> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.ipswich.co.uk/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Ipswich unveils new brand strategy to challenge its 'comment section' reputation - URL: https://www.ipswich.co.uk/ipswich-unveils-new-brand-strategy-to-challenge-its-comment-section-reputation/ - Published: 2026-09-11T08:19:17.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-11T08:20:46.000Z - Description: More than two years after it was first commissioned, Ipswich Borough Council has finally revealed its new place brand for the town, built around the strapline "Ipswich, the home of opportunity." - Author: Oliver Rouane-Williams - Tags: Long Reads, Ipswich Borough Council, Jacob Bailey The strategy, which the council is understood to have begun in 2024, was unveiled on Wednesday, 9 September 2026, at the University of Suffolk. Shaun Bailey, founder of Jacob Bailey Group, the agency the council commissioned to develop the strategy, opened by defining what a brand actually is. "Your brand is what other people say about you when you're not in the room," he told the audience, attributing the line to Amazon boss Jeff Bezos. "Unfortunately, in this day and age, that room now has a comment section," he added as he displayed a series of negative online comments about the town. Comments included claims that Ipswich ranked among the "10 most miserable places to live in England" and had been dubbed "the most tired area in the UK." The new brand strategy is about "changing that conversation – actually trying to fill that void with some positivity," he said. Jacob Bailey Group has been based in Ipswich for 28 years, alongside offices in London, New York and Connecticut. Bailey said the firm now works on destination and place branding for more than 70 locations across England, Wales and Scotland, and has recently begun similar work in the United States. ## What the research uncovered Before drafting any strategy, Bailey said his team reviewed around 350 pages of existing council and partner documents, condensing them down to 16 pages to identify gaps rather than starting from scratch. That research was followed by 17 stakeholder interviews of 30 to 60 minutes each, three stakeholder workshops, and a youth focus group. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/29/1e/291e4b7f-e551-4458-b546-61963954b22f/content/images/2026/09/IMG_5959-2-1.jpeg) Shaun Bailey of Jacob Bailey Group (Photo: Oliver Rouane-Williams/Ipswich.co.uk) One finding surprised him. "There was not much of a differentiation between the conversations and discussions we were having with young people and anyone else," Bailey said. "Age and life experience did not seem to make much difference in terms of what they wanted out of a place." The clearest signal to emerge, he said, was warmth. "There is a warmth about Ipswich," Bailey said, noting that some interviewees, particularly those who had moved to the town from elsewhere, described it as feeling "more akin to a northern town in the south" because of how welcoming it felt. ## From vision to value proposition Bailey structured the strategy using the "what, how, why" framework popularised by author Simon Sinek, arguing that successful organisations and places are defined less by what they do than by why they do it. "People don't buy what you do. They buy why you do it," he said, quoting Sinek. For Ipswich, the "why" that emerged from the research was: "To create opportunity with ambition." That fed into a vision statement: "From a bold place in history to a future with ambition," and a set of four values: bold, ambitious, welcoming and in harmony. The resulting value proposition, and the strategy's central strapline, is "The home of opportunity." Underneath it sits a hierarchy of secondary positions, including "the home of enterprise," "the home of culture" and "the home of education" as primary themes, with further positions such as "the home of live music," "the home of theatre" and "the home of parklands" beneath them. Bailey said the town's new brand personality had been defined as energised and positive, welcoming and helpful, confident and assured, and joined up and forward-looking. "It is not shouty," he said. "It is being confident, it is being assured, it is being quietly assured at times." ## A logo built on the curve of the Orwell Bridge The new logo for the town takes its shape from the curve of the Orwell Bridge, described as "a defining landmark of Ipswich," by Bailey. It pairs a serif typeface, Argesta, intended to reflect the town's heritage, with a modern sans serif, TT Commons, intended to reflect its future ambitions. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/29/1e/291e4b7f-e551-4458-b546-61963954b22f/content/images/2026/09/Logo-Hero-Image.jpg) The new Ipswich logo Photography was described as central to the strategy's success. "The quality of your imagery is absolutely essential in terms of brand positioning and brand representation," Bailey said, citing research suggesting audiences judge an organisation's website "in a nanosecond." A new website has been created. Rather than competing with existing sites and information sources, the site is intended to direct visitors on to Ipswich Central and All About Ipswich for further detail. The new site is expected to launch in the next couple of weeks, though a firm date has not yet been confirmed. The URL for the new site is unknown. ## Who the brand is for, and why now The strategy identifies four audiences the brand is designed to attract and retain: human capital and talent, visitors and tourism, young people and students, and businesses and investment. Bailey argued that Ipswich, like any place, is in direct competition with other towns and cities for all four. He pointed to Halo, a technology company relocating to Ipswich in the next one to two months, which is already hiring 18 to 20 young people each month and aims to reach 1,000 graduates by 2030\. He also cited the University of Suffolk's potential to double or treble its student numbers from around 2,000, and existing employers including OCS and MSC, both of which have chosen to base their UK headquarters in Ipswich. ## Not a culture strategy Amy Vaughan, who is helping lead Ipswich's bid to become UK City of Culture 2029, followed Bailey's presentation by setting out how that bid fits alongside two other pieces of work: a ten-year Culture Strategy and a 'Culture Compact'. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/29/1e/291e4b7f-e551-4458-b546-61963954b22f/content/images/2026/09/IMG_5976-1.jpeg) Ipswich City of Culture Bid Director, Amy Vaughan (Photo: Oliver Rouane-Williams/Ipswich.co.uk) The Culture Strategy, Vaughan said, sets out a theory of change built around several priorities identified through consultation, including supporting the freelance economy, connecting communities and strengthening cultural institutions. "It is ten years, it is big and bold, and it is going to happen regardless of the outcome of the City of Culture bid," she said. It replaces the previous Culture & Heritage strategy that the council spent £30,000 creating but never publishing or adopting. A final draft was due by the end of March 2025, but more than a year on, that strategy has never been published. Ipswich.co.uk submitted a Freedom of Information request for the document, but the council has since invoked a statutory extension while it considers an exemption under section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which relates to the effective conduct of public affairs. Ipswich.co.uk has contested what it believes is a baseless exemption – the latest in a series of recent actions by the council to evade public scrutiny. The City of Culture bid is a competition for a £10m prize from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which Vaughan said must be matched to the tune of roughly £30m in additional funding. The bid was submitted on 7 August, and Vaughan said a decision on whether Ipswich has progressed to the final round – a shortlist of four – is expected in early to mid-October. She stressed that not making the shortlist will not affect the 10-year culture strategy, which will proceed regardless. The Culture Compact, meanwhile, is described as a partnership body bringing together business, education, health, cultural institutions and local government to discuss shared priorities. "It does not necessarily have resources and money behind it," Vaughan said. "It is people getting in a room once a quarter with a direction of travel that they are talking about together." ## What the council says A council spokesperson told Ipswich.co.uk the new website "is in the final stages of development," with a launch date and web address to be confirmed "once testing and final preparations have been completed." On activation, the spokesperson described the council as "one of the partners" supporting a "collective approach" to raising Ipswich's profile, with activation "taking place through a phased approach, beginning with stakeholder engagement," funded through "existing communications and marketing resources" in line with normal budget-setting processes. On photography, the spokesperson said opportunities to refresh imagery "will be considered as part of future communications and promotional activity," subject to standard procurement and budget approval. Businesses and partner organisations will be offered "a toolkit and practical guides to support the activation," the spokesperson said, with use of the brand assets voluntary. On how the brand relates to other strategies, the council said the "Home of Opportunity" brand "is not replacing existing strategies or projects," but is intended to "complement and provide a consistent narrative" across them. On whether the Jacob Bailey Group contract was competitively procured and its value, the spokesperson said they did not hold that information and had logged it as a Freedom of Information request. ## The bottom line Ipswich now has a much-needed brand strategy. But a strategy is only as good as its execution, and Ipswich Borough Council must now show it is willing to fund the activation of the new brand – the visual identity, the photography, the public realm improvements, the advertising and comms, the sustained investment – with the same commitment it showed in commissioning it. Without that, "The home of opportunity" risks joining an ever-growing pile of publicly funded strategy documents left to gather dust. --- **Don't forget:** If you enjoy our content, please [add Ipswich.co.uk as a "preferred source" on Google](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=ipswich.co.uk&ref=ipswich.co.uk) so you can easily find more of the content you value. 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