Amsterdam Marketing Directors’ report 2013
“City marketing that’s impossible to ignore”
2013 was an extraordinary year for Amsterdam Marketing, for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, it was the year in which we officially launched our new organisation. But 2013 was also a jubilee year that saw a huge variety of (cultural) activities organised in Amsterdam, allowing us to further establish the reputation of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area on the world stage. Prior to the genesis of the new organisation, two years of exhaustive discussion was conducted between the three merging partners: the ATCB, AUB and Amsterdam Partners. Consultations drew to a successful close as 2013 dawned and a completely modernised organisation was born to drive the city marketing of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. Once the last remaining colleagues moved from the former AUB offices on the Kleine Gartmanplantoen to our current location on De Ruyterkade in February, the team was complete and we could properly get down to business. The jubilee year afforded us the ideal opportunity to show what we could do. Thanks to additional financing provided by the City of Amsterdam (nearly 3 million), the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area was able to showcase itself throughout the year. In addition to this supplementary starting capital, the City of Amsterdam had earlier agreed to provide us with a fixed annual subsidy for a period of five years. For an organisation in the making, this was a fantastic ‘dowry’. The extra funding meant that Amsterdam Marketing was able to take a leading role in 2013 and clearly indicate the approach that we believed should be taken during the jubilee year – as well as in subsequent years – naturally in close consultation with all of our partners. We also took the initial steps towards achieving our ambition of becoming the city marketing organisation that’s impossible to ignore: the inescapable ‘city marketing supermarket’ that’s open to everyone, from major cultural institutions to small and large companies – and they’d all be mad not to shop at our store. In 2013, we made reasonable progress towards realising this goal. Amsterdam Marketing can look back on an extremely successful kick-off in the jubilee year.
together Amsterdam Marketing’s first official year was also the year that saw us analyse our relationship with three other major players in the field: NBTC Holland Marketing, amsterdam inbusiness and the Amsterdam Economic Board. We were involved in close consultation with NBTC Holland Marketing regarding the division of tasks and responsibilities. In the same sense that Amsterdam and Holland are two complementary ‘brands’, Amsterdam Marketing and NBTC Holland Marketing are complementary organisations. The fundamentally positive attitude we have already established will pave the way for further consultation in 2014. We aren’t competitors, rather partners. Working as one, we can take on the world. In the same light, we also closely examined our relationship with our ‘unofficial merger partner’ amsterdam inbusiness. This municipal organisation (a collaboration between the municipalities of Amsterdam, Haarlemmermeer, Amstelveen and Almere) was not officially involved in the merger. However, Amsterdam Marketing will take responsibility for the organisation’s corporate marketing – outlined in a service level agreement signed by both parties in 2013. Four amsterdam inbusiness employees spend some of their time at Amsterdam Marketing. We will evaluate the partnership in 2014 and subsequently hope to sign a new collaborative agreement. We also worked closely with the Amsterdam Economic Board, like Amsterdam Marketing, an amalgamation of various organisations. The Board focuses on innovation, sharing expertise and talent development – all long-term concerns. The agreed approach is that Amsterdam Marketing will function as the Board’s
advertising agency – coming to the fore when Board activities emerge that need to be shared with the world. This allows us to avoid either organisation reinventing the wheel. In light of the fact that both the Board and Amsterdam Marketing receive funding from the business community, we have also examined the best way to approach our joint stakeholders. The results of this research, conducted in collaboration with an external advisor, will be made available in 2014.
supervision and advice A new Amsterdam Marketing Supervisory Board was appointed in 2013. We also established new advisory bodies and revised the partner structure. Shula Rijxman, board member of Netherlands Public Broadcasting (Nederlandse Publieke Omroep, NPO), was appointed Chairperson of the Amsterdam Marketing Supervisory Board as of 1 January 2014. In 2013, Shula sat in as a silent member of the board. She succeeded Paul Luijten, Senior Director of External Relations at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. In order to streamline the transition to the new organisation and safeguard the ‘legacy’ of the three merging parties, the previous Supervisory Board consisted of the three chairpersons of the three former organisations. Subsequent to the appointment of the new chairperson, other new members of the board were appointed and will take up their positions in January 2014: Mr Jan Raes, Director of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Ms Willemijn van
Dolen, Professor of Marketing at the University of Amsterdam, Mr Vincent Knoops, Delegate to the Board of KLM and Mr Alexander Kluijt, General Manager of the Ramada Hotel in Amsterdam. The three organisations involved in the merger all sought advice from their own sources. In 2013, we disbanded the old system of counsel and established nine new advisory bodies. Each advisory body consists of approximately five members and convenes three to five times a year in an informal setting. The members are all experts in their respective fields and provide Amsterdam Marketing with advice, both requested and unsolicited. The advisory bodies are organised according to different ‘blood groups’; for example, we have bodies for hotels, restaurants, shops, companies and conventions. These bodies play an important role in our network. The same naturally applies to our official partners – approximately 1,100 in total, including organisations, institutions and companies both large and small. In 2013, we also completely rebuilt the partner structure, with a significant focus on providing transparency. Our aim was to make it immediately clear which partner package our partners would receive in return for their structural support of the marketing and promotion of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. For major partners looking to work together to help raise the (international) profile of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area, we have introduced the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area Club. This corporate network unites municipalities, the business community, educational institutions and leading cultural icons. In 2013, Mayor of Amsterdam Eberhard van der Laan headed a successful trip to Hamburg with
55 MAC members. The MAC currently has approximately 70 members and we aspire to expand the MAC programme of activities and increase the number of members in 2014.
transformation During 2013, it became apparent that Amsterdam Marketing would be required to make financial adjustments. In close consultation with the Supervisory Board and the newly-established Works Council, we drafted a transformation plan. This plan came into effect in January 2014. After the organisations were united early in 2013 and Amsterdam Marketing started work in earnest, it quickly became apparent that some affairs were proceeding differently to how we initially expected. This didn’t come as too much of a surprise – that’s often what happens if everyone jumps in the deep end all at once. We were a new organisation, with a combined amount of responsibilities greater than before the merger. In addition, we also had to deal with several unexpected financial setbacks. Midway through the year, we came to the realisation that we would have to reassess our organisation. We had too many employees to be the organisation we wanted to be. In light of this, we drafted a transformation plan in autumn 2013. As part of the subsequent reorganisation, we were forced to request compulsory redundancy for 11 employees on economic grounds. This process was conducted in close consultation with the Supervisory Board and the Works Council. The Works Council was established in spring and
certainly had its metal tested in its first year, but remained constructive throughout the consultation period. This transformation was not a pleasant page in Amsterdam Marketing’s still short history. The primary objective was to become a leaner and meaner organisation that can respond more dynamically and flexibly to activities outside of the company. It was a one-off, unavoidable operation that will help Amsterdam Marketing to better prepare for the future.
the future Alongside our core activities, we plan to place additional emphasis on marketing the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area in the near future, as well as on business marketing. We launched both of these policy spearheads in 2013. Financed by government authorities in the region, the unique ‘Visit Amsterdam, See Holland’ project has been running for a number of years. The project is dedicated to improving the distribution of tourism throughout the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area as a whole. Tourists who come to Amsterdam are encouraged to stay longer and also to venture out into the rest of the region. In order to provide further grounding to this approach, six themes have been developed to assist international visitors: Flowers of Amsterdam, Old Holland, Amsterdam Beach, Castles & Gardens of Amsterdam, New Land and Haarlem. The joint, targeted approach is possible because municipalities are increasingly able to step out of their own shadows. After all, we are stronger when united – a notion that has already been proved. 2014 will also see us concentrate heavily on business marketing, a concern that entered our portfolio following the merger. In 2013, it became apparent that we were not well enough
equipped to carry out this role to the best of our abilities. As such, we set in motion the recruitment process for a Senior Business Marketeer and hope to fill the position in 2014. The new marketeer’s initial undertaking will be to develop a sound, lucid corporate proposition for Amsterdam – something which has been lacking up until now. This process will naturally be conducted in close consultation with amsterdam inbusiness and the Amsterdam Economic Board. In the longer term, we are keen to further improve the services we provide – an aspiration determined in 2013. We hope to bundle several initiatives related to this objective in 2015. Integrating the entire public transport system into the I amsterdam City Card is one such aspiration, as is the modernisation and expansion of several locations in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area where we enjoy a clear, physical presence: at Amsterdam Central Station, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and on Museumplein. In short, 2015 will be dominated by improving service provision. Meanwhile, we haven’t lost sight of our longterm objectives, as determined in consultation with the City of Amsterdam in the Dashboard 2013-2018. This document outlines the objectives for each target group leading up to 2018. For example, by 2018, we want to achieve a 25% increase in the number of residents of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area who visit one or more cultural institutions, a 20% increase in the average daily expenditure by international visitors and that 100 new international companies set up shop in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area each year up until 2018.
choices Before we embarked on the jubilee year of 2013, we made it clear that our activities needed to have a sustainable effect. And they did: new initiatives and projects have blossomed as a result of the huge range of activities organised throughout the year. We’ve seen a dramatic increase
in participation on our social media platforms and have produced several high-quality publications, such as the redesigned Uitkrant and the new A-mag. 2013 has not only raised our profile with our stakeholders, but also with our target groups. And this is something we are extremely pleased about. As such, we’re even more determined to continue with what we’re good at: connecting, enhancing and choosing. Those are the three concepts that epitomise Amsterdam Marketing. We see what the region has to offer, bundle it into a package and then gift wrap the whole lot. And we’re dedicated to involving both major and minor players, under the motto: United we stand! We have also learned the importance of making choices, and this is something we may have to approach more emphatically in the future. With the objective of promoting the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area as one of the five most attractive European metropolises for residents, visitors, companies and decision-makers, it’s impossible to be everything to everyone all the time. And that’s why we create profiles and make demands. We are a city of culture, tolerance and liberty, architecture and design, commercial spirit, creativity and innovation. What we support needs to be infused with Amsterdam’s DNA: it needs to be unique, distinctive and high quality. Frans van der Avert - CEO Eduard Pieter Oud - CFO