Critically evaluate how London place promotes itself.
Most cities in the digital era promote themselves using digital platforms, primarily digital websites. In this paper, the focus is to recognize how London, as a world-class city, has managed to use their official website for marketing. London is an international destination for many tourist, students and visitors who come for different purposes. Being an international destination it serves as a perfect city to analyze for its website marketing strategy.
Critically evaluate how the city place promotes itself.
London as a city takes pride in welcoming twenty five million visitors annually. Firstly, they promote their institutions that offer different service to the foreigners who expect to visit London. Learning institutions within the city are promoted on the website so that students can admire and visit the City. The total population of students that report to London every year is about one hundred and ten thousand. In terms of business, the city promotes its enterprises. The promotion has led to London being considered and being consistently rated the best place to conduct business in Europe. The city global competition has made it almost compulsory for the city to promote itself. The mayor of London has labeled himself a champion in promoting the City. The mayor of London has invested in an agency which promotes the city through their website and others. London and Partners agency is the official promotion agency used to market London as a city. The mission of the agency is to reach the international audience as much as they can. Through reaching the international audience, they should ensure they tell the story of London brilliantly to the international audience. The mayor’s priority are represented to the agency. The agency is expected to align itself with the expectations that London is the best city to invest, study, work and visit. The agency operates as a non-profit organization. The agency is not for public private partnership. The finances that operate it are from the mayor’s kitty and other commercial partners of the mayor. In terms of results evaluation, the agency has worked excellently well in promoting London as a city. The city has continued to score great numbers in categories like availability of important staff, access to markets and access to transport links. The three mentioned areas are proof that agency is doing a commendable duty in promoting London as a city.
- What is empathized and what is missing from the official website?
The official website of London focuses a lot of issues. The website addresses the beauty of London through pictorials of important places in London which are attractive. The website has six sections with each playing a role to communicate about London. The first section mainly focuses on general information regarding London. Information that emphasizes on ways that people can invest in London. It expresses ways in which London remains the best city in the world. The second section focuses on the different burrows in London. Each burrow is exploited as evaluated as a place for business opportunity, living and visit. The third section of the website is focused on the feedback. It is named get involved. This section of the website requires a user to visit the website, register and comment about London as a city. The comment is then collected for feedback to the administrative department of London. The fourth section of the website named about us focuses on the administrative and management style of London as a city. The Section put to light the structure of leadership from the mayor to the London assembly. It also analyses the governance and financial structure of the city. Each of the administrators and their duties has also been explained in completion. The next part described in the website as talk London is also about feedback. However, the feedback on this part is focused on what the public would like to do for London as a city. The website allows the user to register and propose their impact on the future of London as a city. Ideas which are analyzed as perfect are considered for implementation. The last of the website consists of media centre. The media centre plays a role of displaying the different press that offers official communication regarding the City of London. It contains the mayor’s official press release and the London assembly official press release. It is the section of the website which also offers official digital handles of the London administrators. The section contains the official Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and all thedigital platforms of the administrators of London. All the mentioned section are important for marketing the city, except the website has not focused on describing the population distribution of London as a city. The city demographic arrangement acts as a tool of marketing for visitors. It informs visitors of places they are likely to stay when they visit London. Demographics informs the visitors of where they are likely to find communities of their own when they visit so that they can stay. The most important information missing from the website is the London City demographics and population distribution.
- How does the website affect the city’s image?
The website affects the image of the city to a large extent in the positive. The website addresses all the concerns that any visitor regarding the city. It details information regarding business, communities, economies, environment and health. In terms of marketing, the website does a commendable duty by exposing only the positives about London. For people who wish to pursuit education related issues the website provides a list of their best schools. It also emphasizes the curriculum that the school uses. The website is loaded with relevant information regarding London which promotes the positive image of London. The image of London is affected positively by the website. Through accessing the website any visitors would love to access London. Th website is keen on protecting the international status of London and downplaying any possibilities that might arise in relation to crimes, terrorism and other city vices which is good for the City’s image.
- A comparison between cities is encouraged.
The website markets London as a city but does not fail to recognize the competition that exists between London and other world cities that are rising rapidly. London has always been a world leader and attractive to business. As noted in the website the London top city position is threatened by other cities. The city of Singapore has moved to regulate international financial markets. This move by Singapore has made it more attractive in business than London. The regulation of international financial market threatens London’s attractiveness to the financial sector. The example of Singapore is just but one example of City threatening to oust it dominance.
In the case of technology and research Shanghai through its website has always remained a threat to London. Although London takes pride in innovation and technology through their world class academic institutions, Shanghai poses a threat by creating new inventions day after day. Shanghai’s new invention is a marketing threat to London especially on international students seeking to further their academic journeys. Rapid technology within London has placed it at an advanced position than Shanghai. Development of bio-medical research cities places it at an advance level than Shanghai.
From the analysis above it is clear that part of London’s success as a city is based on its advancement on using digital platforms where the website is proof. The information on the website provides just what an international city should look like and how best it should be used as a marketing tool.