Landor helps revitalise City of Madrid tourism

The City of Madrid has commissioned Landor Associates to carry out a ‘major destination branding programme’ to reinvigorate tourism and attract business interests to the region.

Five other consultancies and agencies were shortlisted to pitch for the project, including Interbrand, Bassat-Ogilvy, Saatchi & Saatchi, JWT and management consultancy KPMG.

Landor plans to spread the work out across its Madrid, Dubai and London offices, fast-tracking the project in order to launch an identity for the city by 2005.

The work will kick off with a raft of qualitative research investigating how tourists perceive Madrid. Jose de Zubeldia, executive director at Landor Madrid, says the findings will help the team develop a new corporate identity for the city.

‘The aim is to define a sophisticated brand and create a logo or symbol to represent the city as one of the leading European destinations,’ he adds.

The City of Madrid, which includes the Madrid Tourism Office, the Madrid City Government and regional representatives, is sponsoring the project.