Does the West Midlands region do an adequate job of marketing itself?

[OutByEaster?]

I've changed the title to match the poll - does that help?

[Paddywhack]

17 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

I've changed the title to match the poll - does that help?

I think it has so I’ve voted yes.

[Davkaus]

A city marketing itself is a bit London, ain't it?

[Marka Ragnos]

30 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

I've changed the title to match the poll - does that help?

Ah, brilliant. Thank you! I was polling my hair out over my error. 

[Marka Ragnos]

6 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

I love coming up to Birmingham prefer new street shopping to london anyday. However  i have to admit the service has got worse over the years espically in restaurants.  Not sure why this has happened, also the hotels have got worse.

I usually stay at the clayton but the last time i went it was poor.

I think brum its self has massive potential though

 

That place looks amazing -- and it's so reasonably priced!!!!!!! There's something to market right there. Good prices on premier hotel rooms.

Edited January 25, 2023 by Marka Ragnos

[Marka Ragnos]

6 hours ago, The Fun Factory said:

I think the definition causes the greatest confusion- Do you mean Birmingham and the surrounding ubran area, or the wider region such as Worcestershire, Shropshire etc? I always think west midlands is an incredibly vague term.  They should bite the bullet and just call it greater Birmingham like they do in Manchester- though Wolverhampton and Coventry would probably object. Wider area should be promoted as heart of england, or Mercia imo.

The commonwealth games was a good success in bringing people to the city. I spoke to a lot of people who was their first visit to Brum and they loved it. Get out and spread the word. HS2 will also help.

Love that idea so much, as a half-American -- the heard of England, Mericia, etc. I think I just meant Greater Brum and a bit of the areas around it? But I don't know how it could best gain a distinct identity most easily.  For me, the real substance of Birmingham is its industrial heritage but I don't know how well that works in 2022 as a marketing asset.

[icouldtelltheworld]

16 minutes ago, Marka Ragnos said:

Love that idea so much, as a half-American -- the heard of England, Mericia, etc. I think I just meant Greater Brum and a bit of the areas around it? But I don't know how it could best gain a distinct identity most easily.  For me, the real substance of Birmingham is its industrial heritage but I don't know how well that works in 2022 as a marketing asset.

It doesn't 

[ender4]

Last time I went out to bars in Birmingham city centre on a Saturday evening… first I met a pair of brothers, one from London and one from Watford, who had decided to meet up in Bham for a weekend out.

Then much later that night at the train station I bumped into a hen party, who were heading back to London after spending all day in Bham for the hen party.

So randomly I think Londoners like coming to Bham for a night out.

[Sam-AVFC]

No. Or at least not adequate to change clichéd views.

Speaking as someone who has never lived in the Midlands, but spent plenty of time in Birmingham, it has a bizarrely negative reputation. As much as I hate to say it and open the can of worms, it often seems to be because it's such a multicultural city.

[Demitri_C]

6 hours ago, ender4 said:

Last time I went out to bars in Birmingham city centre on a Saturday evening… first I met a pair of brothers, one from London and one from Watford, who had decided to meet up in Bham for a weekend out.

Then much later that night at the train station I bumped into a hen party, who were heading back to London after spending all day in Bham for the hen party.

So randomly I think Londoners like coming to Bham for a night out.

We do

[The Fun Factory]

10 hours ago, Marka Ragnos said:

Love that idea so much, as a half-American -- the heard of England, Mericia, etc. I think I just meant Greater Brum and a bit of the areas around it? But I don't know how it could best gain a distinct identity most easily.  For me, the real substance of Birmingham is its industrial heritage but I don't know how well that works in 2022 as a marketing asset.

Or just say its within half an hour of Stratford. I guess that is the main tourist puller in the region.

Brum is a young vibrant city which also needs to be marketed. I did read it is the youngest city in Europe. Though the previous factoid that it has more canals than Venice turned out to be rubbish so need to check on it. But given demographically most of the rest of the country is going to get old and die in the  next 40-50 years, could be a strong point.

[MakemineVanilla]

The trouble with the word marketing is that it kind of evokes the sort of suspicion associated with "advertising", that is to say, phony and hyperbolic half-truths and bullshit.

 

 

[Mister_a]

Our self-deprecation tends to not translate well elsewhere, (some) people assume we mean what we are saying.

 

[Marka Ragnos]

3 hours ago, MakemineVanilla said:

The trouble with the word marketing is that it kind of evokes the sort of suspicion associated with "advertising", that is to say, phony and hyperbolic half-truths and bullshit.

 

 

Haha. Of course, I agree, but who gives a shit what the locals think of such marketing if it works? They're not the audience.

[KentVillan]

9 minutes ago, Marka Ragnos said:

Haha. Of course, I agree, but who gives a shit what the locals think of such marketing if it works? They're not the audience.

The thing is, as in business, although marketing is important, it’s rarely the main problem. Good products market themselves to some extent.

Better marketing might help, but Birmingham doesn’t need a massive marketing campaign, it needs a load of investment from central govt and better leadership from local govt… as do most other parts of the UK atm.

[tinker]

14 hours ago, Sam-AVFC said:

No. Or at least not adequate to change clichéd views.

Speaking as someone who has never lived in the Midlands, but spent plenty of time in Birmingham, it has a bizarrely negative reputation. As much as I hate to say it and open the can of worms, it often seems to be because it's such a multicultural city.

Well there the sort of people we don't want here anyway, the backward types who long for a time that never existed. Our ethnic diversity and integration is something to be proud of, one which should be marketed as such. 

[Marka Ragnos]

8 minutes ago, KentVillan said:

The thing is, as in business, although marketing is important, it’s rarely the main problem. Good products market themselves to some extent.

Better marketing might help, but Birmingham doesn’t need a massive marketing campaign, it needs a load of investment from central govt and better leadership from local govt… as do most other parts of the UK atm.

Well, there's that, yes, can't disagree one bit. But have cities such as Manchester or Leeds received more investment from central government and/or enjoyed better local governance? Honestly haven't the faintest idea of that, would be interested in learning.

[Marka Ragnos]

50 minutes ago, tinker said:

Well there the sort of people we don't want here anyway, the backward types who long for a time that never existed. Our ethnic diversity and integration is something to be proud of, one which should be marketed as such. 

Here's what I myself think of, as a fairly well-educated American, when I think of what makes it special, probably pretty dated:

1. Incredible arts and handicrafts, from fine porcelain and bicycle saddles to jewelry, etc.
2. Cadbury and quakery socialism.
3. Early heavy metal, two-tone, and Duran Duran.
4. West Indian culture, activism, reggae scene
5. A few decent football clubs and some that ought to be expunged from the face of the earth.
6. Industrial history.
7. Some decent local universities.

I'm sure others see it very differently, but the arts and crafts history thing is definitely what stands out most to me. I feel like if there was anywhere in the UK where I would want to buy a new British-made thing, I would want it from Birmingham. It has a reputation (maybe faded? ) for extremely skilled labour. 

Edited January 26, 2023 by Marka Ragnos

[bickster]

16 hours ago, ender4 said:

I bumped into a hen party, who were heading back to London after spending all day in Bham for the hen party.

Cheapskate southerners having a hen party as a daytrip

[Sam-AVFC]

54 minutes ago, tinker said:

Well there the sort of people we don't want here anyway, the backward types who long for a time that never existed. Our ethnic diversity and integration is something to be proud of, one which should be marketed as such. 

Completely agree.