The importance of branding 15-minute cities

What is a 15-Minute Neighbourhood

It is so important to take a holistic and engaging approach to improve our communities, making them a safe and healthy environment for those who live amongst them. This is why the introduction of 15-minute neighbourhoods/cities by local councils may not have come at a better time.

The aim of 15-minute neighbourhoods is to provide localities with access to all basic needs within a “15-minute” walking or cycling distance from their homes. This includes healthcare facilities, supermarkets, public transport, childcare, and schools.

Why are 15-Minute Neighbourhoods so important

15 Minute Neighbourhoods are considered imperative for a thriving community because it reinforces “togetherness” within local boroughs. For example, those needing extra help or feeling isolated from others are given the opportunity to access facilities within 20 minutes of their homes and meet others who live amongst them whom they may not necessarily encounter or interact with on a daily basis.

Why brand the 15-minuite city?

Whilst thinking about what goes into a 15-minute city, the importance of branding it shapes many benefits for both tourists and residents. For example, a brand could be created based on the heritage, green spaces and historial elements of the area and reflective of localised values. This will help local residents feel invested into the brand, and feel like the branding is reflective of them and their area.

Also, it is important the branding inspires hope, positive change, looking towards the future and the creation of the “new”. Residents desire an experiential place to come and be a part of, with its unique qualities that show that the place is open for all- and has nothing to hide.

This method of connecting up the old with the new has worked successfully in creating a “traditionally-modern” destination 15-minute city dwellers and visitors can empathise with, see the example case study below of Chingford Mount, North London!

“The Treasures of Chingford Mount”

This empowering campaign-style project has been adopted by The London Borough of Waltham Forest providing the community with a 15-minute city brand, window art trail marketing campaign alongside a 3D virtual heritage map to inspire both tourists and locals to learn more about the local area.

Branding the town centre took careful consideration, speaking to local community groups, residents and taking the time to research heritage and history. This was very important as the branding we created was reflective of the local community and cultural values.

After hearing about what gave the area of Chingford Mount it’s character from the community-led focus group, the ideas that stood out were the “Art-Deco” style towers that masquerade over the central town centre square. This was used as a starting point to shape the branding, followed by its own unique typeface and colour palette.

We also gained feedback from the focus group about what they considered to be “treasures” of their local area. We wanted to identify key heritage and history elements which were sentimental to the residents of North London with the aim to portray their ideas as precisely as possible through the town centre branding.

From there, we launched a marketing campaign to showcase the branding, remaining adamant to bring Waltham Forest to life through our window art trail and 3D virtual heritage map. The engagement from the campaign allowed residents to feel more receptive and included within the regeneration of the area with the new 15-minute city branding in mind.

The window art marketing campaign itself composed of hand-painted shop window displays containing puzzles parents and children (the key demographic of the area) could go around and solve in a game-like format. Each of the artwork was installed with the business in mind, and carefully hand painted onto the windows of shops around the town centre area.

By scanning the QR code within the window artwork, residents could solve their puzzle answers on the virtual map, consequently learning more about the area, and which also contained elements of the town centre branding!

Read the full case study here.

How our branding has helped the North London community

Our creative place-making and town centre marketing campaign has helped the community in many ways, one being boosting the footfall traffic and economic activity within the area. Residents were delighted to see the new city branding, which was created with localised values in mind. This, alongside an arts based marketing campaign whereby beautiful artwork was painted on their high street shop windows, not only encourages them to go in and spend, pumping money back into the 15-minute city, but also builds a “humanised relationship” with each business.

Raising awareness of the government’s 15-minute city framework through town centre branding was also an aim of ours, and we presented this through the distribution of branded products shown on hoardings, printed media, and even on digital social media content. This helped the community to become more familiar with the regeneration of the area, thus becoming a more looked-after, trustworthy and safe place to live, work and visit.

With the local demographic being parents and children, cultural strategy and cultural programming were also important factors. By launching the branding with a marketing campaign that was fun with interactive games, it enhances the likelihood of “togetherness” and adoption of the branding within the community, whilst solidifying heritage and cultural values. We provided members of the public with free branded tote bags and materials that showcased the new city branding too.

Our successful town centre branding launch has gained the adoption of the community, with the virtual map receiving 1,500 visits within the first week. This shows just how impactful both the branding and campaign has been on residents.

We hope this case study shows you the importance of branding 15-minute cities and how this branding is initially created and also keeping mindful of the launch of the branding itself back into the resident community.

If a place gets branded in a process which is aligned with its residents, it will garner its own reputation and be elevated as a real asset to the wider locality in return.

The overall effect of launching branding within 15-minute cities means that we are enhancing a place’s urban environment and engaging the community in a way in which adds value to businesses.

Work with us!

If you are interested in branding your town centre in a way in which works alongside your local community, then do get in contact with us today.

We can assist you with a carefully thought out 15-minute city branding strategy that can increase footfall and traffic!