The importance of research and auditing as the first
step of the marketing process has been highlighted
in all city marketing literature (e.g. Ashworth and
Voogd, 1990; Kotler et al., 1999). Knowledge of
existing demand, existing images and associations
and the problems which city marketing is setting
out to solve or mitigate is necessary and, for the city
of Amsterdam, signified in the extensive effort described
in this section.
The first step in the new approach of marketing
Amsterdam was a benchmark study that compared
the practice of city marketing in four cities (Barcelona,
Berlin, Dublin, Rotterdam) undertaken by a
communications agency (Gemeente Amsterdam,