London faces revamp to attract overseas funds
London mayor Ken Livingstone is being asked to support an initiative to rebrand London as the “World City” in a bid by three business organisations to help attract overseas investment to the capital.
The London Tourist Board & Convention Bureau (LTB), inward investment agency London First Centre (LFC) and the London Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) have produced a report outlining how they would like the London Mayor to contribute to a new campaign to promote London overseas.
The LTB and the LFC have previously branded London as the “Millennium City”, but the three-party group says this is coming to an end, so it is planning a new integrated marketing campaign to rebrand the capital to the overseas market.
The group aims to have a budget that will enable it to appoint an advertising agency. LFC has previously used Grey Advertising.
Robert Gordon Clark, the managing director of the London Communications Agency and author of the report, says: “Whether we appoint an agency depends on what marketing resources we get. But we are aiming to have London rebranded by the end of the Livingstone’s first term in office which is 2004.”
The group is also asking Livingstone to agree to meet some future investors interested in investing in London and to fund a new marketing suite which will be used as a contact point for major overseas tour operators and potential overseas investors.
