Arcadia Spain

While the city of Barcelona fits the modern mould of the entrepreneurial city - anxiously checking its position in the urban global rankings, trying out new logos (currently Barcelona inspires) and commissioning more 'singular' buildings, its much smaller neighbor up the coast, Girona, is quite happy to be as it is. The Brand Barcelona class explored Girona for a day in November, and found a city that contradicts many of the place marketers cherished rules. The closest it has to a logo is the slightly apologetic Girona.

Most of the promotional effort of the city's Communication, Documentation and Marketing section, as its head Oriol Mas explained in a hilarious discussion with the class, is internal, aimed at its own citizens, telling them what the council is doing and in programs to improve urban life - how much public money could be saved, for instance, if citizens didn't throw wet tissues in the lavatory.

In fact, Girona engages more in what is called de-marketing: putting off potential visitors. Some of them, at least. To give on instance,  the city's spring flower festival has got so big the promotional effort (or value proposition in branding language) is targeted only at retired visitors from nearby France - they don't bring children, come during the week and spend more than most in the restaurants.

Meanwhile, gifts to the city's economy fall into its lap. After Lance Armstrong based himself in Girona to train for the Tour de France, it has become a European capital for cyclists, as well as runners, triathletes, and other high-spending sports types who appreciate the weather and rolling landscape. 

Barcelona's jewel in the crown, the World Mobile Congress, has had a ripple effect from Mark Zuckerberg's decision to hotel in Girona rather than the overheated Catalan capital. And since Game of Thrones was filmed around the Cathedral, fans of the enormous series can't wait to trace the action through the Gothic lanes of the Medieval core. As did the Arcadia class, with a guide armed with a tablet computer showing the relevant scenes in each of the places we visited. All in all, an entertaining as well as instructive day's visit.