News
August 2009
Global Brand Strategy, Sicco's seminal book on global branding, is now available in Chinese (People's Publishing House, Shanghai) and in Korean (Sigma Publishers, Seoul).
June 2009
Together with our partner Merkator, we have won the tender for the development of brand and marketing strategies for the city of Sittard-Geleen in the southern Netherlands. We are very happy and excited about this project and look forward to a fruitful cooperation with the city's key stakeholders.
May 2009
This month, Sicco has the following upcoming speaking engagements:
> On 12 May, a presentation on the Overhoeks Development for the Location Branding & Marketing workgroup in Amsterdam.
> On 13 May, a presentation on City Branding for the Zukunft Metropole Series in Vienna.
> On 14 May, a presentation on Place Branding in Recession for the Housing Promotion Society in Rotterdam.
> On 30 May, a presentation on the Overhoeks Development for the annual Reputation Institute Conference in Amsterdam.
April 2009
Placebrands has established a Spain and Latin America office in Barcelona. It will be led by Juan Carlos Belloso who has previously worked in strategy and brand consulting in Spain, the USA and across Latin America. We welcome Juan Carlos to the company and look forward to doing lots of work in Spain and Latin America.
The selection committee of the City of Almere has declared housing corporation Ymere as the winner of the contest for the development of Almere Hout Noord as a socially sustainable neighbourhood. We would like to congratulate Ymere on this wonderful result. Placebrands assisted the Ymere project team with the development of the vision and plans.
February 2009
Sicco will be speaking at the World Class Sustainable Cities Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 24 March 2009.
On 9 February, the housing corporation Ymere presented its vision and plans for the Almere Hout Noord development to an audience of some 350 people at the Almere city theatre. This presentation is part of a contest among housing corporations organised by the city government. The winner of the contest will be allowed to develop and manage Almere Hout Noord, an urban expansion area of some 100 hectares. Placebrands assisted the Ymere project team with the development of the vision and plans.
You can watch a video summary of the Brands with a Conscience Ceremony held in Paris on 5 February, as well as summaries of the acceptance speeches by award winners Chhatra Sagar, Ekomarine, One and Ragbag.
January 2009
Sicco is named among the top 10 most influential nation branding experts by nation-branding.info.
The Medinge Group, an international thinktank of branding experts, announce their Brands with a Conscience Awards 2009. This year's line-up consists of:
> Chhatra Sagar, an eco-resort in Rajasthan (India)
> Ekomarine, an environmentally responsible paint producer (Sweden)
> Kiva, a microfinance lending company (USA)
> One, who sell enlightened bottled water (UK)
> Ragbag, a fair-trade producer of fashion accessories from recyclable materials (the Netherlands)
> TOMS shoes, a company that freely distributes shoes in developing nations (USA)
The Colin Morley Award for a non-governmental organization is given to the American actor and philanthropist Paul Newman. The awards will be presented at a special ceremony in Paris on 5 February. Sicco will be there to deliver an introduction speech for his nominee, Ragbag.
October 2008
On 20 October, the former President and Brand Champion of Botswana, Festus Mogae, was awarded the prestigious Ibrahim Award for good governance. We believe this is a ringing endorsement of a country that has functioned as model for African development and we congratulate all Batswana on this momenteous occassion.
Sicco will be giving a lecture on Place Branding at the University of Utrecht's Faculty of Geosciences on 2 October.
On 7 October, a new Dutch-language book will be launched entitled Branding, edited by Andy Mosmans. Sicco contributed a chapter on Place Branding.
On 10 October Sicco will conduct a Masterclass on Place Branding for Area Development for the Netherlands Society of Real Estate Development Companies (NEPROM).
On that same day, he will be lecturing on City Branding to students of the Eindhoven Design Academy.
Sicco will participate in a expert session organised by the municipality of Ede for the development of Ede-Oost, one of the major urban transformation areas in the Netherlands.
He will also be speaking on City Branding at the Sporto 2008 Congress in Split, Croatia on 24 October.
On 30-31 October, Sicco will participate in a conference on Celebrity Diplomacy - Unconventional International Politics organised by the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael in The Hague.
September 2008
On 25 September, Sicco received the Brand Leadership Award at the Asia Brand Congress in recognition of his role in the development of the theory and practice of Place Branding.
August 2008
Sicco will be speaking on Place Branding - Best Practices at the International Investment Forum in Sochi, Russia to be held on 18-21 September.
Sicco will receive the Award for Brand Excellence at the Asia Brand Congress 2008 in Mumbai, India (25-26 September) for his contribution to the development of the theory and practice of place branding.
June 2008
On 10 June, Sicco was the guest of Vinnie Politan on his talk show Me & Vinnie on Sirius Satellite Radio, discussing Brand America and President Bush's last offcial visit to Europe.
There are several new articles on the website: an essay about successful place branding, an opinion piece about how places will function in the future, called Place 2.0, and an introduction to city branding.
May 2008
Sicco will be speaking at the Asia Brand Congress in Mumbai, India on 25-26 September 2008.
April 2008
His Excellency Ian Khama was inaugurated as President of the Republic of Botswana. In his inauguration speech he mentioned the Brand Strategy for Botswana, He said: 'To actualise the contribution [the brand strategy] will make towards realising Vision 2016, it will be necessary to make some changes in the way our country operates'.
Sicco was a guest on Radio 24's Brand Malaysia takshow hosted by local branding expert Peter Pek, CEO of Brand Mercatus. The show aired in Malaysia on 8 April. To listen click here (MP3, 35Mb).
February 2008
On 13 February, we ran a masterclass on city branding for the City of The Hague in the Netherlands.
On 17 and 18 February we ran a two-day masterclass on place branding for local and state offcials in Putrajaya, Malaysia. Read the opening speech by the Secretary General to the Government of Malaysia, Tan Sri Mohd. Sidek b. Hj. Hassan, here.
January 2008
Placebrands expands with new offices in London and New York. Please see the contact page for details.
December 2007
On 11 December, His Excellency President Festus Mogae of Botswana launched the Brand of Botswana at a special ceremony held in the capital Gaborone. We congratulate the President, the Botswana Brand Partnership and the People of Botswana with this first step in the implementation of their country's brand strategy.
On 14 December, Sicco will give a lecture on city branding at the Eindhoven Design Academy.
November 2007
Sicco will be speaking on City Branding at Forum Istanbul's Mid-Year Conference 'Urban Regeneration and Real Estate Investments' to be held on 12-13 November in Istanbul, Turkey.
September 2007
On 13 September, a ground breaking ceremony will be held for the Overhoeks development in Amsterdam. We at Placebrands are very proud of our participation in the development this exciting area.
Sicco will be contributing to an Area Development Masterclass for ING Real Estate development professionals from across Europe to be held in Rotterdam on 16-19 October.
July 2007
Placebrands has moved its company headquarters to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where Sicco van Gelder leads its worldwide operations.
May 2007
Sicco will be speaking on City Branding at The Building Exchange (BEX) conference in Valencia in Spain to be held on 18-20 June.
April 2007
Placebrands has been commissioned by ING Real Estate Development to develop a brand strategy for a development in the city of The Hague in the Netherlands. The area, which for the moment is simply known as Plan 20, is a high density development in a suburban setting. We look forward to working with the stakeholders in the area to tackle this challenge.
March 2007
On 8 March, the new Overhoeks information centre was opened with a party hosted by its Brand Partners who publically reiterated their commitment to the area and to the brand strategy that Placebrands helped to develop. Sicco wrote an article about the Overhoeks project and its unique collaborative approach to area development for the ING Real Estate's Statement Magazine.
February 2007
On 17 february, Sicco will be keynote speaker on regional branding at the Russian Economic Development Forum in Krasnoyarsk.
January 2007
Placebrands was awarded the Special Mention Award for its paper on place branding at the 7th International Conference on Urban Planning and Environment in Bangkok earlier this month.
December 2006
Malcolm will be speaking about city branding at the 7th International Conference on Urban Planning and Environment (UPE 7) held from 3 to 5 January 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand.
November 2006
Placebrands will be hosting a session on Branding for Development at the Thames Gateway Forum which will take place on 22-23 November in London Excel. We will be accompanied by Liz Kite, the Head of Communications for Southampton City Council, Hugh Roberts, Planning and Urban Design Director of Colin Buchanan & Partners, and Mary Spence, the Chief Executive of the Thames Gateway South Essex Partnership.
October 2006
On 2 October Sicco will act as guest lecturer at the Breda University of Applied Sciences for the Master's in Imagineering programme.
Sicco will present the Overhoeks case study at the World Urban Development Congress which will take place from 8 to 11 October in Belfast.
September 2006
On 12 September Malcolm will be at the London Thames Gateway Partnership talking about the relevance of place branding to the development of the Gateway. And on 13 September, he'll be in Switzerland for the Zug Region Economic Forum delivering a speech entitled 'Leadership - Key to the Brand of Self, Organisation and Place'. On 27 September he will speak about place branding for the Urban Land Institute (ULI) in Toronto, Canada.
Sicco will be the opening and closing speaker at the Brand Holland conference on 20 September, organised by the Marketing Association of the Erasmus University in Rotterdam.
August 2006
On 25 July, Malcolm conducted a seminar on region branding for County Donegal in Ireland at the invitation of the Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce.
In mid September Malcolm will be very busy speaking at various conferences. On 11 September, you can catch him in Stratford on Avon talking about the relevance of place branding to the development of the home of the Royal Shakespeare Company. On 12 September he will be at the London Thames Gateway Partnership talking about the relevance of place branding to the development of the Gateway. And on 13 September, he'll be in Switzerland for the Zug Region Economic Forum delivering a speech entitled 'Leadership - Key to the Brand of Self, Organisation and Place'.
Sicco will be the opening and closing speaker at the Brand Holland conference on 20 September, organised by the Marketing Association of the Erasmus University in Rotterdam.
July 2006
Placebrands, in collaboration with Init Communications of Nairobi, have won the tender to develop the Brand Kenya Masterplan. The tender was awarded by the National Economic and Social Council (NESC), part of the Office of the President of Kenya. We are very proud of this new assignment and look forward to a fruitful collaboration with all parties involved.
June 2006
Placebrands launches its Magnet Programmes to help places attract 'on brand' investments, talent and events. See our services page for more information.
On 1 June, Malcolm was a speaker at the Mackinac Policy Conference organised by the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce. He talked about the brand of the State of Michigan. For more information about this conference click here.
May 2006
His Excellency Festus Mogae, President of the Republic of Botswana, has agreed to become the Brand Champion for his country and has publicly announced his support for the brand development process at a launch event held in Gaborone on 18 May.
On 29 May, Sicco will again contribute to the Branding - Corporate Religion programme offered by the Stockholm School of Economics in St. Petersburg, Russia. His topic will be on Global Brand Strategy. For more information about this programme click here.
We are proud to present our new website that replaces our old and outdated one. The website was designed by KI design and created by Integral Knowledge Utilization.
Our Amsterdam office has moved and now resides in the centre of town, near the Central Train Station and Dam Square. The new office provides us with the necessary space to grow for now. For address details, please see our contact page.
April 2006
Sicco is keynote speaker on 19 April at the Belgrade Design Week, a unique event with a line up of worldclass branders, designers and marketers. For a taste of the programme click here.
March 2006
Due to the expansion of our business, Placebrands is hiring Researchers for its UK and Netherlands offices. If you are a (recent) graduate looking for a challenging international career in brand strategy consultancy, please contact us for more information at info@placebrands.net
February 2006
Placebrands has been commissioned by the Botswana Export Development and Investment Agency (BEDIA) to help develop a brand strategy for the nation. We have won this international tender in a joint bid with Kaiser Economic Development Practice of Cape Town, South Africa. So far, we have helped create the Botswana Brand Partnership, lead by the HE the Minister for Trade and Industry Mr. Moroka, and have started the process of developing a brand for Botswana. We are very proud of this assignment and look forward to a fruitful collaboration with all parties involved.