Hopes for city's new £150,000 brand strategy

At a cost of 150,000 over the last year, city leaders will hope it succeeds.

According to marketeer Brendan Moffett, the man behind the new strategy, image is everything for potential customers. "You have to have a look – otherwise you won't get a second look," he said.

"Our job is to make Sheffield competitive and stand out."

He is director of strategic marketing at Creative Sheffield, the publicly-funded economic development company. He looked at cities across Europe and America for inspiration for the new vision.

He found it closer to home. "Glasgow has had similar challenges to Sheffield," he said. "Its industry closed down and the city had to reinvent itself."

While Sheffield has maintained a strong base of manufacturing and engineering companies, it has made advances in the cultural, media and sports arenas in recent years.

Jessica Ennis, the world champion heptathlete, is a notable talent to emerge from the city and she has lent her support by becoming a brand ambassador.

She told the Yorkshire Post: "It fits perfectly. I'm from Sheffield, born and bred, I was educated here, train here, I'm proud of the city and what it's got to offer.

"A few years ago, people viewed Sheffield as not moving with the times but now you can see the city's completely transformed. It's created a different perception."

Miss Ennis, 24, said there is a North-South divide between English athletes on tour. She said: "I'm always saying how good Sheffield is and being quite competitive. We have that banter."

James Beresford, chief executive of tourism body Visit England, agreed that the city has transformed itself. Speaking at the launch, he warned that certain cities in the UK risked "becoming any town, any place".

"The stance of differentiating yourselves here is absolutely the right one," he said.

He praised the new initiative with the Peak District to promote Sheffield as the City of the Peaks. He added: "Sheffield should not be an island; it should look outwards into its hinterlands."

The tourism industry is big business, generating 94bn for the English economy last year. Of this, 20 per cent came from business tourism.

Other cities are equally as aspirational, though, with Sheffield currently sitting in 14th position in the top 20 urban destinations.

In business terms, David Richards, the Sheffield entrepreneur based in Silicon Valley, California, said the city has a lot to offer, including "great office space, talented people and infrastructure".

He chose Sheffield for WANdisco's European headquarters and developed his software management system in the city. It is now used by five million companies worldwide.

Doug Richard, the American entrepreneur and former star of TV's Dragons' Den, returned to Sheffield for the brand launch after taking part in the successful MADE Entrepreneur Festival.

He said Sheffield "in many ways has no clue how well it did" with the inaugural festival, which attracted leading politicians, diplomats and entrepreneurs to the city for three days in September.

"If it was a start-up, it would be a runner," said the multi-millionaire angel investor. The city was mentioned in glowing terms during Global Entrepreneurship Week, said MADE organiser Michael Hayman.

Mr Richard said Sheffield would benefit dramatically from the introduction of superfast broadband over the next three years, describing the new infrastructure as "the railroads of the 21st century".

A spokeswoman for Creative Sheffield said the 150,000 cost to the public "represents 0.1 per cent of the total council budget".

She added: "The project is an extension of the brand work developed throughout the city's UK City of Culture 2013 bid. The work so far has also received private sector support."

These include banks, law firms and accountants with significant operations in the city.

The spokeswoman said: "This is a smart public sector investment that will bring opportunity to the people of Sheffield. This co-ordinated and consistent approach to promotion will drive investment, jobs and visitors. Businesses have been asking for years for us to promote Sheffield better –from hotels to restaurants to digital media businesses and manufacturers. Our message is clear: come and work, live, invest in or visit our great city."

Creative Sheffield has Yorkshire Forward funding until 2011.

Clegg: Brand launch was key moment

The launch of Sheffield's competitive brand strategy marked a key moment for the city, according to Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister.

He said: "We have already seen huge developments on our city's culture, media and sport scene – its digital region status, its growing media sector, its position as a 2018 host city for the World Cup bid – and the emergence of a world champion in the form of Jessica Ennis."

Paul Scriven, leader of the city council, added: "Behind all this is a restructure of the way in which the city markets its assets – primarily by bringing the city's tourism function and... marketing function at Creative Sheffield under one roof."