An Economic and Spatial Plan for Limerick Appendices

Limerick 2030 An Economic and Spatial Plan for Limerick
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Place Proposition and Marketing Strategy for ‘New
Limerick’
1. Rationale and Aims
‘Place branding goes beyond mere slogans or old-fashioned ad campaigns; it involves more than
gloss or spin or the placing of a territory on the map as an attractive tourist destination.’
Peter Van Ham, The Netherlands Institute of International Relations
While Limerick is Ireland’s third largest city it lacks a consistency of message and positioning with
local, national and international audiences. This situation is not helped by a proliferation of
agencies at city, county, region and national levels, sometimes with conflicting messages, as well
as a number of local and independent message carriers. However, there is an appreciation
across stakeholders of the need to work more collectively and that a more coherent message
can harness the collective influence of the many businesses, institutions and organisation who act
as ambassadors for Limerick.
Limerick has many positive assets, some of which have successfully served as the basis for a
number of promotional campaigns and initiatives such as European City of Sport, City by the River
and in 2014, the Irish City of Culture. However, while there is value to one-off campaigns, they
need to be set in the context of a strong, consistent, long term strategy and proposition for the
City. Specific campaigns and events programmes can then build off and reflect this proposition
with the opportunity being to create a rolling strategy, where campaigns and events are
anchored in the proposition and over time, have a genuine impact on changing perceptions of
the City both internally and externally.
There is huge pride in Limerick and representatives of local business associations, higher
educational institutions, cultural institutions, individual business owners and youth representatives
have displayed a fierce commitment to Limerick. Nevertheless, the local, regional and national
press all too easily revert to negative stories about the City – even when there are good news
stories to be told. This takes its toll on local people’s belief and attitudes and the ways in which
they communicate with each other. Thus, negative stereotypes and perceptions are reinforced
even when the reality is more positive.
Therefore, two of the main marketing challenges for Limerick are of lack of awareness and/or a
negative reputation with many of its most important stakeholders. It is proposed therefore that the
existing gap in Limerick’s marketing be filled with a new Limerick Marketing Plan - place
proposition and place marketing strategy for New Limerick. Over time, the adoption of both,
aligned with the physical and economic development proposed in the Economic and Spatial
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