Todd Babiak on how Brand Gold Coast will transform the city in the eyes of the world

The debut CEO of Brand Gold Coast Todd Babiak is closing in on distilling the essence of the city after 200-plus interviews. Read how he plans to sell the Gold Coast to the world

The Gold Coast skyline at dusk.

The boss of new city entity Brand Gold Coast says after hundreds of interviews to distil the city essence it’s a story of “rebirth, a place of change, a place of ‘yes’ and positive personal transformation”.

After five years building recognition for the southern state, even winning Best Brand in the World in 2021, Todd Babiak has migrated north to become CEO of Brand Gold Coast – and he joins a bunch of Apple Isle expats who fell far from the tree.

From Invest Gold Coast chairman and former Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman, to Mr Hodgman’s former chief of staff in the Tasmanian Government and now City of Gold Coast CEO Tim Baker, the southern connection has raised some city luminary eyebrows, but Mr Babiak said it was a case of great minds thinking alike.

“I think we all saw that the Gold Coast presented a fantastic opportunity, and realised this is pretty cool. This works,” said the Canadian-born and raised father-of-two, whose career credits include best-selling author and co-founder of the Story Engine agency.

“I felt I had done all that I could in Tasmania, the team there was looking after itself, and I was ready for the next challenge – and my reasons for coming here actually echo what a lot of residents say, they come here for positive personal transformation.

“On a practical level, having Tim and Will here who know how place-based branding works is really helpful for me because I don’t have to start from first principles.”

Todd Babiak during his days as Brand Tasmania CEO.

Indeed, the creation of new council entity Brand GC has caused some confusion as to how it differs from Experience Gold Coast, another entity with its own marketing, funding and board.

Indeed, Experience Gold Coast was created in part to avoid the duplication of previous boards, but Brand GC now has its own 12-member board for a two-person workforce.

“We are in the midst of hiring a third person,” Mr Babiak said.

“But I would say we will grow to five employees at most, we want to remain small and nimble, so we will always have more board members than staff.

“However, the board will eventually operate like a think-tank or strategy group. We’ll take all this research we’re doing and, given their unique expertise, experience and understanding of the city, the board will be like a creative strategic laboratory to do more things ‘Gold Coast’ with all of our partners.

“I suppose that’s the difference between the amazing Experience Gold Coast and Brand Gold Coast is that we’re kind of for everyone – every business, every artist, to bring more value to what they’re doing.”

Mr Babiak said Brand Gold Coast wanted to ensure everyone understood the Gold Coast story, “to bring that sense of unity”.

“We can give them that tool kit,” he said.

“Experience Gold Coast is like the part of the iceberg you can see and Brand Gold Coast is what’s underneath, it’s the foundational element, it’s the roots from which we take action.” They are closely related but very different.

“This is difficult and long-term work and we’ve only just started, but when you see the results it’s extremely satisfying.”

Canadian branding expert Todd Babiak has been appointed as CEO of Brand Gold Coast. Picture: Supplied

Over the last few months, Mr Babiak has been interviewing hundreds of Gold Coasters, one-on-one for up to 90 minutes, in order to distil the core narrative of the city.

He said this would build a more potent branding message than a simple slogan or title, such as lifestyle or tourism capital.

“People talked about how they came here to overcome old school elitism, to be healthier and happier, to find a place where ideas mattered more than pedigree, where they could get involved and feel like a local overnight,” he said.

“The story is one of rebirth. The Gold Coast is a place of change, a place of ‘yes’ and a place for positive personal transformation.

“That is a story that resonates much more than simply calling ourselves the tourism capital or lifestyle capital, because are people really moved by a place that says it’s the capital of something?

“I don’t think so. I think we’re moved by a specific experience.”

Mr Babiak used the example of people going to France because they wanted to be French for a couple of weeks.

“What we want to be able to do is to say that you want to study, travel, live, invest on the Gold Coast, you want to be a Gold Coaster, because there’s something you can find here that nowhere else in the world has,” he explained.

Todd Babiak says distilling the message and brand of the Gold Coast was incredibly important.

“The Gold Coast offers the opportunity to change yourself, your family, your health, your career, your conference, your weekend, your weather … change it all for the better.”

Mr Babiak said distilling the message and brand of the Gold Coast was incredibly important if it wanted to be competitive against other destinations.

He said a powerful and effective brand was worth billions to a city or state, increasing investment opportunity and economic development.

“We’re competing for tourists, we’re competing for investment, we’re competing for talent, we’re competing for students,” Mr Babiak.

“So we have to do better than what every other place says, which is that they are ‘innovative’ or ‘world-class’ or ‘resilient’ or ‘diverse’ or a ‘big city that feels like a small country town’.

“That’s all stuff that Brisbane says and it’s just down the road, so what can we uniquely say on the Gold Coast to find our people? To find our investors, to find our students, because no city is for everyone.

“I think of a line from one interview all the time: ‘If you don’t like change, this place will threaten you.’ Some people are thinking of leaving, of finding a sleepy coastal village somewhere.

“We want to find the people who are just going to be absolutely lit up by the Gold Coast.”

And Mr Babiak said he included himself in that list.

“I think I’m inclined to love a place that is open to change, to experimentation, to playfulness, and that wants to say ‘yes’,” he said.

“I also love the idea of being able to have dinner outside year-round, I’ve never lived full-time in a subtropical climate.”

Originally published as Todd Babiak on how Brand Gold Coast will transform the city in the eyes of the world