Visitors to the Hong Kong Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo are greeted by Brand Hong Kong.

Hong Kong recently unveiled to the world the logo of its revitalized city brand — a refreshed dragon icon — at Expo 2010 Shanghai China .

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the expo’s Hong Kong Pavilion, Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang said the world will see the Brand Hong Kong (BrandHK) and the five core values it represents through Hong Kong’s participation in the Shanghai world expo.
“We will show the world that Hong Kong is an open and tolerant modern metropolis with great potential and opportunities for future development,” he said.

The revitalized BrandHK was officially launched in Hong Kong on March 27. Since then, the rejuvenated brand’s visual identity has been seen around the city, adorning double-decker buses and historic trams, and even the world famous Star Ferry.

During the expo, visitors to the Hong Kong Pavilion and Hong Kong’s Urban Best Practices Area (UBPA) Exhibition will be able to get an up-close look at the new logo and learn more about what makes Hong Kong such a dynamic and diverse place to live, work and visit.

Learn about the many faces of Hong Kong at [www.facesofhongkong.com].

The logo, created by internationally renowned designer Alan Chan, adds a dash of color and a contemporary touch to Hong Kong’s original dragon icon in the form of three ribbons. The blue and green ribbons represent blue sky and a sustainable environment. The red ribbon evokes the ridge line of Lion Rock, a local mountain steeped in folklore that embodies the “can-do” spirit of Hong Kong’s people.

This is the first revitalization exercise since BrandHK was launched in May 2001. The brand has since become an effective international communication platform for promoting Hong Kong. To keep up with the changing times, a thorough review of the brand was undertaken in 2008-09.

After widespread public engagement, the review found that Hong Kong people cherish and aspire to five main core values: Free, Enterprising, Excellence, Innovative and Quality Living.

Of these, Quality Living, which embraces residents’ aspiration for a healthy work-life balance, a green environment and nature and heritage conservation, is a new core value.

To find out more about the revitalized Brand Hong Kong, please visit the Web site [www.brandhk.gov.hk].

In parallel, Hong Kong’s most widely perceived attributes are described as: Cosmopolitan, Secure, Connected, Diverse and Dynamic.

Hong Kong's positioning as “Asia’s world city” remains unchanged.

“From now on, we will not only promote Hong Kong as a premier international business and financial center but also as an interesting and diverse city rich in cultural and natural heritage,” a government spokesman said.

The spokesman noted the revised core values and attributes of BrandHK are reflected in the Hong Kong Pavilion, which showcases the city’s connectivity and creativity under the theme, “Hong Kong — Potential Unlimited.” Foremost in the government's new marketing strategy to underscore the brand’s revitalization is the “Faces of Hong Kong” campaign, which seeks to convey to the world the city’s dynamism, enterprising spirit and friendliness through the faces and real-life tales of local people.

To meet the many faces of Hong Kong, the global audience is invited to visit [www.facesofhongkong.com] and learn about local people and listen to their stories. A promotional video based on the same theme is being shown worldwide.

Those interested in finding out more about Asia’s world city — its diversity, blend of East and West, old and new — are urged to click on the new interactive BrandHK Web site [www.brandhk.gov.hk] or browse through a “This is Hong Kong” booklet, available at [
www.brandhk.gov.hk/en/facts/publications/thisishongkong.html].