by Jo Gumb, Director, White Label Creative
With the power of storytelling, leaders can build communities and inspire people to take action. Steve Jobs tells us that a story’s power is to ‘set the vision, values and agenda of an entire generation’.
A ‘place narrative’ is simply the story of a place. Any village, city or country will have one or several narratives associated with its past, present and future, which together create its unique identity.
And stories are what people relate to when they build relationships – they pull at the heart and mind, creating trust through understanding mutual values and experiences.
Stories can range from grassroots impressions of a place, built-up by word-of-mouth, to more strategic stories that seek to portray a specific image of an area and can be shared and repeated by varying numbers of people. These combine to create a cohesive narrative which can be adopted by a place and used to develop a brand identity.
At White Label, we specialise in creating and developing the identities of places, with a team who are passionate about promoting economic growth. We use stories to create and develop the identities of places which can be used at a strategy level to develop collaboration, encourage investment and help places to grow.
How to create a Place Narrative?
When we begin work in a new place we aim to really get under its skin. We will meet with a wide range of stakeholders, research online, speak to local residents and businesses and look back throughout its history at the moments in time that have made it what it is today.
In our work, we also must be mindful of the story we are looking to tell – the unique sell of the place. For example, if we are looking to attract investment to an area, we need its place narrative to focus on the elements of the place that will help drive its future success, such as connectivity or cultural assets.
We always look to work with as many people from the ‘place’ as possible when creating a marketing narrative. This ensures it is authentic and embraced by current residents and occupiers.
Narratives that are agreed locally require the buy-in and agreement of a range of local partners. They allow all parties to consider the most positive story about local opportunities and challenges.
Once agreed, a place narrative allows partners to speak consistently about the challenges and opportunities of an area which enables outsiders – potential investors, individuals or businesses who might be interested in moving to the area – to understand what is happening locally and how they might benefit.
What makes a good Place Narrative?
There are several principles for good place narratives:
• ‘Make it real’: A narrative should be a realistic assessment of what your place is and where it can go. Your underlying supporting evidence needs to be robust and consistent if you want to build trust and convince potential investors to believe in your place.
• ‘One size DOESN’T fit all’: You cannot make up a narrative on the fly – it’s not enough to come up with things to fit funding opportunities, or move some inspirational words around on a page. It needs to reflect the genuine reality of your place – its distinctive identity, embedded in and grounded in evidence.
• ‘Think long term’: Short term narratives are ineffective. The challenge of narrative development is creating a long-term story about a place that is honest and looks beyond immediate concerns – be they political, environmental or commercial – to create a story which is relevant not just in the immediate context, but which continues to grow and develop with a place because it is embedded in the communities it represents.
• Promote ownership: A narrative must be owned by a large number of people, such that its core feels authentic and develops its own power to build relationships with trust as its owners share and convince new players to join the story.
• Stories don’t respect boundaries: Local narratives exist within broader regional, country and continental narratives. Economies are more porous than we think, and places are not limited to their administrative boundaries. Narratives should go beyond borders when thinking creatively about future opportunities.
Some examples of Place Narratives:
Croydon: Croydon has been developing and framing a place narrative for many years and we’d like to take some credit for this as part of our work with Develop Croydon (Croydon’s inward investment marketing brand and our community interest company) although there is a wider, patriotic, energy in Croydon’s community that helps drive its profile forward. It is also lucky enough to have several key stakeholders and members of the community that believe in its future.
To find out more about how Croydon rose Phoenix-like from the ashes of the 2011 riots to become one of the country’s regeneration ‘hotspots’ go here.
Capital West London: White Label have been working with the West London Alliance since 2018 on a cross-borough approach to promoting their seven boroughs to a global audience as an international opportunity for trade, business location and inward investment.
Find out more here.
My Moray: White Label have been retained since 2021 to support the marketing, PR and communications for Moray Economic Partnership (MEP), promoting Moray as an area to live, work and invest. A core focus of our work with the MEP has been communications around the Moray Growth Deal, a regional deal worth £100m designed to boost economic growth across the region.
Find out more here.
Opportunity Mid Sussex: Since March 2020, White Label has worked with Mid Sussex District Council (MSDC) to establish the district as a Place of Opportunity, produce a brand, key messages, style guide and place positioning narrative for the region.
Find out more here.
Are you working for a town, city or UK sub-region that is looking to develop a place narrative? White Label can help, contact jgumb@wlcreative.org.uk
