Too many people in Birmingham prefer to say they are from Longbridge, Aston, Ladywood, Edgbaston.
Then there are the 'outsiders' from the Black Country, Walsall and Wolverhampton and 'aliens' from the Marches, the Potteries, Wyre Forest or the Malverns.
Yes, we have a wonderfully rich diverse capital city in Birmingham and our hinterland across the Midlands, but we need some consistency when we speak to the press and that is a 'marketing discipline' we simply don't have.
At the moment the politically correct term for our area is, I believe, Greater Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country - doesn't that just about say it all?
Then we have our own view of our place. We are regarded as 'self deprecating'. There's the type of self deprecation which shows you think you're rather better than others...Or there's the sort that shows a lack self belief.
But when I speak with students studying here - and let's not forget we have over 70,000 at universities in the city alone with many future ambassadors from overseas - they are positive about their experiences. 'There's more to do and see, so many galleries, theatres and events', 'a great mix between urban infrastructure with more greenery than I expected and close by lovely countryside', 'not as busy and congested and overcrowded as Bangkok', it's a manageable size,with great diversity'.
Students are so impressed by Birmingham's connections with great design on many fronts - industrially and in terms of urban and visual design, textiles and fashion, some of their thoughts are recorded in our Idea Birmingham think tank's video gallery, see video titled, Birmingham Made Me Student Insights .
One thing they would like is to see the different areas of the city brought together more successfully through better connections and signage, making the city more accessible to pedestrian and pedal power.
The old line, 'it's as interesting as a wet weekend in Birmingham' is, as those of us who live and work here know, massively skewed when in fact you can have a great weekend here, but how many of us have heard it used? And perhaps not that long ago?
I think we need to learn from other places around the world - where collaboration, self pride and self awareness are self consciously generated and nurtured.
In Linz in Upper Austria, for example, they are looking to become a 'Smart region'. "This is not about Place Marketing", they say. "This is about the creation of a place-based competitive identity through the development of a solid self-perception of our region. Because building identity is the 'breeding ground' for passion and responsibility about place." They focus on supporting indigenous businesses with about 80% of their funding, using about 20% of their funds to attract FDI.
In Chicago their Mayoral team has been promoting entrepreneurial 'Heros' who have been great philanthropists in the City. Universities there collaborate on extensive outreach programmes.
London has a huge PR machine to attract new investment and accounts for c40% of UK GDP taken together with the South East, generated about 80% of recent GDP growth and according to the IPPR attracts 3/4s of UK infrastructure investment.
Vienna has invested heavily in encouraging entrepreneurship and ensuring finance and resource is made available to emerging businesses in its quest for reputation.
Speaking with professionals about the city who have come here from elsewhere around the country they comment, 'Birmingham is not a joined up proposition', 'there is not enough joined up thinking and a clear vision around development in the city and region', 'we are not celebrating enough our big developments to develop a civic pride', 'the city lacks a coherent story', 'we're not selling the package and communicating it properly'.
But equally they say, 'I've been pleasantly surprised since I came here by the diversity of the West Midlands, how friendly everyone is, but we are not pulling it all together', 'I love Birmingham even though I am not from here. There are good schools, good transport and industry is seeing the benefit of moving from London', 'in Birmingham we have such good shopping, my daughter is in every weekend; the Jewellery Quarter is lovely; there is a great buzz; we are a constantly improving city!'.
However, they comment on the 'fundamental issues on how towns and counties work together', 'how regional bodies bring together partnerships' and 'how we need to work together to sell the greater vision'.
We should remember that being provincial is fine but that's not an excuse to be parochial. If we want to take our place in the world we must look up from the local and act globally. What we really need is to be the 'global city with the local heart' !
We need to get to the point where we believe our potential is increasing, where we can proudly say we have everything but constraints, where we act and think like self-made people to become the self-made place. The difference is: we'll do it together.
