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The overall goal of the BaltMet Promo project is to enhance the Baltic Sea Region’s competitiveness potential as a common marketing area.
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A new collaborative project aims to increase the stature of the entire Baltic Region and attract new visitors and partners to the area.
In today’s globalised world, it is becoming ever more important, and difficult, to distinguish and promote oneself to a worldwide audience. One key is collaboration, which is exactly the strategy taken by the new BaltMet Promo project.
BaltMet Promo, creating promotional Baltic Sea Region (BSR) products for tourists, talents and investors in the global markets, aims to establish a collaborative action plan for the area to promote itself. The project involves municipalities and organisations around the entire sea.
Common marketing
“The overall goal is to enhance the Baltic Sea Region’s competitiveness potential as a common marketing area,” explains Piia Nikula of Helsinki School of Economics, Centre for Markets in Transition. “This is done by creating a dynamic transnational and multi-sector marketing community in the Baltic Sea Region by developing joint concrete transnational promotional products for the global markets.”
Three different pilot programs are now being designed. One, Tourism, aims to attract more Japanese tourists to the area. Talent is also aimed at Japan, but this is geared towards the Japanese film industry. The third pilot is Investment, which is targeted at international investment projects.
One challenge faced by the project is the diversity of the region. Surrounding the Baltic Sea is a plethora of nations, languages and goals. Nikula says that as the region does not yet have a shared identity or recognised image, the project will strengthen the common BSR identity both at home and abroad.
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Partners
City of Helsinki
Helsinki School
of Economics
Baltic Development Forum
City of Berlin
City of Warsaw
Greater Helsinki Promotion
The Research Institute of
the Finnish Economy
City of Riga
City of Vilnius
BaltMet Promo
www.baltmetpromo.net
Baltic Metropoles Network
(BaltMet)
www.baltmet.org
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“The motivation of all international cooperation is to promote Helsinki’s competitiveness and the development of city services for the good of Helsinki’s people and businesses,” adds Riikka Lahdensuo of the City of Helsinki. “International appeal is crucial for Helsinki, which aims to develop as a multicultural metropolis, a Baltic Sea logistics centre, a European centre of expertise and a globally competitive metropolis.”
“Get involved”
The promotional activities will raise the awareness of the region as well as the role Helsinki’s people and businesses play. “It is a very concrete way for people and businesses in Helsinki to get involved in aiming to attract more tourists, talents and investments in Helsinki and in the Baltic Sea Region,” says Nikula.
Hopefully these pilot projects will just be the beginning of new collaborative approach that bears fruit in the years to come. “We are also already looking at the future and beyond Promo,” she continues. “Along with this project we are establishing a collaborative regional method for creation of new BSR products which can be adapted for new products and transferred to new geographic and thematic areas.”
Nikula also points out that the project welcomes input from the public. “We have established a Social Media Platform which serves the project partners, but more importantly it serves as a communication tool and platform for any new ideas and discussions,” she says. “It is open for everyone dealing with these issues.” She goes on to encourage people to register and join in the Promo Community at their website.
BaltMet Promo is partly financed by the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007- 2013.
David J. Cord |
