Councillor explains why London firm Manasian & Co was given huge contract to rebrand Sheffield

A council chief has revealed why a London firm was given a £140,000 contract to rebrand Sheffield.

Councillor Martin Smith said it was to develop "more focused messages" for target audiences, to make the most money.

Manasian & Co will now develop a Sheffield brand and promotion campaign until March 31, 2025.

The firm did not comment.

Councillor Smith, chair of the council's economic development and skills policy committee, said nine companies were invited to bid, including from Sheffield.

He added: "The procurement process was transparent and met Sheffield City Council’s standing orders…Manasian & Co was awarded the contract after scoring highest in the tender evaluation process and the council looks forward to working with them."

In November the council said tourism was worth £25.6m and more major events could help the city beat the cost of living crisis.

The contract decision sparked debate between those who thought a local firm - or even the council’s own Marketing Sheffield department - could do the job best and those who thought location should not matter. 

On The Star’s Facebook page Julie Brown said: "Why not have a Yorkshire firm do it? That would help, not strangers who don't know the first thing about us. Keep the money in the area."

John Hurd suggested: "How about promoting the Birthplace of Football?"

On reporter David Walsh’s Linkedin page the discussion was heated.

Matt Vause, head of marketing at TC Harrison Group, said: "So let me get this right,  Marketing Sheffield can't market Sheffield on their own? That seems like a massive failing on their part, but ok that's fine I guess.

"But hire a Sheffield based agency to help them: Chapter II, Rise at Seven, Counter Context, all solid PR agencies and ALL of them get Sheffield because they have offices and people here! Very on brand for Sheffield City Council this, wasting money for no apparent reason."

Leon Mallett, chief operating officer at IAM Cloud said: "I don't think it's likely a London agency is going to understand Sheffield deeply enough to create a really decent authentic campaign. So I'd guess the result of this will be the same old cliched stuff we've heard hundreds of times before."

Molly Grace Lynch, editor of digital channels for Shell Global, said: "Unless this firm is planning on taking up residency in the city then I despair at this."

Victoria Cobley, freelance copywriter, added: "We couldn't find a Sheffield firm to do this? Mind blowing."

But Simon Ransley, creative strategist at The Storycatchers, said he had worked on branding for several cities.

He wrote: "Just because you're not from a place doesn't mean you can't get under its skin. I'm South Yorkshire born and bred - worked in Sheffield as a creative for 20 years, so I know how many talented marketers there are in the place.

"However I wouldn't expect my roots to preclude me from working on another city's place branding - as I have done for Oxford, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Hull and others. We're creatives, it's what we do. In Mark Mobbs ( Place brand and marketing manager at Marketing Sheffield) we trust. 

"The Sheffield branding has been consistently excellent, whichever agency has been behind it."

And Louisa Harrison-Walker, chief executive of Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, said: "It's incredibly important to invest and bring the right expertise in. I’m sure all responses will have been carefully considered. I’m quite certain other core cities spend much more than we have and we can’t compete and grow our economy if we don’t get more people outside of Sheffield visiting and relocating themselves or their businesses here, so I’m pleased to see this work is happening."