Remember when Invercargill was going to be called 'Invergiggle'
“Many cities think they have devised a point of difference by creating a brand and maybe a logo. However branding a city is about far more than a logo – it is about tangible and intangible details.”
We’re kick-starting a new weekly series in The Tribune where we will look back at moments in Southland’s past. We start today by winding back the clock to 2010 when a former Wellington mayor suggested what “Invergiggle’s” point of difference should be.
Invercargill had a problem.
It was 2010 and Statistics New Zealand forecasted 3100 less people would live in Invercargill by 2031.
The Invercargill City Council had enlisted former Wellington Mayor Mark Blumsky for some help.
Blumsky and Elliot Kirton’s Capital Development Agency Limited was paid $10,000 by the council for some advice.
They stated Invercargill needed a point of difference that would generate positive national media attention and differentiate Invercargill from other cities and towns.
They stressed it would require “innovative thinking, bold action and buy-in by everyone to an agreed vision.”
So, what did Blumsky and Co come up with in 2010?
They suggested Invercargill needed a “Child Friendly” focus as a point of difference.
“For the past decade or two, a large number of cities focused on the young professional and the creative class believing that these were the ideal demographic for achieving economic growth,” The Blumsky Report stated.
“However American cities, where this trend began, are now changing as research has recognised that the strongest job growth and economic activity is in those places with the largest net immigration of young, educated families ranging from their mid 20s to mid 40s.”
It made sense.
Invercargill had - and still does in 2024, to be fair - an aging population.
It raised some concerns.
The population groups that provide the labour market (15 to 64) was projected to decline significantly in Invercargill. As was the number of children aged 14 and under.
So, how did the former Wellington Mayor believe Invercargill could latch onto that point of difference?
How could Invercargill become the child friendly city that the rest of the country wasn’t?
The list of ideas in The Blumsky Report was extensive - 55 ideas to be precise.
“Many cities think they have devised a point of difference by creating a brand and maybe a logo. However, branding a city is about far more than a logo – it is about tangible and intangible details.”
This was the list of ideas - as a starting point - put forward in 2010 by the Capital Development Agency.
1. Make 2011 the Year of the Child in Invercargill
2. Establish a Council Committee for Children and Family
3. Free School Uniforms School uniforms
4. Change the Name of the City to Invergiggle (for one week each year)
5. Special Welcome Gate at Airport for Children
6. The Great Lemonade and Toffee Apple Challenge Week
7. International Festival for Children
8. Instigate a Take Your Child to Work Day
9. Mayor for the Day (One day every year a child is voted to be the Mayor for the day).
10. Develop New Zealand’s most Child Friendly CBD
11. Birthday of the Month (Every month one child with a birthday is randomly selected and provided something special for their birthday.)
12. Play Equipment Rather Than Sculptures
13. Build New Zealand’s Biggest Indoor/Outdoor Playground
14. Become Friendly to Children with Special Requirements
15. Children’s Working Farm Invercargill and Southland
16. Hold the World’s Largest Lolly Scramble
17. Build an Ice Skating Rink in the Inner City
18. Create the New Zealand Kite Festival
19. Create the Great Grand Child Photo Competition
20. Children Eat Free Month (Children under 7, when accompanied by a parent, eat free from a specially designed kids menu.)
21. Organise the National Toy Extravaganza
22. Develop National Secondary and Primary Schools Art Competitions
23. Create a Multi-Purpose Youth Facility
24. More Swings Per Head of Population Than Any Other City
25. Work with the DHB to ensure that there is a higher than average number of Paediatricians and GPs
26. Create a Child Friendly Charter
27. Develop an Invercargill Five Year Children’s Plan
28. New Zealand’s Best/Biggest Mini-Putt
29. Develop a Gifted Children Centre for After School/Holiday Programmes
30. The Imagination Centre
31. Create a Child and Family Innovation Fund
32. Contribute to Creating Healthy Warm Homes
33. Provide Free Capsules and Booster Seats to Parents
34. ‘Day Out With The Kids’ Website
35. Create a Network of Mountain Bike Trail
36. Child Friendly City Sticker Programme
37. New Family to Town Kit
38. Youth Leadership/Excellence Awards
39. Children’s Museum
40. Free Parenting Courses
41. Free Child CPR/First Aid
42. National Youth Symposium in Invercargill
43. Open Up The Richardson Truck Museum
44. Children’s Theatre
45. Trial Ground for Health Research
46. Expansion of KiwiSport
47. Develop Outdoor Activity and Camping Programme
48. Develop an Anchor Point in the CBD
49. Financially Incentivise New Families to Move to Invercargill
50. Ensure First-Class Child Care
51. Provide Additional Assistance to New Businesses Focussed on Children
52. Get All Schools to Sign Up to an ‘Increasing Family Involvement’ of “Education Excellence”
53. Safe Precincts and Child Friendly Transport
54. Appoint a Regional Children’s Commissioner
55. Integrate the Child Friendly Strategy within Urban Design
Blumsky presented his proposal for Invercargill’s new marketing strategy at the Civic Theatre in Invercargill on June 1, 2010.
The list of ideas prompted a mixed response Invercargill City Councillors of the time.
Cr Geoff Piercy labelled renaming Invercargill “Invergiggle” for a week a “stupid idea”.
He was not ecstatic by Blumsky's suggestion that Invercargill market itself as being child friendly.
The concept of being child friendly was no different to other cities in New Zealand, Piercy said at the time.
"It doesn't grab me at all."
He was wary about how much Blumsky’s suggestions would cost.
Although Cr Alan Dennis said there was no plan B beyond the child friendly concept, and the council should go for it.
Cr Norman Elder had his doubts whether Invercargill should be marketed as child friendly but instead “just friendly”.
“I think this needs to be scoped more and I think we need to do it our-selves.”
The Invercargill City Council eventually adopted a Child Youth and Family Friendly Policy.
That’s been in place since 2012 with the policy’s quest to make Invercargill “exciting and safe for all children, youth, and their families”.
The policy states: “Each year the Invercargill City Council will work with other closely aligned organisations to ensure the Child, Youth and Family Friendly Policy comes to life through the development of an annual action plan.”
There will be two camps. One that will say that has happened, others that will argue it hasn’t.
It is probably objective.
But we can confirm Invercargill hasn’t been renamed Invergiggle for a week each year. New Zealand’s biggest playground hasn’t been built, there hasn’t been a child’s gate introduced at the Invercargill Airport, or free school uniforms for all.
Your thoughts on the $10k Blumsky report commissioned by the council in 2010?
I for one would be delighted to see the return of ice skating as we could then incorporate this with curling, a growing sport in Central Otago. In fact if anyone knows of a vacant building that could be leased (has to be a minimum of 50m long), then I would be prepared to investigate it's suitability.
Seems a little creepy