Title: Cultural Entrepreneurship Conference
Location: Pori, Finland
Website: http://ow.ly/bgiN0
Description: The conference theme, Networked Cultural Heritage and its ‘Impact’ on Place Brands – Global Perspectives on Capturing Value through Entrepreneurial Partnerships, brings out the role that new patterns of activities, relationships and new forms of networking between regions in tandem with cultural production can play in enhancing regional and national competitiveness.
Dates: 10 & 11 December 2012

We, the re.media team, accepted the challenge, and were involved in the concept and production of such a movie, which debuted last week at conference in Beijing about financial security (www.iosco.org). We are delighted to share some of our thoughts on the process.

The brief

In this case the brief was really straightforward:
The video should promote Luxembourg as a conference destination, and a tourist attraction. It must also weave in the business side of Luxembourg, as is related to the conference. It is an emotional video, designed to peak peoples’ curiosity to discover this country. After watching this video, the audience should want to come to Luxembourg for this conference. Potential attendees will have spouses to whom they will want to show the video, and motivate to come. The event organisers will want to show this video to the industry, to establish Luxembourg as a serious world player in the Securities Commissions space.

The background

Our first task was to get an overview of what has already been done and on how we could achieve something better, providing more value for the country through the video.

First of all, we benchmarked by doing extensive internet research gathering videos from different countries and photo references of Luxembourg. In regards to the videos, we were very disappointed on what has been done, as most of the videos are of very poor quality and mostly consists of TV-style reports with bad music, and a voice over, mostly put up to poorly edited (and old) images.

The execution

So the starting point was to do something better!

With a background in filmmaking and motion design, our goal was to have the best-looking movie whilst staying on track budget-wise. We then gathered references (example: http://vimeo.com/2663191) to have a clear idea of where we were going, and it was clear for us that we wanted to go for a more “filmic” look than the traditional “TV report, tourist info clip.”

The idea of having very close-up shots with shallow depth of field (to give this artistic look), mixed with larger shots (helping to define the scenes) was something we thought about straight from the beginning. These techniques give the whole film a more cinematic look and give “impressions of Luxembourg” in comparison to most films that feature a voiceover with very detailed explanations that are quite boring after 2-3 minutes.

The production

In regards to production, the film was shot on a Canon 5D, which was good for us as the use of a DSLR camera for shooting helps integrate the filmic look as did the grading (colour correction), and the addition of light leaks on the edgy title design. We still kept in mind that we wanted to get a glimpse of what modern Luxembourg actually looks like, mixing images of nature, city, architecture and hotels/restaurants.

Next steps

So in the end, we didn’t have the possibility to explore the whole concept and link it to global nation branding, but this is certainly a starting point to think differently about how a successful branding video could be done, more specifically, letting go of the everlasting stereotypes most countries have to deal with and look into the future, story wise as well as image wise. Here is the finished product:

After finishing up his degree in 3D animation at Supinfocom / Valenciennes, Steve Gerges worked in animation for a few years. Then in 2005, while working in 3D architectural visualisation, he setup the agency re.media with an associate in Luxembourg who specialises in audiovisual production (advertising, corporate films, video, 2D and 3D motion design). Today, there are four full-timers (plus freelancers), and they work for such clients as Dupont de Nemours, Deloitte, BNP and Deutsche Kreditetbank).

Credits

Agency: Kneip Communications
Client: Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier
Production: Remedia.lu / Xavier Parduyns
Production Assistant: Adrien Baudouin
Director: Pol Arlé
Camera: Thibaut Charlut, Maxime Hickenbick, Maxime Percepied, Pol Arlé
Motion Design: Steve Gerges

Buford, Wyoming. The USA’s smallest town, population 1, was sold last month for $900,000 during an auction. Once home to about 2,000 residents in the 1800s, the town slowly dissipated as the trains ceased to stop at the Buford railway network. Today the land includes a U.S. zip code, a historic school building, a three-bedroom home and the town’s only source of revenue, a gas station and convenience store called the Buford Trading Post.

The auction attracted many international buyers, eager to have their part of the “American dream.” The winning bidder is from Saigon, Vietnam who made the long trip to Buford for the auction. Have a look at this video to learn more:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Courbefy, France.  A ghost town since 2008, the small village of Courbefy, located near Limoges was auctioned off on Monday for the sum of 520,000 €, the price of a medium-sized apartment in Paris. According to The Telegraph, “locals say it is mainly home to ‘thieves, drunks and squatters.’” Three bidders were present at the auction: a Belgian company that wished to turn the space into a center for the handicapped, Dutch company Endemol that wanted to organize a reality TV game show, and the winner, Korean artist and photographer Ahae who would like to preserve the village’s natural environment. Find out more in this TF1 News article (French only). Also see the winning bidder’s reaction as well as the locals in this French-language video:

Honduras. Economist Paul Romer came up with the idea of charter cities—economic zones founded on the land of poor countries but governed with the legal and political system of, often, rich ones.

Already 75% of the United States, Western Europe and other wealthy countries’ population resides in cities, and poorer countries are following suit. However, city life conditions can be desolate, although with higher wages, highlighting the importance of well-run cities.

So far, there haven’t been any takers for charter cities in Honduras, even Sweden and Britain declined, so Romer himself is hoping to build his own charter city. For more details on his plans, have a look at this New York Times article.

Other places for sale
There are plenty of other US towns for sale! Have a look at this ABC News article that lists 10 towns that are on the market.

Your thoughts
Is this your place branding dream come true? What would you do with your brand new city? Have you heard of any other places for sale? Please share in the comments!

(Photo: France-3-Limousin)

Finland has a mission, a mission to be the world’s problem solver by 2030. It started back in 2010, when a delegation was set up in conjunction with Demos Finland, the leading think tank in the country. The Country Brand Report Finland was released in November 2010, and now serves as a basis for improving the country’s image and competitiveness.

Finland encourages co-creation and citizen participation, stating (translated) “The Finnish country image is not limited to a closed group of experts, but rather it is a common concern for all people in Finland. Everyone can contribute to participate in the development of the image of Finland and the Finnish story to tell the world.”

For those fluent in Finnish, I suggest having a look at the maakuva.fi website. The site explains how various companies, organizations and individual Finns have implemented the data given in the report and provides examples of how Finns can do their bit to help to improve the image of Finland. Finns also have access to Finland’s image toolbox, with a number of presentations and messaging to ensure one-voice communication.

So, what problems has Finland solved? Have a look at this video about Finish water expertise – solving the problem of drinking water

The report “reflects a new worldwide demand for more attention to happiness and absence of misery as criteria for government policy,” the authors state.

Although the happiest countries tend to be wealthy, and the poorest tend to be least happy (on the bottom of the list: Togo, Benin, Central African Republic and Sierra Leone), the report indicates that happiness is not just about money. Bhutan got the idea down and introduced the Gross Happiness Index to demonstrate how happiness can be used as a sign of good governance, and of course, for place branding.

You can download the full World Happiness Report and have a look at some of the highlights:

Happier countries tend to be richer countries. But more important for happiness than income are social factors like the strength of social support, the absence of corruption and the degree of personal freedom.

Over time as living standards have risen, happiness has increased in some countries, but not in others (like for example, the United States). On average, the world has become a little happier in the last 30 years (by 0.14 times the standard deviation of happiness around the world).

Unemployment causes as much unhappiness as bereavement or separation. At work, job security and good relationships do more for job satisfaction than high pay and convenient hours.

Behaving well makes people happier.

Mental health is the biggest single factor affecting happiness in any country. Yet only a quarter of mentally ill people get treatment for their condition in advanced countries and fewer in poorer countries.

Stable family life and enduring marriages are important for the happiness of parents and children.

In advanced countries, women are happier than men, while the position in poorer countries is mixed.

Happiness is lowest in middle age.