Branding Vadodara as BigLilCity

VADODARA: Branding products and services is a known affair, but a motley group of youths in the city has taken up the onus of creating Brand Vadodara. The group has produced a short documentary film on the city and made people in the country and even abroad talk about it.
BigLilCity could well be what the city may be known in the future if the effort started on Monday gains momentum.The hashtag BilLilCity has already started trending prominently on a microblogging site following the launch of a documentary 'Vadodara - The Big City in a Small Package'.
The documentary makes people from the Far East to the west talk about Vadodara and the city's positives. The documentary is the brainchild of city-based adman Harsh Purohit.
Purohit said the only caveat for those joining the effort is that they should talk positive about the city. "In today's globalized, networked world, every city has to compete for investment, development, talent, fame, respect and attention. A simple brand narrative of the city can have a major impact on people's decisions to visit it, buy its products or services, to do business there or even relocate there," he said adding that the city needed a branding much like The Big Apple for New York and similar tags for other cities.
The documentary produced by Purohit's team has been sponsored by L&T Ltd. It is proposed to be promoted through the social and digital media extensively. Board member and president (power) of L&T Power Ravi Uppal said the city had everything going for it. "It has all the makings that could make it emerge as a Bengaluru-like critical mass," Uppal added.
The film has already been picked up by Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC). At the 'Chintan Shibir', the officials were given a sneak peek of the film. "Vadodara has its own identity and stands out. It needs to be looked at differently and not like other cities," said VMC commissioner Ashwini Kumar. Even district collector Vinod Rao participated in the discussions on Monday. It should not be a surprise if the documentary is picked up by the officials to promote Vadodara at various forums.
For quite some time till 7 pm on Monday, the hashtag BigLilCity was trending at the fourth position among the topics trending in the country.