"Barcelona must be valued more"

Bibiana Ballbè, journalist and founder of the creative agency TheCreative, opens a series of interviews in The New Barcelona Post with creatives from our city about the Barcelona brand concept.

Her first guest is Nacho Padilla, creative director of the Barcelona City Council. The interview delves into his past, present, and future, and his vision of the city.

--- What does the Barcelona brand mean and what does Barcelona represent?

--- I am against the term brand. The other day I saw an interview you did with Toni Segarra, and he said that, for him, Barcelona is not a brand.

--- Exactly. You often say that what you do is campaign for the non-brand, to build narratives of a city. What would you say is Barcelona's narrative?

---Normally, when faced with such a challenge, you commission three different agencies and they propose three different claims, which is very subjective. You have to be very humble and understand that cities are entities and communities with a lot of history, a lot of weight, and millions of people who have built them. It makes no sense for a bunch of communicators to suddenly arrive and say that Barcelona is this or that. Cities are very complex. You have to find a narrative in which the people who live there feel comfortable and represented. For example, Madrid has no icon, but it has a very recognizable character. When I worked at Contrapunto, there was a claim we used for tourism: "When you come to Madrid, you are already from Madrid," with Manuela Carmena we translated it to "Madrid embraces you." It is a city that welcomes you and that, no matter who you are, loves you. Ayuso uses the same narrative from a much more individualistic perspective, a city that lets you be. The shirt is the same, Ayuso and Carmena can wear it, and that is the success of a narrative. If the narrative of Barcelona can be worn by Colau and Trias, it is a narrative that works, because in the end you end up giving it the perspective you want.

-- So, what does Barcelona have that Madrid doesn't?

--- Mariano Rajoy said that Catalans do things, it is true that it is a city where things happen. It is a city that has a spirit of being at the forefront. People in Barcelona come together to make sure it never stops, there is a lot of organizational density at all levels, from cuadrillas, collas, ateneos, clubs, it's brutal. There is a very curious duality: do you make a colla de castellers to be together or do we get together to make a colla de castellers? There is always an excuse to have meetings with many friends. In Barcelona, we get together to do things and we do things to get together, that is the spirit. That's why we started using an umbrella concept that was "with you". A concept we used in the campaign for the use of masks during the pandemic: "Jo, nosaltres, tothom?". Barcelona is a city that thinks more in common. In contrast, the city of Madrid speaks in singular.

--- Madrid is more individualistic.

--- Well, rather Ayuso's government is more individualistic.

--- In short, is it difficult to talk about a specific narrative for Barcelona?

-- Yes, it is a complex city.

--- What values does Barcelona provide?

--- Collaboration leads to different ideas coming together, and that's why Barcelona is a very avant-garde city because it mixes a lot and is collaborative. It is a city that listens and dialogues a lot. You can apply that to tourism, to economy, to culture, to the entire universe of the city.

--- Why do you think it is so important for a city like Barcelona, in general any city, to invest in communication resources?

--- It is necessary to communicate, people need to know what is happening in the city. All major city campaigns are a showcase for the city (Sant Jordi, La Mercè, etc...). Then there is a part that is more municipal and another part that is about how you position yourself in the world, which is the more marketing-oriented part.

"It is necessary to communicate, people need to know what is happening in the city. All major city campaigns are a showcase for the city"

--- They are very expensive and I don't think they work well. It makes no sense to spend money to appear on Fifth Avenue.

--- What is the best international campaign for a city?

--- Many cities have generated a discourse or an image of themselves through cultural tools such as literature, cinema, theater. New York has done it very well, you arrive there and you have the feeling of knowing it. You recognize everything.

--- Is culture a great agent for positioning a city?

--- Many campaigns we have done for events like San Isidro or La Mercè have become iconic posters, posters that in 20 years people will remember and many keep in their homes. The image of the city is built over time. Barcelona is a city that has been built little by little, and that clashes with the fast-paced communicative rhythm we are used to. One thing that politicians really like and has no return is spending 60,000 euros on an advertisement for a page in the Financial Times.

--- Speaking of the Financial Times, an article recently came out saying that Barcelona had lost its way, that the glorious years had passed, and that it no longer had a clear identity.

--- I believe so, there is a city project. It could be that the author of the article didn't like that project, but Barcelona is very clear about what kind of city it wants to be. It is very much at the forefront and cities like Berlin, or Swedish cities, have it as a role model. We are in a period of change, cities have to decide where they want to go. Today's world is very complicated, it is very polarized.

--- How do you experience the city? How do you see it?

--- I arrived in Barcelona at a certain age and I consider myself a walker. I see it more bustling than I expected. From Madrid we see it as a quieter city where everyone rides a bicycle, where there are more bike lanes, and then you arrive here and there is also a lot of traffic.

--- Do you have the feeling that Barcelonans, in general, complain a lot?

--- Yes, I think it's a positive part, it's a city that is not conformist, that has to advance. But it should be valued more.

"From Madrid we see it as a quieter city where everyone rides a bicycle, where there are more bike lanes, and then you arrive here and there is also a lot of traffic"

--- I believe so, each neighborhood has its essence and its pride. And I love that.

--- Could we say that we live in a competitive environment where it's no longer about attracting tourists, but about attracting the best talent?

--- Now it's a mantra for cities that they have to attract talent. Barcelona is well positioned in all rankings, and consistently over time.

--- How do you see the future of Barcelona?

--- Quite vital decisions need to be made about what kind of city project it wants to be. Many climate problems are coming, such as Barceloneta being flooded in 50 years. How do you work with these types of forecasts? Cities have to prepare for very strong challenges.

--- What do you take away from your time as creative director of Barcelona?

--- A lot of affection. For me, as a professional, working for the city has been a gift, it's amazing, and having been able to work in Madrid and Barcelona is something I didn't expect. They are two wonderful cities.

--- And what comes after this?

--- I don't know. When I finished in Madrid, I did a small reset, and that's what I want to do after Barcelona too.

--- What's going to happen with the elections?

--- Well, I have no idea, because two very different ideas of the city are being proposed. It's very polarized.