There is a conversation thread working its way around discussing themes from a recent book from Greg Clark, “Global Cities: A Short History”. The discussion grapples with what should Baltimore’s “brand” be? Part of the concern being expressed is that there are at least four organizations having separate discussions on Baltimore’s brand, not one shared conversation. What makes Clark’s book timely is its cautionary note that the discussion around brand should follow a thoughtful, inclusive exploration of Baltimore’s identity, reputation and promise, and then a realistic benchmarking of Baltimore with peer cities. For Clark, a brand isn’t a disembodied slogan but a synthesis of a common story and a shared potential, together with an awareness of how a city fits with its peers.

Mad Men. For Clark one of the great failures of cities is to jump straight to a catchy logo. For him, there’s no avoiding the difficult process of bringing together all facets of a city to work towards a shared identity. When a brand is disconnected from and has no integrity with a city’s identity – no amount of money can ensure success. For Clark, it isn’t about the money invested in marketing, it’s about committing to a process of building an alliance of civic, academic, public, nonprofit, and business leaders to find that “shared story”, to align initiatives and events around that shared story, and finally to collectively champion it. No one sector or group in our region can create a story in a vacuum and no one can expect others to celebrate a story they didn’t have a part in creating.

Image Problem. Clark has advised over 200 cities globally on issues around identity and competitiveness. One of his interesting insights comes from our gridiron nemesis Pittsburgh. Clark uses Pittsburgh as an example of a city that has reinvented itself, has developed a shared story and is now working on ensuring that image is more widely understood. It is not without residual Rust Belt challenges, but its renaissance in health care, autonomous technologies, social entrepreneurism has enabled the region to find renewed steam that the entire community can celebrate. The irony about Pittsburgh, from Clark’s perspective, is that its image needs to catch up with a better reality, a nice problem to have.

Baltimore’s Story. Included in the thread making its way around town is a growing list of our successes and of the foundations that will shape our shared future. The Port Covington and TradePoint Atlantic developments are among the largest on the Eastern seaboard and have the potential for profoundly reshaping our region for generations to come. Our two research clusters, Johns Hopkins on the East Side and University of Maryland Baltimore on the West, have the ability to lift the economic tide for their neighbors. The amazing reimagining of Station North and the profound vision of the Innovation Village expand how our city can be reshaped for all. Sure, we have difficult work to do to tackle the structural failures of our past, but we also have a shared future coming into view with glimpses of great promise. If we can coalesce our conversations, perhaps listen better to ourselves, work harder in finding common stories and a shared future – perhaps the “brand” part will come naturally for a change.

With more than 30 years’ experience in law and business, Newt Fowler, a partner in Womble Carlyle’s business practice advises many investors, entrepreneurs and technology companies, guiding them through all aspects of business planning, financing transactions, technology commercialization and M&A. He chairs the Board of TEDCO and serves on the Board of the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore. Newt can be reached at nfowler@wcsr.com.