Oslo Turns to Scandinavia's Capital Brand Builder

Oslo has asked Julian Stubbs, the man behind the branding of Stockholm as The Capital of Scandinavia, to look at their own city branding. The assignment comes from Oslo Metropolitan Area.

Stubbs was in Oslo for two days earlier this week on a pre-project 'deep dive' getting to know the city and meeting some of its key people and organisations. The project has attracted huge media interest in Norway, with both newspapers and commercial and national radio covering the story. Aften, the evening newspaper ran the story on it's front page, as well as devoting a further spread to the story, as well as inviting readers to contribute their own input on the branding of the city. 

During his visit Stubbs met with the governing mayor for lunch at city hall as well meeting many of the key organisations in Oslo. He was also shown around some of the cities landmark architectural and urban renewal projects, such as the barcode area. 

Julian Stubbs said 'Oslo is a fascinating city with very much its own pulse. It's a place going through rapid change and is now examining its identity. Like all places it needs to find its own positioning and that is what we've been asked to look at. It's not about slogans - it's about developing a long term strategy and process that builds a strong positioning.' Stubbs continued 'We're obviously delighted to be asked to be involved in this project. I think the media coverage shows the strength of the interest locally.'

Stubbs, who is English, is an international brand strategist and apart from his branding work for Stockholm and other destinations, he has worked with brand and identity projects for clients such as Technicolor, the Hollywood movie company, and the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, which is held annually every December in Oslo. His book, published in 2011, on destination branding called Wish You Were Here examines the issues in building a strong place brand and focuses on his work in developing the Stockholm brand. 

Stubbs is also one of the founders of *UP There, Everywhere, a global brand and communications consulting group with 130 people.