and we track the usage of the brand toolbox.

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Brand Insight

Cities all over the world are competing for talent, visitors, investors and attention. We love Oslo, but how are we really doing in an international perspective?

The Oslo performance spidergram in 2017:

Business-friendliness

Productivity

Innovation

Competencies and knowledge

Leisure andrecreation

Personal safety

Sustainabilityand resilience

Work-life balance

Attractivenessto visitors

Attractiveness to talent

Friendliness

Welcoming to foreigners

Social stability

Quality and integrity

Transparency and reliability

Influence and status

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3

4

5

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On the bright side:

• We are becoming an internationally important location for entrepreneurship and innovation.• Oslo is 4th of 50 global cities for climate change leadership, and Oslo’s social and environmental

model is a big advantage.• Hospitality is the area that has improved most since this 2015.• Oslo is now performing more strongly in indexes that reflect perceptions of urban lifestyle,

aesthetics and the natural environment.• Familiarity with some of its vibrant neighborhoods are driving this increased visibility which

means Oslo is included in more rankings of ‘cool’, ‘exciting’, and ‘high quality’ cities.• The perception gap regarding Oslo’s cultural offerings is vital to fill for the next coming years.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That is why we ask the outside world how they perceive and experience Oslo. This insight shapes the priorities of the Oslo Brand Alliance’s projects.

As no standard “Pisa survey” exists to evaluate Oslo, we have developed an attraction barometer for Oslo. The tailor made tool is developed by the Business of Cities Group Ltd London, and is reported yearly. The analysis is part of Oslo Business Region’s core mandates, and thus not funded thru Oslo Brand Alliance.

For the third year running, “Oslo: State of the city” assesses Oslo’s current performance and international reputation from a database of more than 400 benchmarks and 20 000 data points. What is the state of Oslo? How is the quality of life? The arts and cultural life? The governance? The business climate How visible is Oslo internationally? Is Oslo perceived as a green city? A city of arts and culture?

Read the highlights from Oslo: State of the city from page 54, or read the whole thing on oslobrandbox.no

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Brand Toolbox

Instead of logoes and slogans, we have the oslobrandbox.no. It contains films, brand cases, photos, brand filter, facts about Oslo and various information about our beloved region and about the brand strategy.

We have continued to develop the toolbox in 2017, sharing best practice, and building relevant content. Being more active in promoting the oslobrandbox.no, we have had a huge increase in visitors and downloads.

We also launched the toolbox for Kunnskap Oslo. This toolbox is integrated with the existing toolbox, and features tools developed to market Oslo towards international students, scientists and knowledge workers.

What do people need when they hit the international stage with Oslo as their selling point? Our films are downloaded over 1000 times, but it´s still all about the photos. Photos of Bjørvika, the Oslofjord, downtown Oslo and panorama views over the city are the most popular. From staying at our site 1 min 54 sec as average, the users now stay 2 min 35 sec. Photos and films from oslobrandbox.no are used by the city of Oslo, the municipalities of Greater Oslo, private events and gatherings. All our material is free to use – as long as it is used to promote OSLO.

increase in visitors

735%increase in downloads

526%

Being a pioneer, Oslo has decided to skip a logo and a slogan for branding purposes. We believe actions speak louder than words, and that values are stronger than slogans.

Brand projects 2017

OBA does not hold or take over the marketing responsibility for the individual projects; our efforts come on top of what the project does. We support projects by working with PR, social media and growth hack marketing techniques. Lessons learned from the projects are built into the toolbox.

Brand projects are on-brand events and projects in the region with international potential. Oslo Brand Alliance contributes to increase the attention for Greater Oslo internationally, beyond what the projects achieve themselves. When Oslo is in the international limelight – we try to amplify the effect.

In 2017, we have been working with the following brand projects:

Innovation/businessSubsea Valley conferenceNor-ShippingKatapult Future FestOslo Innovation WeekRunway Oslo

Oslo in generalThe Great EscapeOSL/Lonely PlanetOslo – Learning to fly(a new book on urban development of Oslo, by Erling Fossen)

CultureTorgny Amdam, Oslo video “Into the night”

Future Library OsloThe Big OØya – Guided by Fans Runway OsloOslo Urban ArenaLadies Tour of Norway

PeaceCoordinated PR/journalist efforts for:

Oslo Freedom ForumBusiness for PeaceOslo Urban Peace WeekThe Nobel Peace Prize

RegionalTable Tales (food videos)

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Oslo RunwayVisitOSLO’s media team coordinated the Oslo aspect of the event, providing information, coordinating city sightseeing and practical aspects of the visit.

International media from China, Japan, USA, Germany, Italy and Denmark were present. Our direct involvement generated 11 quality press results. Here are a few highlights.

Teen Vogue USAGlobal Times ChinaElle Japan

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This is the story of how we put Oslo on the international map, by bailing out unhappy tourists from other European capitals and offering them a great escape.

The Great Escape Oslo BackgroundInternational studies show that Oslo is completely unknown in the world. When Scandinavia is in focus, Copenhagen and Stockholm get all the glory, and “ Scandimania” has yet to include Oslo as a must visit destination.

Oslo Brand Alliance (Oslo Business Region, VisitOSLO and Oslo Region), a municipally funded initiative to promote Oslo internationally, wanted to put Oslo on the map last summer by finding an innovative, efficient and digital way of promoting the city internationally in line with their values: groundbreaking, enriching and real. There was a limited budget for the project and a prerequisite in the brief was to think smart, different and bold.

GoalThe goal was to attract international attention to Oslo in a new and noncommercial way. We wanted to show Oslo as strong alternative to other big cities with long queues, scorching weather and overcrowded tourist attractions.

StrategyOur idea was based on one of Europe’s fastest growing issues affecting not only the tourist industry, but also the local population. Overtourism in Europe is a truly a critical problem. The continent is visited by over 500 million per year and some European capitals are at the brink of exhaustion due to “ people pollution”. Oslo however, is a young and developing capital. With a booming art and culture scene Oslo can finally compete with larger European capitals, offering a spacious and sustainable destination all year around.

We wanted to show tourists that Oslo is the Queen of Nordic Cool and portray the diversity of activities that is Oslo in a fun and creative way to attract people’s attention.

Creative executionWith a desire to save tourists from bad experiences with people pollution, we searched

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“I don’t think we could have predicted any of the activities that we

have done in Oslo. For us to feel this

way after only just 48 hours here, I think

says a lot about what the city has to offer.”

– Marela Glavas

social media and picked up a distress call on Instagram from two Kiwis visiting the Louvre and documenting a sea of selfies while trying to get a glimpse of the famous Mona Lisa. Oslo too has one of the world´s most iconic pictures, the Scream by Munch, but without all the people. So we decided to offer the couple a bail out; jump ship for an unforgettable 48 Hours in Oslo. Although the couple first thought the request was a Norwegian version of the Nigeria letter, they chose to bet on Oslo, and were rewarded with two days full of culture, food extravaganza and fun entertainment.

ResultsThe couple´s snapshot of what Oslo has to offer has now been viewed by nearly 9 times the population of Oslo. Lasting nearly 4 minutes, the film has managed to capture viewers in a way rarely seen in online material with thousands of comments from people eager to visit. The film has also been featured in numerous travel, news and advertising articles around the world, truly placing Oslo on the map as a great destination for a big city escape. Even without paid media support a part from moderate Facebook boosting, the film has received over 5.4 million views in social media with 90% of the views coming from international audiences. The film has gained 12 times more involvement in VisitOSLO social media platforms than their usual content, which normally also achieves a lot of response. The Great Escape Oslo film has generated thou-sands of positive comments and wishes to be whisked off to Oslo, which has opened up exciting opportunities to continue building Oslo as a brand and destination.

Lonely Planet has happily also accepted Oslo as a destination worthwhile and our wonderful capital ended up on their prestigious Top 10 list of cities to visit in 2018. Oslo has also been featured in top lists by Harper’s Bazar and the New York Times, so a lot points to 2018 being Oslo´s breakthrough year, something we are truly proud to have contributed to.

reactions23 000

shares3 000

average viewtime on YouTube

2.12

comments1 800

6million views

12xmore engagement than the clients

average Facebook posts

90%of all views are

international viewers

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The Big O 2017

To close the cultural perception gap about Oslo internationally, The Big O cooperate with existing projects, institutions and artists. In 2017, we held a compact The Big O «festival» in September as the closing party of Oslo Innovation Week at Salt Art Music.

The compact festival was a collaboration, a «dugnad» with the following institutions and artists: the Magnum photographer Jonas Bendiksen with his slide show «The Last Testament», screening of the Oslo film «Thelma» followed by and a q&a with director Joachim Trier, the Stardust Quar-tet from the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, the perfor-mance art duo Sexy Boyfriends with «Sexy Bydel», TORGNY, Eivind Henjum and exper-imental dancer Ida Wigdel, Billie Van with band, the Canadian professor and hip hop artist Narcy, sauna session with DJ Joachim Haugland from Small-town Supersound, and afterparty in Naustet (the boathouse) with Oslo World and B2B ONKOD DJs.

«Culture is “an engine for skill enhancement”; for others, it will create a “sense of place” and can encourage companies to relocate» UK Cities Culture report 2015.

86% of the audience say

they would come back to The Big O next time

78%would recommend The Big O to others

100%of the partners found the

collaboration useful and want to continue to be a partner

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Skam

Our media team worked with SKAM-related press enquiries throughout the year.

Here are the main press results from 2017:

ArgentinaLa Nación – Los limites de la idolatria

DenmarkElle.dk – Dagens bedste nyhed: Kom på SKAM-tur i Oslo

Woman.dk – Denne nyhed er helt genial for alle os, der hungrer efter endnu mere SKAM

Mx.dk – SKAM-guide: her er kortet over de bedste SKAM-steder i Oslo

FranceGrazia Magazine/Grazia.fr – Skam, pépite norvégienne

FinlandHelsingin Sanomat – Tuore ja hauska kaupunkikulttuuri kukoistaa vaihtoehtoisessa Oslossa

Aamulehti.fi – Aiotko Osloon? – Katso tästä hittisarja Skamin aitojen tapahtumapaikkojen osoitteet

Aamulehti.fi – Sana, Magnus vai Vilde, Skam-fanien arvailu kuumenee – olisiko seuraava päätähti upea muslimityttö?

SwedenTV4 – Tv-succé lockar turistar till Oslo och SKAM-skolan

UKNew Statesman – Skam: how a cult teen drama has fans invading sets, stalking characters’ Instagrams and learning Norwegian

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Future Library

The Future Library is a vote of confidence. Humanity will make it to 2114.

Buffalo Grid The Trampery Zinc VC Smedvig Capital Entrepreneurship 1 ICT NorwayGreener Events ReSpace Projects Hafslund Esplorio Ducky Remarkable CityLondon & Partners SchneiderFredrik HultOslo Business Region

mill reach in social media

Facebook live stream viewers

media articles globally

45.8

11 000

124One thousand trees have been planted in Nordmarka, a forest just outside Oslo, which will supply paper for a special anthology of books to be printed in one hundred years time. Between now and then, one writer every year will contribute a text, with the writings held in trust, unpublished, until the year 2114. The project was conceived by Katie Paterson during the summer of 2014. It is managed by the Future Library Trust and supported by the City of Oslo.

Canadian author Margaret Atwood was the first one asked to join the initiative in 2015, followed by English novelist David Mitchell in 2016. This year Icelandic poet Sjón sub-mitted his manuscript – one his contemporaries will, in all likelihood, never read.

Sjón compared the Future Library project to the cathedrals of Europe that took 200 to 300 years to make. “They were generational projects,” he said. “Maybe with all the challenges we are facing today, like climate change, we need more projects that help us to think in generations.”

The Future Library demonstrates the values of Oslo: pioneering, enriching and real, and the art project has gained huge international fame. Oslo Brand Alliance helps cre-ate international attention thru social media and press.

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Oslo Innovation Week

Oslo Innovation Week brings 11.000 startups, tech experts, investors, influencers, creatives, decision makers and leaders together to form new powercouples, solve global challenges and move forward.

Oslo Innovation Week is a public-private dugnad, inviting Norway and the world to Oslo to a weeklong innovation conference 25th–29th September. Entering its 12th year, we  decided it was time to tie the whole conference up to UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Oslo Innovation Week have an international focus, because the competition is global. It must also have a clear and interesting mission, and fill an empty position in an overcrowded event industry. The ambition is to position Oslo Innovation Week as the leading conference globally, showcasing real solutions to UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Oslo showcases action, where other conferences just talk.

More than 50 events showcased real solutions to UN’s SDGs, mixing entrepreneurs, industry leaders, innovators and tech-people with a shared sense of urgency.

events53

international speakers27%

media articles136

attendees11 000

female speakers49%

mill. reach digital media

95.2

142event organizers

281speakers

40international journalists

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1OIW sets the agenda for the business solutions to the UN’s Sustainable

Development GoalOIW will push the world forward by combining entrepreneurship,

technology and innovation.

4New influencers are vital

to find new solutionsEntrepreneurs, intrapreneurs,

micropreneurs, impact investors, tech experts, bold explorers and new thought leaders will

have a voice at OIW.

7It’s a dugnad

We, the attendees, keynotes, partners and event organizers – create

Oslo Innovation Week together. Networking and co-working are

at the core of all events.

2Actions speak

louder than wordsOIW is all about innovation in

action, no motivational talks or boring debates about what we,

or  someone else should be doing. No sales presentations either.

5Gender equality and

diversity is a complete no-brainer

OIW has within its DNA a burning desire to achieve this, and empower

all people.

8Truly international

It takes place in Oslo, only to bring the world forward. All event

organizers co-operate with international partners.

3Powercouples drive

the future of innovationThe future lies in bridging differences.

Between stablished businesses and the newcomers. Between public and private, academia and business.

Across borders, disciplines and titles. A powercouple consists of

great minds of different disciplines, complementing each other in solving the world’s challenges.

All OIW events are powercouples.

6Technology is an enabler,

not the answer itself

9With a shared sense

of urgencySustainable development goals

need business solutions. It is far too important to count on politicians or

NGOs to solve things alone.

The OIW manifesto

All events at Oslo Innovation Week 2017 had to address or highlight a business solution that solves a global challenge, connected to the SDGs. To better understand what Oslo Innovation Week is, we developed The OIW

Manifesto – a guide to event organizers, speakers, journalists, sponsors and everyone involved. This is part of a longer strategic development.

Urban Peace Week 2017

The Nobel Peace Prize

This project was handled directly by project manager Anne Lene Hompland at Urban Peace Week.

VisitOSLO was involved at a late stage for suggestions and booking of a guided tour for some of the speakers, as requested by Anne Lene Hompland.

As VisitOSLO was not directly involved in the event, we do not have any reports on record regarding media coverage.

With regards to the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, the VisitOSLO media team sought to reach to a younger international audience that might not necessarily have heard of the prestigious event before.

The goal was to present the Nobel Peace event as an important and integral part of a city that lives and breathes events, be them cultural, musical, artistic and more. With that in mind we invited a group of international bloggers, influencers and Instagrammers with considerable following and a focus on urban lifestyle to cover the event, as well as to experience everything else that Oslo has to offer on a cold December weekend.

The visit generated 9 digital press results (articles and blogs) in addition to social media activity during and after the visit.

Oslo Freedom Forum

VisitOSLO’s media team assisted International media by hosting an information desk at the venue.

Our media team coordinated a visit of the Oslo fjord (boat trip) and a city sightseeing for some of the journalists invited by Oslo Freedom Forum to the event.

Although no press results were directly received, we refer to the official report provided by Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF). Hereby example regarding International press coverage:

• The Economist sent a film crew from London and captured eight segments that will be rolling out on their platform over the next eight months. They also sent a print correspondent who wrote two articles about the conference, including a feature on our speakers.

• The world’s largest online television show, The Young Turks, sent a crew of six and filmed more than 20 unique segments and interviews, including a full hour-long show. Their OFF content has been viewed more than 1.6 million times. They live-streamed the press conference, theater sessions, and a range of interviews, giving us more than 400,000 viewers.

• The New York Times sent its U.N. bureau chief from New York. She met the Saudi activist Manal al-Sharif in Oslo, and made her the Saturday profile on June 5. The article had an Oslo dateline, was on page A5 of the print edition, and called the forum a “turning point” in Manal’s career.

In sum, the 2017 Oslo Freedom Forum created more than 325 unique media stories.

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Every August, the Øya Music Festival takes place in Oslo’s east end. During four days, 60 000 people flock to a large city park to enjoy a mix of big international names and up-and-coming artists.

For the 2017 festival, Oslo Brand Alliance, Innovation Norway and ad agency Anorak developed and launched the campaign « Guided by Fans».

Through social media, we recruited fans of 10 of the booked artists and bands, and asked them to offer their best tips for the artists’ stay in Oslo. Knowing both the city and their favourite performers well, they should be perfectly equipped for this task. More than one thousand tips were entered – a bit too few to get overly excited, but enough to move on with the project.

The tips were used to produce 10 personalized Oslo guide books, one for each of the selected artists. There was no planned media strategy apart from the hope that the artists would use the guide books to experience Oslo and share what they did with their international fans.

And – it worked. Here is a short film about the campaign and its results: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsr4BUT4yhg

The artists and their management loved the idea, and by promoting the city, the festival gained new attention. And the other way around. This is truly what it’s all about: Use  innovating marketing ideas to attract interest for the city.

Is it on brand?Yes. The Brand Filter was used as a guidance tool. The campaign was aimed at and developed by young people. It was performed in English. And it was considered inventive enough to win the Gullkorn communications award for innovation.

Guided by fans

A case for (and by) music fans – The Øya Festival

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Table tales from the Oslo region

Meet some of the region’s finest culinary artists.

The Oslo region’s booming food scene is born from a rare closeness between urban life and nature.

The energy and diversity of the region’s cities inspire excellence and innovation in cooking. With farmlands, forests and the fjord nearby, even the most urban of restaurants have access to fresh ingredients that have traveled a few hours – at most. The result is modern food with a quality and distinctive touch that attracts foodies from all over the world.

Who better to present this unique food scene than the people who have created it? Join us on a journey where some of the Oslo region’s foremost culinary artists talk about their passion for food and for the places where they live and work.

524 000views in total

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International press clips

Editorial coverage is the most valuable marketing we can get. Here are some examples from 2017.

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Setting a new standard internationally The Oslo model – with the brand filter – is getting attention internationally amongst place branding specialists. Oslo Brand Alliance has participated in several panels discussing

place branding, we held a numbers of lectures about the strategy, the toolbox, and the model.

In 2017 we experienced an increase in requests for sharing knowlegde about our method.

As the technology revolution hits traditional Norwegian industries and corporations, they turn to the startup hubs to keep up. This constitutes one of the most promising developments in the City of Oslo over the last four years. A partnership between startup hubs and corporates, as the StartupLab corporate program, has shown to be a winning

formula for future business development. Startups get access to experienced and professional resources and customers, and corporates get access to new ideas and disruptive technologies difficult to foster inside organizational boarders. Yet, it is still a big job to be done to mature this field and of high priority for the future of Oslo Business Region.

Brand Meetings

All 3 organizations in the Oslo Brand Alliance attends meetings and workshops in the region, both public and private, to inspire and build knowledge about the Oslo brand.

Regional Business Development

A turn to entrepreneurship, powercouples and sustainABILITY.

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Oslo: State of the CityCities all over the world are competing for talent, visitors, investors and attention. How is Oslo doing, in this highly competitive and global game?

This report is the 3rd edition of the ‘ outside-in’ State of the City review of Oslo in international indexes. It evaluates Oslo’s performance across every international index, benchmark, ranking and comparative measure in which the City of Oslo appears. From a database of more than 270 indexes and 10,000 data points, the report assesses Oslo’s current performance and international reputation in 16 thematic areas within four overarching themes: Business, Liveability, Hospitality, and Governance.

The Business of Cities Group in London, headed by Professor Greg Clark, is responsible for the analysis.

2017 results in shortThe City of Oslo is improving its position and visibility despite the depth of competition. We are becoming an internationally important

location for entrepreneurship and innovation, but we have to accelerate the storytelling. Oslo is 4th of 50 global cities for climate change leadership, and Oslo’s social and environmental model is a big advantage. Hospitality is the area that has improved most since this 2015, but there is room to keep improving. Oslo is now performing more strongly in indexes that reflect perceptions of urban lifestyle, aesthetics and the natural environment. Familiarity with some of its vibrant neighborhoods are driving this increased visibility which means Oslo is included in more rankings of ‘cool’, ‘ exciting’, and ‘high quality’ cities. The perception gap regarding Oslo’s cultural offerings is vital to fill for the next coming years.

You can read the full report herewww.oslobusinessregion.no/oslo-state-city-2017/

Business-friendliness

Productivity

Innovation

Competencies and knowledge

Leisure andrecreation

Personal safety

Sustainabilityand resilience

Work-life balance

Attractivenessto visitors

Attractiveness to talent

Friendliness

Welcoming to foreigners

Social stability

Quality and integrity

Transparency and reliability

Influence and status

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1

2

3

4

5

6

7

9

10

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Oslo: State of the City

Oslo: Maximising the Peace Dividend

A review of global good practices in Peace Cities.

In the 1990s and 2000s, the City of Oslo was nearly alone as the city associated with peace and reconciliation. Oslo’s hosting of the Nobel Peace Prize and then its role as a mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process estab-lished the city in global minds as a beacon of diplomacy, stability and fairness. But the City of Oslo no longer has a near monopoly of city brand association with peace. In the last decade other cities around the world have also sought to establish their credentials for peace, justice and human rights.

Today, at least 10 cities have developed brand identities of different kinds oriented around peace, and this year’s analysis took a deeper look into the emergence of these peace cities. It is based on a review of global practices of other established or aspiring Peace Cities, including Auckland, Bogota, Geneva, The Hague, Louisville (USA), Nairobi and Vienna.

Many other cities not studied for this paper are also trying to develop a ‘city of peace’ desig-nation. In addition to the seven cities high-lighted in the report these also include: New

York, Amsterdam, Miami, Mexico City, Bradford, Belfast, Tel Aviv, Istanbul, Havana, Cape Town, Singapore, Atlanta and Kyoto.

The stark reality is that Oslo’s unique position-ing is no longer unique. Although it retains a highly distinctive peace identity, other cities and active practitioners in this space frequently observe other cities to be more innovative in this area. The risk is that Oslo loses this area of unique differentiation and the associated opportunities it brings.

New ways to bring more people into contact with Oslo’s peace dimension may be neces-sary. The risk of competition to host the Nobel Peace Prize may be low, but the risk of a new set of awards or prizes gaining higher global profile is real, especially given the new kinds of conflicts and agendas that will arise as a result of climate change and geopolitical shifts. Oslo should develop a plan for how to respond to the likely disruptions, and the potential emergence of a new set of cities who become associated as vanguards of peace, justice and sustainable co-existence.

Amsterdam

Zurich

Copenhagen

Helsinki

Stockholm

BristolHamburg

Madrid

Barcelona

Munich

Prague

LisbonCologn e

Manchester

Vienna

Brussels

Gothenburg

Rotterdam

Warsaw

Glasgow

Milan

Istanbul

Lyon

Frankfurt

Marseille Rome

Stuttgart

OSLO

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London

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Amsterdam

Zurich

Copenhagen

Helsinki

Stockholm

BristolHamburg

Madrid

Barcelona

Munich

Prague

LisbonCologn e

Manchester

Vienna

Brussels

Gothenburg

Rotterdam

Warsaw

Glasgow

Milan

Istanbul

Lyon

Frankfurt

Marseille Rome

Stuttgart

OSLO

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Menon publication no. 28/2017

The leading maritime capitals of the world 2017

In April, the third edition of «The Leading Maritime Capitals» report was launched at Sea Asia in Singapore. Singapore is again rated as the leading maritime capital of the world, followed by Hamburg and the City of Oslo.

The purpose of this biennial report is to identify the most attractive maritime city regions in the world. The Menon Report is a widely- accepted study of the world’s 30 leading maritime capitals around the world, by looking at 24 objective indicators and garnering survey responses from more than 250 industry experts across all continents.

OBA partnered with Menon this year, to find out more about the position and outlook for the City of Oslo within maritime tech and innovation.

Singapore is ranked as the world’s leading maritime technology center by the experts asked, followed by Oslo. Oslo is also regarded as the second most innovative and entrepreneurial maritime city.

“The world isn’t standing still, and shipping can’t afford to. There’s no doubt that digital technology will be at the heart of the next generation of shipping solutions. Here the Nordic countries have taken a clear lead”

Birgit Liodden, Director Nor-Shipping

The City of Oslo is gaining recognition as an internationally significant innovation location. It featured as one of the 25 top start up hubs in the world, primarily thanks to its high digital technology adoption rates, expanding sense of entrepreneurialism, ease of doing business and its approach to work-life balance.

When compared to population size, the Oslo region emerges as one of the top 10 most innovation-intense regions in Europe, ahead of highly regarded innovation economies such as Barcelona, Paris, Munich and Lisbon.

The drivers of Oslo’s innovationeco-system growthThe City of Oslo’s innovation system is clearly

underpinned by its strengths in banking/ fintech, medtech, design and creative industries. In international indexes, it is apparent that demand for innovation in Oslo is also partly fuelled by its increasing visibility as a smart city. Oslo was found to be in the global top 5 of Smart Cities – just behind Barcelona and San Francisco among its peers. Among 40 metrics related to technology, transport, energy, open data and economy, the City of Oslo’s strengths in smart infrastructure and energy helped push it towards the top.

High quality tech infrastructure and access to data are important factors that incentivise startups to base themselves in the City of Oslo.

Oslo: State of the City

Innovation performance and global perception

The City of Oslo has a fast-maturing eco-system for innovation, home not just to anchor firms and investors but to hundreds of startups, more than 50 incubators and accelerators, as well as nearly 30 recognised co-working spaces.

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Social media and web in numbers

Digital FootprintBeing a digital pioneer when creating Oslo buzz, we also monitor our digital footprint. Our goal is to increase this

footprint by 20% each year.

45 661Actions by own followers

(likes, comments, clicks, etc.on our social media content)

Exposure of own content(real reach for FB and Instagram

and impressions for Twitter)

1 383 205Oslo content

produced by others (in social media)

13 790

By digital footprint, we mean everything that is being said (and seen) about Oslo that’s related tobusiness, innovation and startups, students and research in all digital channels we monitor.

The Oslo ReachThe digital reach

(social media + press) of all projects measured by OBR.

Total media articles

about the Oslo startup ecosystem

visitoslo.com

95million in 2017

stories in 2017

931

international reach

608 950 797

national reach

27 193 635

0

500.000

1.000.000

1.500.000

2.000.000

2.500.000

3.000.000

SpainUSAUKGermanyNorway

140million views generated

155 000 link clicks

VIEWS – VISITOSLO.COM IN 2017

DIGITAL ADVERTISING

SOCIAL MEDIA

BUZZFEED USA

VIDEO

WEB ARTICLES

million views generated 3 million reactions(likes, comments)

12.2million views, of pictures

and videos, generated 74 000 reactions

(likes, comments)

7.8

million views

6.2million views generated

164 000 clicks

153

60

USAViceCondé Nast TravelerUSA Today Green BuildingDesign MagazineTeen Vogue

ItalyVogue ItaliaIo Donna

UKThe IndependentLonely PlanetCondé Nast TravellerCulture Trip

FinlandHelsingin Sanomat

SwedenTV4

GermanyDie ZeitEdisonFemtastics Herz & Blut

SpainEl MundoEl PaísLa VanguardiaElle

FranceLe Figaro

RussiaKinopoisk

Press and influencers

VisitOSLO’s media team assisted and collaborated with 608 media representatives including journalists,

bloggers and influencers.

Some of the most important media that visited Oslo in 2017 and received a ssistance or collaborated directly with VisitOSLO include:

You will find a comprehensive list of the most important press results on the Oslo in the Media page on www.visitoslo.com

581individual media were involved, including traditional and online

newspapers, blogs, TV and radio channels, Instagrammers

and photographers

1. USA2. UK3. SPAIN

the 3 most represented countries

644press results were received

(print, online articles, blog posts, videos)

NB: Instagram stories, Facebook posts and other social media posts are not included here

The US connection• We had meetings with the city of Austin as well as key

players in the US at South by Southwest 2017.• Casey Smith from the city of Austin attended Oslo

Innovation Week and had meetings with relevant actors by invitation from Oslo Business Region.

• Oslo Business Region and the city of Oslo participated in a webinar during Global Entrepreneurship Week that broadcasted to startups from Austin.

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Accounting /Regnskap Oslo Brand Alliance 2017

INNTEKTER BUDSJETT REGNSKAP

Bidrag fra Osloregionen 6 613 424 6 613 424

Bidrag fra Oslo kommune 2 000 000 2 000 000

Sopra Steria – Vibbio 15 000

Totalt inntekter 8 613 424 8 628 424

UTGIFTER

Kunnskapsbank, mål og måleverktøy 1 000 000 1 819 533

Verktøykasse – Oslo Brand Box 1 900 000 1 440 017

Arena for involvering og deling 300 000 151 551

Strategiske markedsføringsprosjekter 5 413 424 5 815 964

Totalt utgifter 8 613 424 9 227 065

Resultat - 598 641

1. Underskudd dekkes av Oslo Business Region

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EditorOslo Brand Alliance

LayoutElisabeth Høisveen

Photo creditsP. 02 OSL/Nordic Office of Architecture

P. 04 Oslo Brand Alliance, Ronny BugteneP. 05 VisitOslo, Thomas Johannessen

P. 06 VisitOslo, Tord BaklundP. 09 Oslo Region Alliance, Ystad SvorteP. 10 Oslo Region Alliance, Ystad Svorte

P. 12 VisitOslo, Thomas JohannessenP. 15 VisitOslo, Thomas JohannessenP. 16 VisitOslo, Thomas Johannessen

P. 18 VisitOslo, Frode SandbechP. 24 AHO, Geir Dokken

P. 36 gb&d magazine, Kristin von HirschP. 37 gb&d magazine, Kristin von Hirsch

P. 50 OBR, Gorm K. Gaare EUP-BerlinP. 52 OBR, Thomas Èkström

P. 62 Oslo Region AllianceP. 62 Kuben, Anette Larsen

P. 64 VisitOslo, Thomas Johannessen