Creating promotional Baltic Sea Region products for tourists, film talents and investors in the global markets
Pool of potentials Creating promotional Baltic Sea Region products for tourists, film talents and investors in the global markets is a project that enables collaborative promotion of the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) in global markets. We are building a transnational and multisectoral community of marketing professionals in order to attract more tourists, more film talents, and more investment into the region. The goal is to strengthen our common Baltic Sea Region identity and to provide marketing opportunities for BSR based companies both at home and abroad. Project has been created by cities and regional authorities around the Baltic Sea. Funding: European Union, Baltic Sea Region Programme Duration: Pilot Phase 2010 2011. Extension Phase 2012 2013 (Application in the 4th call planned) will involve more public and private players and will include additional promotional activities. Budget: 2.8 MEUR (2010 2011) Stockholm St. Petersburg Oslo Malmö population 110 million GDP 400 billion Tallinn Riga Copenhagen Berlin Vilnius Warsaw Why? Helsinki BaltMet is us The Baltic Sea Region is a vibrant European market with total of 110 million consumers. BaltMet cities Berlin, Helsinki, Malmö, Oslo, Riga, Stockholm, St.Petersburg, Tallinn, Vilnius and Warsaw have a combined GDP of 400 billion Euros. The region is not yet well known in the global market as the marketing or branding of the region hasn t been developed in a structured and systematic way. s overall goal is to enhance the Baltic Sea Regions competitiveness potential and at the same time strengthen the common BSR identity both at home and abroad.
Process The project will develop new Baltic Sea Region products or service concepts and work as a common BSR-marketing platform. New products are created in a process of: demand and supply research marketing and communication implementation to the highest policy level as part of the European Union Strategy for Baltic Sea Region activities Baltic Development Forum Summits Policy Roundtables to facilitate a policy dialogue on regional identity building Business intelligence: Demand research analyzes existing demands of target markets and provides information on customers perceptions on BSR. Supply research gathers information on existing supply of specific products and services in the BSR. The gathered intelligence is passed on to pilot teams, which compile and create new matching product concepts. Demand research is carried out first and after it has been finished the supply research part starts. Marketing & communication: The launch of products is supported by marketing and communication. Through effective marketing communications promotional Products are launched to reach both operational and higher policy level. Implementation: New BSR services and products are designed so that they are transferable to other geographic and thematic areas. Better products, services and results promotes the Baltic Sea Region as a whole in global markets and strengthens our identity both at home and abroad by: collaboratively develop and implement BSR products and services collaborating with colleagues from across the BSR (best practices, experience, contacts and networks, less risk, shared aims) work with the best subject matter experts By creating a marketing community we aim to achieve: better results for individual place promotion activities for less money shared resources collaborative place promotion for a macro-region market. Regional identity building and branding mapping of branding initiatives and energizing policy dialogue about BSR branding issues coordinates horizontal activities related to regional identity building for EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. New development ideas process facilitates new ideas to be tested in systematic way in regards of creating new BSR services and products.
Three concrete pilots builds three Baltic Sea Regional product concepts in the fields of tourism, film-making and investments. These three product concepts will be the model of further product development during the extension phase of the project. By bringing together both public and private sector players, the project pilots will highlight our strengths as a tourism, talent and investment destination. The development of concrete products will be based on solid market research and business intelligence. Tourism Pilot Live like locals travel package offers a new way to experience the Baltic Sea Region. Tourism Pilot will choose the travellers through a competition that will be organized in Japan in 2011. Target group of the competition is young ladies that have been writing blogs actively in Japan. The winners will write about their feelings from the trip on their blog. There will be three winners and they will win a ten day trip to the Baltic Sea Region during summer 2011. Each winner will have a different travel package to the region. The packages are combined cities of Helsinki and St. Petersburg, the three Baltic cities: Riga, Vilnius and Tallinn and Berlin and Warsaw. The winner will experience these three different city packages with a local view. There will also be an event organized in Japan that is targeted to tourism professionals where the travel package Live like locals is introduced to the travel trade. The winners will also present their feelings of the trip in the event. Tourism Pilot team will prepare guidelines on how to package a BSR tourism product. The guidelines will include process description on how transnational Designed Tourism Experience in BSR is produced and launched. Contact: Ms Baiba Buka-Vaivade City of Riga Tel. +371 6701 2906 E-mail:baiba.buka@riga.lv Film Talent Pilot Baltic Sea Region offers new possibilities for international cooperation in filmmaking. The Film Talent Pilot invites new generation film professionals from Japan and the Baltic Sea Region to a week of learning, sharing and discussing filmmaking and coproduction opportunities. The 3-day intensive workshop in Vilnius, Lithuania, takes place during the Scanorama film festival November 10 13, 2011. At Scanorama, the film professionals will take a deep dive into international co productions, looking at the development of films, financing and distribution from both a Japanese and a Baltic Sea Region point of view. Film Talent Pilot team will prepare also guidelines on how to package a BSR film talent product. The guidelines will include process description on how transnational Designed Film Experience in BSR is produced and launched. The guidelines will also include identification of best practices and lessons learned. Contact: Ms Ina Irens City of Vilnius Tel. +370 5 211 2874 E-mail: ina.irens@vilnius.lt
Model for the Baltic Sea Strategy Investment Pilot The main aim of the Investment Pilot is to increase the awareness level of the BSR as a preferred investment area and thus attracting international investors and investment projects to the BSR. This will improve the competitiveness of the region and strengthen the position of the BSR in the international market. To spark investors interests in the region, participation in two leading trade fairs, the MIPIM in Cannes and Hannover Messe, is planned in 2011. An Investor s Guide is created and it will be presented at both trade fairs in connection with a BSR Investors Panel discussion. Investment Pilot team will prepare process description on how promotional organizations can promote Baltic Sea Region as one competitive region. Showcases and lessons learned from the global events of Hannover Messe & MIPIM are also included in description. Contact: Mr Jörn Exner Berlin Partner GmbH Tel. +32 2 28 65 170 E-mail: joern.exner@berlin-partner.de Project coordinates horizontal activities related to regional identity building as the Horizontal Action Leader on Regional Identity coordinates horizontal activities related to regional identity building, which is a part objective of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. In practice, this means active cooperation with all relevant Priority Areas of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, working for the project goals and finding synergies with other regional stakeholders. The collaborative working method of is based on multilevel governance between the Commission, national players and local players; and includes the participation of the private sector and citizens. The working method can also be applied in other European co-operation cases. Enforcing Policy Dialogue through Policy Roundtables Policy Roundtables function as coordinating group of the horizontal activities. The purpose of the policy roundtable is to facilitate a policy dialogue on issues related to the promotion and branding of the Baltic Sea Region and its countries, regions and cities. will strive to lower the barriers for collaboration in marketing the region by presenting the perspective that national and BSR brands can benefit from one another and find synergies. By the end of the project period, in autumn 2011, an action plan based on the roundtables work will be presented, containing policy recommendations and actions of importance for the visibility, attractiveness and joint marketing of the Baltic Sea Region. Contact: Mr Marcus Andersson Baltic Development Forum Tel. +45 70 20 93 94 E-mail: ma@bdforum.org
Project Partners City of Helsinki Aalto University School of Economics Baltic Development Forum Berlin Partner GmbH City of Warsaw City of Riga City of Vilnius Greater Helsinki Promotion Ltd Research Institute of the Finnish Economy Associated City Partners City of Malmö City of St. Petersburg City of Tallinn Oslo Teknopol Wonderful Copenhagen Other Associated Organizations BSR actors and networks: Baltic Institute of Finland, Baltic Sea Tourism Commission, CBSS, ScanBalt, UBC Business Commission; Investment promotion agencies: Invest in Finland, Invest in Sweden, Latvian Institute, Lithuanian Development Agency, Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency, Swedish Institute, Investment and Development Agency of Latvia; Tourism promotion agencies: Finnish Tourism Board, Hamburg Turist Board, Latvian Tourism Development Agency, Lithuanian Responsibilities Lead Partner activities Management and Administration Policy Dialogue and Public Affairs Investment Pilot Supply Research Tourism Pilot Talent Pilot Communication and Information Demand Research Tourism Association, Polish Tourist Organisation, Polska Organizacja Turystyczna; Cultural institutions: Cultural Tourism Institution (Telia), Finnish Film Foundation, Finnish Institute in Japan, Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH; Businesses: Blue Drum (East Express Oü), Brandworxx Ltd, Meritleader Ltd. Join the community! Sign the Letter of Support and register to the Social Media Platform: www.baltmetpromo.net Contacts Ms Piia Nikula Project coordination Aalto University School of Economics, Center for Markets in Transition (CEMAT) Tel. +358 40 353 8358 E-mail: piia.nikula@aalto.fi Ms Iina Oilinki Lead Partner responsibilities City of Helsinki, Department for International Relations Tel. +358 9 310 23116 E-mail: iina.oilinki@hel.fi Mr Mika Lappalainen Communications and web pages City of Helsinki, Department for International Relations Tel. +358 9 310 36200 E-mail: mika.lappalainen@hel.fi Partner Contact information City of Helsinki, Department for International Relations Mr Matti Ollinkari Lead Partner Tel. +358 9 310 36098 E-mail: matti.ollinkari@hel.fi Aalto University School of Economics, Center for Markets in Transition (CEMAT) Ms Malla Paajanen Management and administration Phone: +358 9 431 38456 E-mail: malla.paajanen@aalto.fi Baltic Development Forum Mr Marcus Andersson Policy dialogue Phone: +45 70 20 93 94 E-mail: ma@bdforum.org Berlin Partner GmbH Mr Jörn Exner Investment Pilot Tel. +32 2 28 65 170 E-mail: joern.exner@berlin-partner.de City of Warsaw Ms Katarzyna Ratajczyk Phone: +48 22 656 76 26 E-mail: kratajczyk@um.warszawa.pl Greater Helsinki Promotion Ltd. Mr Micah Gland Phone: +358 9 562 6677 E-mail: micah.gland@ helsinkibusinesshub.fi Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (ETLA) Mr Markku Kotilainen Phone: +358 9 609 90 206 E-mail: markku.kotilainen@etla.fi City of Riga Ms Baiba Buka-Vaivade Tourism Pilot Tel. +371 6701 2906 E-mail: baiba.buka@riga.lv City of Vilnius Ms Ina Irens Film Talent Pilot Tel. +370 5 211 2874 E-mail: ina.irens@vilnius.lt
Part-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund) www.baltmetpromo.net Pictures: City of Helsinki