Share The Vibe: The Miracle of Eindhoven
"A book about city marketing or the book about city marketing?
How does a gritty industrial city evolve into a global beacon of innovation and vitality? Peter Kentie's Share the Vibe unveils Eindhoven's compelling transformation, driven by audacious thinking and tight-knit collaboration that forged a standout brand identity.
At its core lies the collaboration that propelled Eindhoven forward - a theme Kentie, former director of city marketing organization Eindhoven365 and many times awarded, explores by assembling voices from colleagues, experts, and brand originators. The book offers a candid, multi-angled glimpse into the city's marketing evolution: from its bold beginnings to branding as a unifying force. It's a narrative that's as practical for strategists as it is inspiring for anyone tracking urban reinvention.
There's a whole academic industry of place branders churning out indexes and rankings, endlessly bashing each other over whose is most reliable. They often dismiss city marketing with a condescending smirk. I call them the Platonists - idealists who'd love to bend reality to fit their grand theories. Anyone who remembers their philosophy class knows they face off against the Aristotelians: the empiricists who work bottom-up, hand-in-hand with their communities. Eindhoven365 firmly belongs in that latter camp.
This book is a goldmine of practical, hands-on tips for anyone working in city marketing, aspiring to it, or studying it. It covers every angle imaginable: from typography to positioning, congress tourism to music marketing, content strategy to event policy. Marco Bevolo's (Turin) piece on 'placecinemaking' and Hans van Amerlsvoort's (Eindhoven) take on 'future-proof house style' really struck a chord with me.
Two words stand out strikingly in the book. The first is choice—and the stubborn resolve needed to stick to it. This is likely where most cities fail, often buckling under political or other pressures. Eindhoven's brand consistency is truly unparalleled. The second word is friction. Creativity emerges from collision. Instead of anxiously shielding its logo, Eindhoven hands it over to the creative community and lets them run with it. That's how you forge a genuine brand connection. Too often, you see the opposite dynamic at play.
Is this a blueprint for every other city? Yes and no. There's plenty to learn here, but each place demands its own fresh approach. Cultural differences are too vast to extract a one-size-fits-all truth from this powerful story.
Eindhoven - Photo from the book (credit: Gordon Jack)
Do I agree with everything? Not necessarily. After all, you're dealing with Dutch folks who love a provocative statement ('there's no such thing as urban DNA'), but dig deeper, and you'll see the city and its unique character at the heart of it all. That's the core message I take away: Eindhoven's vibes are unlike any other brand, born from a community, radical stakeholder management, and creative freedom.
In the Netherlands, Eindhoven gets dubbed the Real Madrid of city marketing. I think our football-crazy Dutch have it wrong here. Real Madrid is a money-consuming machine that's been bailed out from bankruptcy a few times and underperforms relative to its worth. Eindhoven, by contrast, has been punching way above its weight for years - thanks to one of the most consistent, thoughtful brand strategies around.
Is it a good book? Let me put it this way: it's required reading for my students.
- FRANK CUYPERS
