Background

Airports were once seen as gateways for transporting people and goods from one place to another. Today there is a much wider concept of airports, and the businesses and communities that surround them, as destinations in their own right.

Around the world, airport cities have sprung up and become powerful economic commercial engines. These modern multimodal transport hubs are paving the way for similar developments and, as airport cities grow around the world, finding a strong focus has become increasingly important for establishing a true competitive edge and unique positioning.

The brief

Airport City Stockholm is an ambitious real estate development project that will be established around the site of Sweden’s largest international and domestic airport, Stockholm Arlanda. This 800-hectare development makes it one of Scandinavia’s largest development projects. The area will become a key economic hub for Stockholm, and for the whole of Sweden.

This project is a joint venture between Swedavia, who operate the major Swedish airports, Sigtuna Kommun, the local municipality, and Arlandastad Holding, a prominent real estate development company.

UP was tasked to help develop a powerful brand positioning for this up-and-coming destination, along with a new visual identity and launch materials.

The solution

UP followed our project management BASE-UP process (Brief, Audit, Strategy, Execution and Follow-UP) for this project.

Over the course of four months we interviewed key external stakeholders and potential clients. With three partners behind Airport City Stockholm, it was important to represent internal views and issues in the brand building process.

We supplemented internal one on one meetings with a full one day brand workshop including all key internal stakeholders. We created a brand strategy guided with the information we gathered during this process.

In May 2011, we launched the new place brand strategy for Airport City Stockholm. We focused on the benefits of geographic position - close to the airport, close to the city of Stockholm and right in the heart of Scandinavia.

This last point ensured that the new airport city complemented Stockholm’s own positioning as the Capital of Scandinavia. The strategy also emphasised opportunities with new industries, such as Cleantech.

The new strategy was unveiled at Business Arena Stockholm in September 2011, supported by a new graphic identity, website, print literature, and films – all created by UP.

The results

Airport City Stockholm has attracted substantial media attention and is now seen as one of Sweden’s most important development projects. The new strategy and identity has put Airport City Stockholm firmly on the map.