Research

In June 2025, we released Beauty Runs Deep – our benchmarking report on Sydney’s performance and perception compared to other global cities. This is what it found:

Many cities are now investing in their city brands and lessons from these cities are instructive for Sydney as we move into the next cycle of brand maturity.

Sydney has significant potential to develop its global brand, building on our strengths and applying lessons from how other cities have approached brand development.

To capitalise on these opportunities, Sydney needs to take the next steps:

• Get the story straight – the story Sydney tells the world about itself needs to reflect the diverse and complex city we are
• Conduct the orchestra – the messages we sent about Sydney and the communication channels we use need to align with target audiences, nd these messages should be consistent so we are all singing from the same song sheet
• Collaborate to compete – Sydney’s brand cannot be wholly owned by government because it is multi-dimensional and involves private and institutional stakeholders also.
  

You can read more about the benchmarking research informing Sydney Global below: