Should Superlambanana replace the Liver Bird as city’s symbol?

Oct 9 2008 by Alistair Houghton, Liverpool Daily Post

Should the Superlambanana replace the Liver Bird as the city's symbol?  Vote here

DAVIDE DE MAESTRI (www.davidedemaestri.com and www.businesssquared.co.uk ) is a chartered marketer and master coach. Here he argues for replacing the Liver Bird with the "new, iconic and cool" Superlambanana:

BRANDING is a key part of commercial success for businesses, organisations and even places.

Research has shown that stronger brands can generate greater revenues and profits. Little wonder Tom Peters has said: “We are no doubt in the Great Age of the Brand.”

2008 is Liverpool’s oppor-tunity to market the Liver-pool brand to the world. What is that brand? What legacy do we want to create for our famous city? How do we want Liverpool to be perceived in the 21st century? Different people have different definitions of what a brand is. My own favourite is: “A brand is a set of rational and emotional perceptions in the mind of the customer”.

Applying this definition to Liverpool, we can describe the rational perceptions broadly as a city on a river, near the sea, surrounded by great coastline and country-side, with good restaurants and bars, having two cath-edrals, two football clubs, and so on. But emotional benefits are increasingly important in consumer choice.

We all want Liverpool to be a powerhouse nationally and internationally in this new millennium. The question is – what emotions do we want to evoke?

At its best, Liverpool’s essence is passion, fun, excitement, ideas and a certain coolness.

At its worst, Liver-pool’s essence is scallies, scams, and stuck in the past.

Currently, the Liver Bird is the symbol of the city. History suggests that the Liver Bird is derived from King John’s eagle emblem, back in 1207 when he granted the town’s charter. There is some confusion as to how and when it became a Liver Bird, via a spell as a cormorant.

A Liver Bird represents a Liverpool of times long ago. Arguably, Liverpool Football Club has taken ownership of the Liver Bird symbol, given the power of global television audiences.

Is the Liver Bird the best symbol for the future? I’d argue that it’s time to move on.

We have just seen unprecedented public interest in a new, iconic and cool symbol – the Superlambanana.

Why not take the bull by the horns, resolve all intellectual property rights issues and make this innovative sculpture our new city emblem?