These are Bocholt's 5 most convincing strengths

The city of Bocholt and city marketing presented the results of the Bocholt brand analysis today under the expert scientific supervision of Peter Pirck from Brandmeyer Markenberatung in Hamburg and Prof Dr Sebastian Zenker from Copenhagen Business School.

The analysis is based on brand camps, interviews and an online survey, which were conducted on behalf of the city and city marketing in January and February 2024. The main aim of this survey was to identify the most compelling strengths from the perspective of the city's population and people from the surrounding area. The strengths identified will play an important role in the further process of establishing the brand.

Focussing on the strengths

One result of the brand analysis is that Bocholt was rated as "very positive" overall by all of the approximately 2000 participants. This is particularly striking when compared to other cities that have also undergone a branding process. The most frequent associations with Bocholt were "bicycle" and "Aa / Aasee". But: The focus of the brand analysis was not only to determine what is associated with Bocholt - but what makes the city attractive (so-called brand drivers).

Brand content

With the help of the online survey, five strengths of Bocholt - the core of the Bocholt city brand - were identified. This is how Bocholt can best position and profile itself in the competition between cities:

The Netherlands on the doorstep
Bocholt has a unique location at the interface of Münsterland, the Ruhr region and the Lower Rhine. However, what people appreciate most about Bocholt's location is its immediate proximity to the Netherlands.

Bicycle-friendly city
Bocholt is characterised by the bicycle like perhaps no other medium-sized town in Germany. Short distances in the city, good cycle paths and strong roots in the population characterise Bocholt as a cycling city.

Strong business and university location
The innovative Westphalian University of Applied Sciences and an economy characterised by a healthy SME sector with many family businesses make Bocholt a strong location with attractive job prospects. The industrial park is a visible sign of Bocholt's economic strength.

History and nature in the cityscape
What the population particularly appreciates about the cityscape is that Bocholt is "just the right size". Other very positively rated facets are the historic buildings / squares such as the historic town hall and the natural surroundings, which also offer plenty of space for outdoor activities.

City with a strong community
Despite its size of over 70,000 inhabitants, Bocholt is a community - people know each other here" and maintain a strong sense of community in the city through a strong voluntary sector and numerous (sports) clubs. The Bocholt funfair and the weekly market are important focal points of the community.

Brand communication

The historic town hall, the Aasee lake, the city forest and the funfair were named most frequently as the top image motifs. The attributes of Bocholt that were surveyed were in line with the following characteristics: close to home, close to nature, lovable, sociable, community, family.

Basis for location marketing

With the help of the analysis, central cornerstones for the city brand were defined, which could also be interesting for the work of many Bocholt companies and institutions - especially against the background of skilled labour marketing. Recommendations for action can be derived from the results for politics and administration. The brand analysis deliberately looked for Bocholt's strengths rather than its problems and weaknesses. The task of the entire city society will now be to present Bocholt as a location both internally and externally and not only to highlight its strengths, but also to live them.

Why a strong Bocholt brand?

With its holistic approach, the online survey provides a very good basis for location marketing. City marketing and the city of Bocholt see it as a concrete task to work together with the city community over the next few years to convey targeted storytelling, images and experiences that build on the results of the survey, and by succeeding in communicating and representing the strengths of the city even better, Bocholt will be strengthened in the competition between cities and regions. The entire city can benefit from a strong Bocholt brand: More qualified specialists for Bocholt's companies, more visitors, even more identification within the city society.

Here you can find the complete presentation with the results.