Within the context of the workshop “Athens’ Co-Creation City Branding Project”, hosted by Betty Tsakarestou, we took a journey around the world to explore initiatives, campaigns and cases that apply to vibrant cities and have a message to communicate to the world. About us: We are a three-member team of Cultural Management students, interested in Athens’ regeneration through culture and co-creation. Anagnostaki Eva Mavriki Rania Rizou Anastasia

1. A strategic plan for the city of
Athens
Course: Cultural Marketing | City branding
Prof: Betty Tsakarestou
Team: AnagnostakiEva MavrikiRania RizouAnastasia

2. ““What we’re missing, us Greeks, is a bit of
practicality and a bit of poetry in our daily
lives, the two extremes that lead to the
ultimate balance. We are prosaic and
fantasists at the same time. Prosaic in our
fantasies and fantasists in our businesses”
Karagatsis
“

3. Who we are
The challenge
Cultural city managers  a team of young creatives who aim at
transforming the city, through its cultural assets
o Athens’ image is stuck to the past
o Its quality of life is getting worse
o Political and social distrust
o Its citizens are losing their self-belief
o Lack of urban cohesion
 to reconstruct the image of the City through a novel strategy
that focuses on the unique cultural traits of Athens, with the
citizen’s engagement

4. “Life in Athens”
based on Google images search
“Life in Berlin”
based on Google images search

5. “
“Crisis keeps us awake,
we are more aware now”
Alison, founder of The Meet Market
“

6. Target groups &
goals

7. 1. Athenians
Goals
o Invest on their creative spirit
o Build their self-esteem
o Overcome the established belief that they
cannot “hack’ the system
o Collaborate with local groups

8. 2.Local stakeholders, including:
municipal authorities, media, cultural institutions,
creative industry, real estate
Goals
o Motivate them to reinvent Athens and its brand image
o Discover a contemporary face for the city, without
focusing only on the Acropolis and the folklore
traditions.
o Involve the local community to their activities and
together shape the image of their city

9. 3.Visitors
- Students
Goal: to invite them for quality studies in a diverse and fun environment,
where they can mingle with the locals and experience a value-for-money
student life
- Young creatives
Goal: to live in a city where major changes occur, new creative ideas pop
up and there is a lot of space for experimentation and new approaches
- Tourists
Goal: to experience the cultural heritage of Greece and at the same time
experience the changing face of a metropolis that is located n the middle
of two worlds

10. “
“Greece is something between first
world lux and third world chaos”
Alison, founder of The Meet Market
“

11. 4.Investors
Goal
Encourage investors to remap Athens as a space
with potential for investments, thanks to innovative
ideas that if implemented could boost the creative
economy
 a perfect time and place to set an experiment in
order to see if “Culture-Led Urban regeneration” can
occur

12. What’s up with
Athens?
Our methodological approach

13. Mindmap
Putting Athens in the
centre of our mindmap,
we visually represented
what Athens means to us
Methodological tools
Interviews
- Evangelia Koutsovoulou |
Founder of Daphnis and Chloe |
Culinary herb company
- Argyro Barata & Niki Vouimta |
Founders of FEAST | Live
Crowdunding Events
- Dimitra Paraskevopoulou |
Founder of Ava’s Farm | Online
marketplace of Greek products
- Alison Damianos | Founder of
The Meet Market | Nomadic
marketplace

14. Our mindmap

15. Our focus
Food → export unique greek
products and food culture
Grassroots movements → foster
cohesion and collaborative culture
Culture & Heritage → develop
innovative and synergistic
mindset, promote the
contemporary artistic scene
Tourism → point out the diverse
and multifaceted touristic offer
Public space → reuse and mixed-
use approach, transforming the
public to common space

16. Our values

17. Strategy
General concept
Athens is a charming city with great history,
great food, creative and open people, good
weather and a diverse social nexus.
Nevertheless, Athens is not the new Berlin,
either Amsterdam or Paris. In order to
reinvent itself, Athens should and can “hack”
crisis and redefine its assets, by using its
citizens’ creativity and co-creating innovative
structures and models.
“Live the city as a citizen”

18. “
““I would like Athens to take care of
Athens”
Evangelia, Founder of Daphnis & Chloe
“

19. FOOD

20. FOOD
Idea 1: Food market with branded greek products*, located in an
Athenian arcade Urban agenda (Amsterdam)
* prerequisite to have a distribution channel abroad
Target groups:
Visitors, Athenians
Goal
Make Athens the main communication hub for local Greek producers in
order to outreach their goods and set the mechanism for exports increase
Profit
o Educate producers to become extrovert, accessible, reachable and
develop unique brands
o Let Athenians and tourists experience the Greek products and motivate
them to adopt a healthy Mediterranean diet
o Introduce an alternative use of public spaces

21. Communication strategy
~REXPERIENCE THE GREEK CUISINE ~
Channels: website, social media, digital ads,
press, travel agencies, airport, hotels,
touristic platforms
Message:
Readopt the Mediterranean cuisine,
experience the Greek food and take
it home with you

22. FOOD
Idea 2: Online storytelling platform about the experience of the local
greek food – Locals vs. Foreigners
“Why should be feta used only in Greek salad?”
Target groups
Athenians, Visitors, Potential visitors
Goal
Rediscover the multi-use of Greek products and reverse the established
belief of traditional eating habits.
Profit
o Reform the perception around Greek food culture
o Expand the market
o Involve the local community in an international dialogue

23. Communication strategy
~REXPERIENCE THE GREEK CUISINE ~
Channels: website, social media (Facebook,
Instagram, YouTube), press releases, digital
ads, press
Message:
Experience the Greek food as a local

24. CULTURE

25. CULTURE
Idea 1: White night (International Museums Day 2016) video
Goal
Initiate collaboration between established museums, while transforming
the city into an open-air feast, where everyone is included
Target groups
Athenians, Local stakeholders, Visitors
Profit
o Cultivate an extrovert, collaborative mindset to the Athenian museums
o Acquaint and engage the Athenians and the tourists with the cultural
offer of the city
o Touristic attraction  economic profit
o Promote community feeling and sense of belonging

26. Communication strategy
~REFRAME GREEK CULTURE~
Channels: website, social media, press
Message:
One night, one city, one feast

27. “
“I couldn’t find what I was looking for,
that’s why I built it myself”
Alison, Founder of The Meet Market
“

28. CULTURE
Idea 2: Museum trail
- As Athens lacks a “museum square” we propose a route connecting the
museums in a historical/chronological continuum, guided by young
experts.
Target groups
Visitors, Local stakeholders
Goal
Offer an holistic and fresh perspective of the Greek cultural history
Profit
o Touristic attraction
o Offer experience to young unemployed experts
o Create a narrative linking the museums

29. Communication strategy
~REFRAME GREEK CULTURE~
Channels: website, social media, press,
travel agencies, airport, museum
communication managers
Message: A cultural time travel from
ancient times to nowadays

30. CULTURE
Idea 3: Theatre workshops
 in collaboration with international universities with theatre studies or
professionals, in order for them to experience the theatre at its birthplace
Target groups
Visitors (students & young creatives), Local stakeholders
Goal
Offer the opportunity to the international academic and professional
community to experience theatre at its birthplace
Profit
o Cultivate an extrovert profile of the Greek theatre
o Promote collaborations between Greek and international theatre
institutes

31. ““We are ashamed of being exposed and
ashamed of failing, that’s why we need to
be more extrovert, to reverse the situation”
Niki & Argyro, Founders of Feast
“

32. Communication strategy
~ REFRAME GREEK CULTURE ~
Channels: website, social media, press,
international universities with theatre study
programs, ambassadors, theatre institutes
Message:
Experience the theatre at its birthplace

33. CULTURE
Idea 4: Artists Residence for cultural exchange
→ a one month experience at an Athenian residence, in order to bring
together Greek artists with international ones, in order to exchange
knowledge and ideas and co-create.
Target groups
Greeks (artistic scene), International artistic scene, Local stakeholders
Goal
Make Athens a collaborative cultural hub
Profit
oExtroversion
oEstablish collaborations
oMove away from the traditional image of Greek culture

34. Communication strategy
~ REFRAME GREEK CULTURE ~
Channels: website, social media, press,
universities, cultural institutions, ambassadors
Message:
Be re-inspired by Athens, through a
unique cultural exchange

35. GRASSROOTS MOVEMENTS

36. GRASSROOTS MOVEMENTS
Idea: Neighborhood network
 using the unique “filema” cultural trait as a motivation to start a dialogue between the local
communities of a neighborhood.
 Once a year, the neighborhood organizes a homemade food “festival” where everyone, both
individual citizens and civic groups/grassroots movements gather to exchange ideas, express
their needs, show their skills and communicate their vision/work, with the help of a more
humanized version of the “Citizen Canvas”
Target groups
Athenians, Local stakeholders, Grassroots movements
Goal
Embrace co-existence and exploit crowd wisdom in the urban environment,
starting with the concept of “filema”
Profit
o Enhance connectivity in an offline environment, the public space
o Connect demand and supply in its social dimension

37. Communication strategy
~ RECONNECT ATHENS`~
Channels: website, social media, press, physical
presence and communication with the local
community, word of mouth
Message:
Connect with your neighbors, reimagine
your neighborhood and collaboratively
reshape it

38. PUBLIC SPACE

39. GRASSROOTS MOVEMENTS
Idea : Creative placemaking
“In creative placemaking, public, private, not-for-profit, and community sectors partner to
strategically shape the physical and social character of a neighborhood, town, tribe, city, or
region around arts and cultural activities.”
 mingle the creatives with the local community and the local stakeholders, co-creating a
better public space.
Target groups
Athenians, Local stakeholders, Visitors
Goal
Transform the public to common space, towards a new urban thinking
Profit
o Enhance the common space
o Hack the urban challenges
o Foster cohesion and sense of belonging
o Develop a neighborhood branding approach

40. Communication strategy
~ REIMAGINE ATHENS ~
Channels: communication with the local
community, local stakeholders and potential
investors, website and social media
Message:
Hack the challenges of your city, by co-
creating a better common space

41. TOURISM

42. TOURISM
A new approach of
touristic promotion of
Athens pops up?
Our Campaign goal
Athens has already established its touristic fame, so we propose an
alternative communication strategy to show its multifaceted character,
rather than its mythical dimension.
Target groups
Students, Young creatives & Tourists

43. Communication strategy
{For students}
~ REMAP ATHENS ~
Athens as an ideal student city
- Great and diverse nightlife
- Lively city, you never get bored
- Low-cost rentals
- Good weather all year long
- Ideal location for w.e. trips ex. to Greek islands
Channels: social media, student blogs,
universities’ international offices
Message: Live the student experience in a city
with great food, weather, entertainment, always
awake and friendly

44. Communication strategy
{For young creatives}
~ REMAP ATHENS ~
Athens as a city for experimentation
|The greek crisis has resulted in a more creative
mindset where challenges are transformed into
opportunities|
Channels: international institutions, ambassadors,
social media, hubs
Message:
Visit Athens to interact with the local creative
scene and share knowledge and ideas.

45. Communication strategy
{For tourists}
~ REMAP ATHENS ~
Athens as a serendipitous city
Channels: 360-degree marketing approach,
transmedia storytelling
+ Creative postcards
Message:
Rediscover Athens as a serendipitous city that
offers you tailor-made experiences.

46. Postcards from Athens

47. Greetings from Athens!

48. Greetings from Athens!

49. Greetings from Athens!

50. “Quiz” campaign

51. “Quiz” campaign

52. “Quiz” campaign

53. “Quiz” campaign

54. To sum it up!
In order to form a city branding which is not imaginary but
based on original and honest values, we first need to focus on
the social nexus and let the local identity emerge, through co-
creation.
{In order to reinvent Athens, we need to reinvent ourselves}

55. Credits
• Evangelia Koutsovoulou | Founder of Daphnis
and Chloe
• Argyro Barata & Niki Vouimta | Founders of
FEAST
• Dimitra Paraskevopoulou | Founder of Ava’s
Farm
• Alison Damianos | Founder of The Meet Market
• www.drichard.org/mindmaps
• www.worditout.com
• urbanagenda.nl/
• www.youtube.com
• www.monopoli.gr

56. thanks!
ANY
QUESTIONS?