What kind of city is Suzhou?

Suzhou has too much history, and Suzhou people are full of pride and attachment to it, which leads to Suzhou talking too much about the past in urban propaganda and makes it difficult for Suzhou to escape from humanistic, elegant and simple memories. However, the outside world is not familiar with Suzhou's modern civilization, advanced innovation and prosperity, and the modern charm of Suzhou has not been well spread to the outside world.

What should Suzhou look like? How should a real Suzhou be presented to the world? The scientific research project "Suzhou City Image Research and Communication Planning" has spent nearly two years trying to answer these questions and create a simple, clear and infectious city image for Suzhou.

Puzzlement of city image: there is a cognitive gap between Suzhou people and foreigners

> > "balance and beauty" has become the unique temperament of this city.

"Small but big" means that Suzhou's urban specifications are small but its strength is great.

"Ancient and modern" refers to the integration of Suzhou's historical culture and modern characteristics.

"Soft and hard" means that Suzhou has both cultural soft power and economic hard power.

"Fast and slow" means that Suzhou has maintained a leisurely pace of life in its rapid development.

> > Differentiated communication in different regions

People in China have a deep impression of classical Suzhou, that is, Suzhou culture, so when targeting this part of the population, we should focus on the modern Soviet strength and Soviet-style life.

Residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are not impressed by Suzhou as a whole, and their image communication should pay equal attention to Suzhou-style life, Suzhou strength and Suzhou culture.

For European and American markets, it is easier to win the hearts of the people and make the image of the city a household name.

Suzhou in the eyes of foreign residents-Su Dongpo became an "image spokesperson"?

The research project "Suzhou city image research and communication planning" conducted a questionnaire survey among residents in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei to understand their views on Suzhou. The survey results show that gardens, water towns and beautiful women are the three associations of foreign residents to Suzhou, namely, pink tiles, small bridges and flowing water, beautiful water towns in the south of the Yangtze River and ancient city culture. However, these impressions do not seem to be unique to Suzhou. Hangzhou, another paradise city with "heaven above and Suzhou and Hangzhou below", unconsciously played down the unique impression of Suzhou people in other places.

Su Dongpo is a representative of Suzhou? I'm afraid Suzhou citizens can't agree with this. But in the impression of Hong Kong people and Taipei people, Su Dongpo is the "image spokesperson" of Suzhou. In the question of "Suzhou is the first impression that comes to mind", it is quite surprising that both Hong Kong citizens and Taipei citizens mentioned Su Dongpo in unison. Su Dongpo, who once said that "crossing Suzhou, not visiting the Tiger Hill and not worshiping the mountains, is a debt to others", probably would not have thought that his love of climbing mountains in Suzhou has become the "Suzhou impression" in the minds of Hong Kong and Taiwan residents.

Among the three options of well-known tourist city, livable city and modern science and technology city, 78% of Beijing residents, 72% of Shanghai residents and 90% of Taipei residents all agree that Suzhou is a well-known tourist city, and its image is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Interestingly, when asked whether Suzhou is a livable city, 83% of Beijing residents gave a positive answer, and no one even voted "No". However, in recent years, the scientific and technological development that Suzhou people are proud of is rarely understood by foreign residents. In the survey, only 10% of Shanghainese and 12% of Beijingers think Suzhou is a modern science and technology city, while the awareness of Hong Kong and Taipei residents is "0".

The report concludes that Suzhou has too much history, and Suzhou people are full of pride and attachment to it, which leads to Suzhou talking too much about the past in urban propaganda, making it difficult for Suzhou to escape its memory of humanity, elegance and simplicity. However, the outside world is not familiar with Suzhou's modern civilization, advanced innovation and prosperity, and the modern charm of Suzhou has not been well spread to the outside world.

What best reflects the unique temperament of Sioux City-the so-called beauty is what Suzhou looks like!

What is the real Suzhou like? What can best reflect the unique temperament of Suzhou city? After talking with Suzhou residents and interviewing experts, scholars and government officials, the report summarizes the unique characteristics of Suzhou's urban temperament: "small but big", "ancient and modern", "soft and hard", "fast and slow" and overall balance. Suzhou is a well-balanced city in all aspects, which skillfully blends many seemingly contradictory characteristics, but it is also inclusive, so that these characteristics can be carried forward. This is exactly what Suzhou needs to emphasize in its future external communication.

"Small but big" means that Suzhou's urban specifications are small but its strength is great. "Ancient and modern" is the integration of Suzhou's history, culture and modern characteristics. "Soft and hard" means that Suzhou has both cultural soft power and economic hard power. "Fast and slow" means that Suzhou has maintained a leisurely pace of life in its rapid development. At present, the most well-known slogan in Suzhou is "she uses the exquisiteness of classical gardens to lay out the territory of modern economy;" She used Shuang Mianxiu's unique skills to realize the docking between the East and the West, reflecting this balance.

Suzhou residents know this best. As mentioned in the report, at three special research symposiums with old Suzhou people, new Suzhou people and elite workers, the new and old Suzhou people all agreed that the unique quality of Suzhou city is reflected in the integration of ancient and modern times, openness and tolerance, balanced life, adapting the ancient to the present, moving quickly, advancing and retreating slowly. Suzhou residents are interested in preserving Suzhou's unique culture in economic development, accommodating differences in pioneering development and maintaining a beautiful living environment and quality of life in economic development.

In the view of government officials, experts and scholars in Suzhou, Suzhou's city image positioning can not be separated from the three characteristics of economic development, cultural inheritance and livable city. What they expect is a unified image of Suzhou, a deepening of Suzhou's cultural image and an enhanced expression of modern development.

What is a new Soviet-style life-economy, culture and life constitute a new 3D image.

According to the survey and interview results in the past year, the report suggested that Suzhou should change its city image, from "Shuang Mianxiu Suzhou" which originally emphasized economy and culture to "3D Suzhou" which covered economy, culture and life.

The new image of Suzhou city is mainly composed of Soviet-style life, Suzhou strength and Suzhou culture. This brand-new three-dimensional image not only absorbs the two original assets of Suzhou city image: the vivid impression of paradise on earth and the rich assets of cultural heritage, but also adds the charm of modern city that was lacking in the previous external communication image. Suzhou in life, Suzhou in economy and Suzhou in culture constitute an organic whole, which fully shows the charm of Suzhou city.

Suzhou in economy and Suzhou in culture are well known. Adding "Suzhou of Life" to the city image, the report believes that this not only conforms to the formulation of a livable city in Suzhou's construction goal of "three districts and three cities", but also can transform the well-known subjective impression of "there is heaven above and Suzhou and Hangzhou below" into a more concrete and concrete modern city image. As described in the report, Suzhou, which has the reputation of "paradise on earth" and "livable city in the world", is not crowded and restless in a big city, and is free from the shackles of a small city. Its prosperity, progress and leisure are just right. Life has evolved into a unique "Soviet life"!

Suzhou-style life conveys Suzhou's livable advantage, Suzhou's strength shows Suzhou's prosperity and development, and Suzhou culture emphasizes Suzhou's humanistic heritage. The images of these three cities are wrapped in "balance", which is the uniqueness of Suzhou's urban temperament, and clearly conveys to the outside world the five competitive advantages of Suzhou's urban brands, namely, geographical and climatic advantages, pioneering and pragmatic, the development of the whole industrial chain, strong comprehensive strength and profound cultural heritage.

How to spread the new image of the city-what you don't know is what I want to say.

The report established the image of Suzhou as a new city: "Discover Suzhou you don't know!" This core perspective of external communication puts the focus of Suzhou city image communication on "what to say", with special emphasis on telling the outside world the unknown advantages of Suzhou.

The spread of Suzhou's overall image can be described in detail by shooting image advertisements. Due to the different understanding of Suzhou in different regional markets, the report also suggests that Suzhou's city image should be aimed at individual markets such as Chinese mainland, China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, New Zealand, Europe and America, and that Suzhou's strength, Suzhou culture and Soviet-style life should have different emphases and levels to better meet the needs of the local market. For example, people in China have a deep impression of classical Suzhou, that is, Suzhou culture, so when targeting this group of people, we should give priority to modern Soviet strength and Soviet-style life. However, residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are not impressed by Suzhou as a whole, and their image communication should pay equal attention to Suzhou-style life, Suzhou strength and Suzhou culture. For European and American markets, it is easier to win the hearts of the people and make the image of the city a household name.

The report also pointed out that it is impossible to shape the brand image of all cities overnight. Therefore, the process of shaping the city brand image should pay attention to authenticity, competitiveness and future, which should not only conform to the characteristics of the city, but also highlight the unique charm of the city and be related to the development of the city. If the image of a city is to be deeply rooted in people's hearts and to improve the publicity efficiency, it is necessary to accurately only talk about "key highlights". For Suzhou, the highlights are Suzhou in life, Suzhou in culture and Suzhou in economy.

Only by strategically, creatively and continuously spreading the "key highlights" of Suzhou can more people at home and abroad know about Suzhou, understand Suzhou and fall in love with Suzhou.