Improve perceptions of the culture
Build on life quality
Enhance business attractiveness
Building the Oslo brand is key to growing a resilient and more sustainable economy for the region and Norway as a whole. The brand represents our shared values and identity. It helps our businesses and organizations attract and retain investment, cultivate a skilled workforce and stimulate the visitor economy. All these are vital for generating value now and over the long term. This guide is designed to help individuals and organizations integrate the Oslo brand into projects and initiatives for the common good.
Building the Oslo brand is key to building a resilient and more sustainable economy for the region and Norway as a whole. The brand represents our shared values and identity. It helps our businesses and organizations attract and retain investment, cultivate a skilled workforce and stimulate tourism. All these are vital for generating value now and over the long term.
Foto: Ystad Svorte
The window of opportunity to strengthen Oslo’s brand and reputation is now. The Covid-19 pandemic will have a lasting impact on people and organizations, as employees around the world reassess where and how they would like to work once restrictions on mobility are lifted. Building a sustainable economy will depend on the ability of cities to compete to attract and retain top talent.
In recent years, Oslo has been topping the charts in resilience, happiness, gender equality and other global rankings. These attributes give the region a considerable advantage in an increasingly competitive market. From a place brand perspective, there is no better time to leverage the region’s current economic, demographic and political momentum to align our narrative and strengthen our international position.
Foto: Osloregionen
growth in the municipality in the last 20 years
of Norway’s population in the Oslo Region
of the Norwegian travel industry economy
industry clusters and startup hubs the Oslo Region
companies in the Oslo Region, mostly SMBs
invested in Norwegian growth companies in 2020
Compared to our Scandinavian neighbors, Oslo is lagging behind. In 2019, Sweden attracted 6 times more venture capital and now has 5 times as many growth companies as Norway.
Copenhagen consistently ranks in the top 3 for global talent attraction rankings and has been developing its talent attraction strategy for over a decade.
As Norway steps up its transition from an oil economy to diversified, green industries, Oslo’s role as an engine for the country’s economy continues to grow. The Nordic capital has grown 34 percent in the last 20 years, representing 41 percent of the country’s population.
The visitor economy in the region represented more than USD 4.5 billion annually in terms of economic output pre-Covid 19, accounting for more than 40 percent of the Norwegian travel industry in economic terms.
The startup ecosystem is quickly gaining traction and now has over 80 industry clusters and incubators, particularly strong in sectors such as renewable energy, fintech, health tech and ocean tech.
Most of the 265,598 companies in Greater Oslo, including Viken and Innlandet counties, are SMBs (SSB 2020). This presents a challenge for the region to generate more cornerstone businesses faster. Many of these companies depend on high growth and investments.
In 2020, a total of $41 billion was invested into European startups according to the 2020 State of European Tech report. Norway saw a total of $859 million invested into high growth startups, increasing from $271M in 2019 (Kjetil Holmefjord, StartupLab). Although Norway has doubled investments and the number of rounds from 130 to 231, we still have a long way to go. The largest tech hubs in Europe in terms of capital investment are London, Paris and Stockholm. Oslo is not even in the top 20 (2020 State of European Tech). There clearly is a need to increase Oslo’s visibility to stimulate more investment in Norwegian startups.
Source: dealroom.co
All Dealroom.co data excludes the following: biotech, secondary transactions, debt, lending capital, and grants. Please also note that the data excludes Israel. 2020 is annualized based on data up to September 2020.
Foto: Gorm K. Gaare
As Oslo’s population grows, the metropolitan area is becoming more dynamic, integrated and internationally interdependent.
In recent years, Oslo has been topping the charts in resilience, happiness, gender equality and other global rankings. These attributes give the region a considerable advantage in an increasingly competitive market. From a place brand perspective, there is no better time to leverage the region’s current economic, demographic and political momentum to align our narrative and strengthen our international position.
The vision for Oslo is a genuine view of the future we want to create, share with others and invite everyone to be a part of.
Place brand management acknowledges that the place itself is the brand. Just like commercial brands, places carry meanings. People identify with places emotionally and rationally; they feel a sense of belonging, attraction, and a desire to come and to stay. In this sense, it is the place itself which is the brand, not a logo or a visual identity.
Internationally, the region is branded as “Oslo” and represents all the local cities and counties. This has the power to bring visitors, customers and investors to Oslo, the surrounding region and to Norway more widely, enriching the entire country.
The strategy is based on a bottom-up model where everyone is a stakeholder and has a direct impact on how the strategy is carried out. The strategy cannot be implemented by Oslo Region Alliance, VisitOSLO and Oslo Business Region alone.
An attractive place is the core of a brand. Promotional campaigns cannot alter how a place operates and is experienced, but they can tell our stories, convey our uniqueness and garner recognition for how we lead and contribute.
To enhance the reputation of Oslo, we need to enhance both perception and reality. The brand strategy is a tool for evaluating all our actions, not just promotional activities. Our brand filter guides the brand values and positioning of Oslo which all products, services, promotions, and experiences should reflect.
Foto: VisitOSLO / Thomas Johannessen
Oslo is a green, compact capital with a range of cultural and entrepreneurial resources within easy reach. Professionals, students and families benefit from a high quality of life – built on a well-functioning society, a collaborative culture, flat hierarchy, short commutes, good public transportation, easy access to nature, and a social welfare system that prioritizes the health and well-being of all residents.
The pandemic has led many cities to rethink design as people keep to their local area. There is increasing interest in testing hyper-local models such as the “15-minute city,” based on the idea that a neighborhood isn’t just about buildings but also social networks. For most people, daily needs are met within a short walk, cycle ride or public transport commute away. Oslo is natural example of this, particularly in recent years as it has transformed into an inviting and compact “Fjord City” with landmark architecture, restaurants and public spaces along the waterfront and all within walking distance from the city center.
Our primary objective is to make Oslo the world’s favorite compact city. Oslo is small enough to give people and organizations visibility, and resourceful enough to be a pioneering springboard for ideas, growth, and enrichment.
Increase visibility through digital marketing
Strengthen global perceptions of Oslo
Improve hospitality and integration
Attract visitors, customers, partners, and investors
Attract and retain highly skilled talent
Professionalize communication
Strengthen local pride and ownership
With our eye on the goal, it is important to recognize and continually monitor what we have achieved and what we want to achieve. Our Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the pillars of our brand. How visible are we? How many and which stakeholders are involved in what projects? And to what extent do our target groups associate us with our key values: pioneering, enriching and real? KPIs help us maintain a balanced scorecard of relevant attributes such as emotional connection, financial performance and sustainability.
More about KPIsPlace marketing is a demand-driven way of managing places that aims to influence behavior and choice. It is an outside-in approach through which the offerings of the place are adjusted to appeal to selected market segments.
Place branding is an identity-driven way of managing places that aims to influence perception and reputation. It is an inside-out approach that shapes the image that the place expresses by on-brand behavior and storytelling.
Foto: Tord Sollie
We have three shared KPIs to measure status and progress toward objectives.
On-brand actions and activities
Numbers of partners using the strategy in their work.
Number of actions and their impact can be measured by audience and audience reception/acceptance.
More on-brand attention in relevant media, campaigns and social media
Coverage of on-brand features of Oslo and/or companies or people based here in international media that reaches our key audiences via Meltwater.
Interactions on social media campaigns.
Improved positive perception of Oslo among our target groups
How many people search for Oslo and the Oslo Region on Google, using Google Trends to survey visitors and expats?
Our performance is measured through individual and shared market intelligence. Benchmarks such as "Oslo State of the City" are used for comprehensive, overall measurement.
Foto: Oliver Cole
We are all Oslo ambassadors and co-creators of the Oslo brand.
Let's enable and encourage all citizens to share Oslo with the world.
These guidelines provide a framework that enables us to individually and collectively build Oslo’s brand over the long term. They are designed for small, medium and large organizations – across public and private sectors.
We are small, so regional collaboration is essential. Building the brand of a city or region is a long-term process, made up of many smaller wins along the way. If all municipalities, universities and organizations align on how to communicate the message, we will strengthen our position.
To help you in your work toward our shared objectives, we have developed The Oslo Brand Filter, a guide outlining 6 key strategies and a checklist for implementation.
The Oslo Brand Filter includes a set of values: Pioneering, Enriching and Real, as defined by 1,000 stakeholders through a comprehensive process in 2015. These values should be at the core of every brand strategy.
(Ekte)
(Banebrytende)
(Berikende)
There are six key strategies to keep in mind when launching new projects and events to ensure that they are on-brand and contribute to building Oslo region’s brand as the world’s favorite compact city.
Leverage digital platforms and channels.
A young target group, inculding those young at heart and open-minded, engaged voices.
You heard and experienced it here first.
Actions speak louder than words and have a bigger viral potential than marketing alone. Improving the city through actions is the best way to achieve recognition.
Being lean in the way we work with the brand management of Oslo is essential. We engage in smaller activities toward the goal rather than rushing it all at once.
We will identify and leverage existing assets in the brand management of Oslo.
Foto: Ynge Windsland
Our values guide how we perform, deliver and communicate Oslo. Digital media and face-to-face communication should be at the core of all brand promotions.
Ably Medical / Norway Health Tech
BioMe / Norway Health Tech
Oslo Innovation Week
Foto: Tom Øverlie / NRK P3
Foto: Mathias Ertnaes / Øyafestivalen
Foto: Andreas Dress
Foto: Ystad Svorte
Design: Metric
