The #LondonIsOpen campaign has won Best Marketing Award at the International Congress and Convention Association for promoting the city following the UK vote to leave the European Union.
The campaign, which was launched by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and supported by London & Partners, the official promotional company and convention bureau for the city, aimed to show the world that London remains open, entrepreneurial, international, and full of creativity and possibility, while reassuring the more than one million foreign nationals who live in London that they will always be welcome.
The campaign helped change the narrative around the referendum by providing a positive voice for London and capitalised on the more favourable exchange rate, resulting in a 41 per cent increase in convention bureau enquiries between June and September compared to the same period last year.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Our #LondonIsOpen campaign has proved conclusively that despite the decision to leave the European Union, London will always remain the best city in the world. We will always be creative, outward-looking, open to people from different backgrounds and full of opportunities and nothing will ever change that. We have worked with so many partners across the city to make this campaign such a huge success and we look forward to continuing to push home the message that London will always welcome everyone and be the best city in the world to live in, work and visit.”
#LondonIsOpen engaged all sectors of the city and was backed by some prominent figures such as actor Jude Law and double Olympic and World Champion Mo Farah. The #LondonIsOpen campaign is also supported by the public relations company Freuds.
Best Marketing Award Chairman of the judging panel Patrick Delaney: “In these turbulent times, London’s entry was a fantastic example of a destination proactively reacting to a significant change in the political and social landscape. The campaign demonstrated the power of uniting the whole community including key political figures and stakeholders behind a single united brand message.”
