How to build a top tech city brand

Didn't See It Coming with Marc Stoiber

Quick, name two top tech cities. San Francisco, and, ummm...

Exactly.

Being a top tech city and being known as a top tech city are two quite different things. I challenge that the difference all comes down to brand.

Here in Victoria BC, my hometown, we're blessed with an exploding tech industry. Even better, we have an amazing tech city brand. At least part of that is due to the hard work and creativity of people like Dan Gunn, CEO of VIATEC.

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Dan and unpack the elements of the Victoria tech brand. Among other things, we dug into...

• What's in a name - and why Tectoria (the name created as an umbrella for everything from conferences to VIATEC's building) is a great one,
• The complexities of creating a brand in a city where virtually none of the stakeholders sell their products,
• The brand power in Fort Tectoria - an HQ that is open to the public as well as VIATEC staffers and stakeholders
• The connection between tech, spilled wine bottles, and inflatable killer whales,
• Creating a consistent brand code, and ensuring that code is based on the true personalities that live it,
• Why orange is cool,
• The power of metaphors in describing an industry that is often criticized for hyper-complex, unintelligible communication,
• Origin stories, and why they work for VIATEC the way they worked for Superman,
• Why people are the best ads, and
• Why tech industry leaders are coming to Victoria to study how Dan and VIATEC pulled this off.

I hope you enjoy the conversation. As you might guess, it's jam-packed with brand information anyone can use - and there's nary a tech term in the entire 30 minutes!

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