Cork launches new brand for region

17 Sep 2018

Many of Cork’s landmark buildings including City Hall, County Hall, Port of Cork, UCC, CIT’s City Centre Hub, The Capitol and One Albert Quay will turn red this week to launch a new brand to promote Cork.

The We are Cork brand will enhance the marketing of the city and county nationally and internationally as a great place to live, work, invest, study, play, visit and succeed. 

• Cork stakeholders unite under new branding for the region - We are Cork
• Cork’s flagship buildings turn red to mark the launch of new region branding
• Cork continues to gear up for Brexit uncertainty and challenges with cohesive messaging
• Major investments and infrastructural spend for Ireland’s fastest growing region;
• Over €510 million worth of commercial developments underway or recently completed
• €80 million port redevelopment underway and operational by 2020
• 1,200 new hotel rooms under construction or in planning, and more than 106 cruise liners, with 200,000 passengers and crew, stopping at Cork in 2019
• €214 million on roads in Cork over next three years
• 10,000 new jobs in the city centre region over next five years
• UCC to invest over €350 million to support student accommodation, and development of campus and new schools
• Cork Airport has seen an 80% increase in new airlines since 2017 and experienced 40% expansion of routes. These figures confirm Cork Airport as the busiest and best connected international airport in Munster and the State’s second largest airport.
• Cork businesses, organisations and individuals called on to adopt new branding across all local, national and international marketing material and social media.

Cork is poised to be the fastest growing region in Ireland in the next 20 years and UCC will invest €350m in student infrastructure. The University is delighted to co-promote the region with the new branding initiative #wearecork . More: https://t.co/MqSP0GE4hP pic.twitter.com/023xOgEZy6

— UCC Ireland (@UCC) September 17, 2018

The initiative aims to support Cork as it’s poised to become the fastest growing region in Ireland in the next 20 years.  With €510 million in commercial development underway or recently completed in Cork, the region is home to the world’s largest technology company, Apple and seven out of 10 of the world’s top 10 pharma companies. With the increased global movement of companies and Brexit uncertainty, stakeholders in Cork have been working at promoting its economic and lifestyle merits with all the benefits of a metropolitan area as well as vast open spaces, scenery and extensive coastline. And notably Cork is poised become Europe’s second largest English speaking region!

As part of the initiative, which is a first in Ireland, the region’s stakeholders including Cork City Council, Cork County Council, Cork Airport, Port of Cork, University College Cork, Cork Institute of Technology, Cork Chamber, Cork Business Association, Ibec, Enterprise Ireland, IDA, Failte Ireland and Visit Cork are backing the We are Cork brand.  As the umbrella brand for Cork, it is envisaged that We are Cork will come to represent and promote the region internationally, nationally and locally. It will also be available for use by all businesses, organisations and interested parties in Cork. 

An Tánaiste, Simon Coveney TD was on hand to launch the We are Cork brand, and said: “We Are Cork is a brilliant initiative to bring together under one banner everything that makes Cork great. The city and county are going to be the fastest growing parts of the country for the next two decades and it is essential that campaigns like We Are Cork are initiated to make the most out of the business to be done.”

Speaking at the launch of We are Cork, Cork City Council Chief Executive and Chair of the We Are Cork Steering Committee Ann Doherty said, “Collaboration is the cornerstone of the We are Cork brand, which should be adopted widely in the coming weeks and months.  The brand has unilateral support from all major players in Cork, unifying Cork’s positioning and messaging to help us tell the Cork story cohesively overseas as well as at home.  With Brexit around the corner, it is vital to be prepared for the challenges and opportunities that this will inevitably bring. We are Cork is vital to our strategy to help realize the ambitious growth targets for our Region set by Government in Ireland 2040.”

Cork County Council Chief Executive Tim Lucey said:“We Are Cork is a brand under which we are united in showcasing the Cork region on a local, national and international stage. Cork is unique in terms of its offering, balancing significant urban growth with a quality of life across our rural, coastal and Island communities that is second to none.  Our highly talented workforce and low cost of doing business is a proven attraction but it is the quality of how we live that secures retention.  We Are Cork has incredible potential, we just need to live it now and into the future.”

With a population of over half a million people, Cork will see an investment of €200 million in public transport in the coming years and €214 million on roads in the next three years. New flights continue to bolster the region’s accessibility, with a number of direct flights to the USA and almost 15 flights daily to and from the UK.

Residential costs are 30% lower in Cork when compared to Dublin.  Cork has previously topped the Financial Times ‘European League for Foreign Direct Investment’ table and is currently home to 158 FDI companies located in the Region, including global leaders such as Dell EMC and Vmware, Pfizer, Eli Lilly among others. Cork has also been voted the top small city for business friendliness and the 3^rd friendliest location in the world, along with numerous accolades from travel, food, culture and arts.  It is against this proven track record that the Region’s stakeholders have joined forces to bolster Cork’s thriving ecosystem and ensure a unified communications message of success from the region.

Conor Healy, CEO of Cork Chamber added: “Cork has everything to offer –  a great place to live, work, study, invest and to succeed. As a long-term advocate of the need for a strong place brand, we are excited to see not just the We Are Cork brand launched here today but most importantly the collaborative approach that has been taken by all involved. Building on this we are calling on the people and businesses of Cork to support the brand and demonstrate the strong collective voice we have in the region as we work together to position Cork for prosperity.

For more information and to download a copy of the We are Cork brand, visit www.wearecork.ie or follow #wearecork on social media.

Photo caption: L-R Donna O'Driscoll, Director of Marketing and Communications, UCC, Ian O'Brien, Visitors' Centre and JP Quinn, Head of Visitors' Centre, UCC and Denis Twomey, Office of Marketing and Communications, UCC  Image: John Sheehan

For more on this story contact:

Renate Murphy, CAMEO Communications, 086.8145462 renate@cameo.ie