By: Robert Govers and www.placebrandz.com

Last night, May 22 2010, Milano was rebranded from black and red to black and blue.

Internazionale completed its Tripleta championship with its victory in the UEFA Champions League final again Bayern Munich (2-0).

The importance of major league soccer clubs to the branding of global cities such as Barcelona, Rotterdam, Rome or Manchester is obvious. In the minds of consumers around the world the clubs and their legendary players are firmly rooted in the mental networks of image associations that are linked to the place names; helped, obviously, by the enormous media attention that reaffirms this link between club and city repeatedly. Internally, the clubs build cohesion and a sense of pride that, again, in turn, build international reputation. I.e. the clubs are an inextricable element of the identity and projected and perceived images of these metropolises.

From this perspective, the case of Milano is an interesting one, as two great clubs, Inter Milan and AC Milan, continuously vie for hegemony in the identity and representation of the city of Milano. Since yesterday, the dominant colors of the city have probably changed for a while to come. For the AC Milan supporters that are worried about this; think of the boost that this international success brings to the global reputation of your city in general. Even you can be proud of this ;-)

We congratulate our students from Milan on our Placebrandz Students Circle.