Prosperity also makes promotional campaigns

Zurich is the largest city in a relatively small country. Its metropolitan area amounts to 1.8 million people in what is known as Great Zurich.

Our city of Zurich is an international and cosmopolitan city in the middle of the Alps. About 30% of its inhabitants have another nationality different than the Swiss. The city is considered open, multicultural and tolerant thanks to the fact that its foreign population is well above the European average.

The city is constantly placed in the highest positions of quality of life, health and innovation as result of fact that the city is a magnet for skilled workers from all around the world, which makes this multilingual city, despite its relatively small size, to be considered a global city.

From 2001 to 2008, and 7 times in a row, Zurich was ranked first worldwide as the city with Best quality of life according to Mercer. In the following years, Zurich had a very honest second place in the 320 largest cities evaluated. The aspects considered have been leisure, security, cleaning, political and economic stability, and health.The value of Zurich can also be represented in its own stock exchange, SWX Swiss Exchange, which overcomes the Swiss capital of Bern, and is the result of the merger of the previous stock exchanges of Zurich, Basel and Geneva. It is reference in Europe and has the support of companies like Nestle and Novartis, Zurich make an image of solvency and attracts many foreign investments.

Another company that is also listed on the stock exchange, is the namesake Zurich Insurance Group, which clearly shows how a name of a city may accompany safety behind insurance packages. It is an added value that feeds back.

One in nine jobs in Switzerland is created in the city of Zurich, specifically 82 of the 208 banks in Switzerland have their headquarters in this city. Its banking power is so great that 85% of Swiss financial assets are from this city.

Apart from the financial sector, Zurich hosts other poles of revitalization as industry, technology and tourism. Its business environment is unique because of two forces: On one hand the low (very low) taxation different from other European industrial cities and secondly, the ground that is generating a great know-how thanks to universities and institutions as the Zurich University, the modern University of Applied Sciences Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

Thus, a number of organizations began to promote the city internationally. The first option was to create a highly segmented marketing strategy for specific audiences and specific segments.

After failed attempts, it was getting unify the messages that were given to expand the field of renovation of an elaborate strategy of city branding.

Finally in 2011 an agreement was achieved to create an integrated destination marketing that brought together the City and Canton of Zurich, and offices of tourism which focus on the Greater Zurich.

The current motto of this platform is “World Class Zurich, Swiss Made“, which apart from advertising campaigns, has a calendar of events and local initiatives in what is expected to be the basic element for other organizations and institutions to join the project.

Following this message and this logo is stated which is the next step in the promotion of the town: An observed need is also that such a small country like Switzerland to be more involved in the city branding of its main city and it should involve agencies belonging to the Federal Government for promoting the Swiss brand worldwide. (Switzerland Tourism, Pro Helvetia, Switerland Global Enterprise, Swissnex and Presence Switerland among others).

Even so, the current campaign to promote the city takes an unexpected turn 180 degrees and shows us a fun and dynamic Zurich, away from the Alpine and gray vision of the financial sector so far encouraged by the banking sector.

Zurich competition are not the other Swiss cities, that we see as pieces that would support its federal promotion, but other Germanic cities like Munich or Vienna. If Zurich and the Swiss work force have made accessible and sustainable a city in a valley in the middle of the Alps, and has removed barriers that hindered investment and if it shows its cosmopolitanism perhaps the main medium-term challenge is their citizenship more reserved.

If the heart of Zurich wants to open to the world and to be a welcoming city, residents of other cantons must permit it.