Maguire Consortium makeover for Glasgow

Glasgow is aiming to position itself as a major European city and overcome ongoing ‘negative perceptions’ with a £1.5m rebranding campaign created by the Maguire Consortium, a group of local design consultancies.

The rebrand, which uses the strapline ‘Glasgow: Scotland with style’, launched last week, targeting local, national and international audiences. It includes a banner and poster campaign that will appear throughout the city, as well as on-line, radio and press advertising across the UK.

‘Research has shown that there are still negative perceptions of the city and our biggest challenge is to address these, particularly in London and the South,’ says the Leader of Glasgow City Council, councillor Charlie Gordon.

The rebrand plays on the city’s connections with architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who was a resident of the city and played a significant role in the ‘Glasgow Style’ movement.

‘In the same way [that] Barcelona uses Gaudi, this capitalises on a point of differentiation that no other city can claim,’ explains Greater Glasgow & Clyde Valley Tourist Board chief executive Eddie Friel.

The first of the advertisements to roll out uses the headline ‘Discover Mackintosh’s Art Nouveau masterpiece. It’s called Glasgow.’

The work also features five local people, chosen to be the ‘face’ of the campaign.

The Maguire Consortium includes Maguire Advertising and Design, Atalanta Advertising & Design, PR agency the Big Partnership and media buyer MPG. It was appointed to the work following a tendering process involving a candidate list of more than 100 groups.

Half of the funding for the project is provided by Glasgow City Council and Greater Glasgow & Clyde Valley Tourist Board, with the remainder from the European Regional Development Fund.