Stadtmanufaktur circle

30 cities, 250 contacts, 3 CEO circles: our exclusive industry network

In the three Stadtmanufaktur circles, we discuss the future of place marketing and location promotion.

Our circles stand for the professional and confidential exchange of city decision-makers from the DACH region – and beyond. We contact the participants personally and invite them to the CEO Circle “Place Marketing”, CEO Circle “Location Promotion” or CEO Circle “Medium-sized Cities”.

In addition, all three circles meet once a year at the Triple CEO Circle – for even more inspiration with keynote speeches, workshops and in-depth discussions. Here in the magazine, Isabell Köster reports on the Triple CEO Circle 2025 in Hamburg.

Would you like to become part of our network?

Interested managers with the will to shape the company (office managers or managing directors from the areas of place marketing and business development) can contact us personally at any time.

Place marketing” CEO circle

The CEO Circle “Place Marketing” brings together CEOs from place marketing and destination marketing departments of cities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland on a regular basis and in an exclusive circle to discuss the current challenges of marketing and positioning a city in an intensive dialog.

The central questions:

  • What are the challenges of contemporary city and destination marketing?

  • What do shareholders and stakeholders expect from place marketing?

  • What role does place marketing play in shaping the future of the city?

  • How do you cooperate with urban development?

  • How is it possible to orchestrate and activate a city?

  • How does place marketing ideally work together with culture, sport, business and other stakeholders in a city?

  • How does participatory place marketing work; where is it useful and where are its limits?

CEO Circle “Location Promotion”

The CEO Circle “Location Promotion” brings together managing directors of business promotion institutions and responsible heads of offices from cities in the DACH region. Together with them, we discuss the current challenges of location promotion.

The central questions:

  • What are the current tasks of location promotion – and what do shareholders and stakeholders expect?

  • What role does location promotion play in shaping the future of the city?

  • How is the cooperation with urban development?

  • What types of cooperation take place with the scientific community?

  • What financing options are available?

  • What consequences does digitalization have for business models and actions?

  • How is talent and skilled labor secured for the location and what role does business development play in this?

CEO Circle “Medium-sized Cities”

In the “medium-sized cities” CEO circle we bring together managing directors and exciting city makers from DACH cities with fewer than 100,000 inhabitants. The unifying element of all circle members? The marketing of the city – sometimes with a focus on place marketing and tourism, sometimes in relation to place marketing and business development, sometimes in the context of all parameters of the city.

The central questions:

  • What are the particular challenges of medium-sized cities?

  • How does the city interact with urban spaces, regions and neighboring cities?

  • What role does place marketing play in shaping the future of the city?

  • How do you cooperate with urban development?

  • How do stakeholders work together to activate people?

  • How does participatory place marketing work; where is it useful and where are its limits?

What our circle network says

Dennis Andres, Managing Director of Place Marketing at Hameln Marketing und Tourismus GmbH

The further development of the city is an important issue for us. It’s about creating a clean place marketing and putting a bracket around all the offers we have. The workshops with Stadtmanufaktur were fun and helped us make great progress.

Dennis Andres, Managing Director, Place Marketing of Hameln Marketing und Tourismus GmbH
Theresa Winkels, Head of the Office for Economic Development of the City of Düsseldorf

Thinking outside the box is essential. Reflecting on your own activities while taking into account important interfaces, such as urban planning or place marketing, provides valuable impetus for your daily work. With its new format, Stadtmanufaktur offers a triple effect in two senses: at the interfaces that are important to me as a business promoter and in the cross-border view of the DACH region. Very valuable input and access to a constructive network.

Theresa Winkels, Head of Office, Economic Development Office of the City of Düsseldorf
Jan Koormann, Managing Director of Lingen Wirtschaft & Tourismus GmbH

The CEO Circle is a very exciting format that provides interesting insights into the challenges and developments in place marketing every time. Just as inspiring as the respective presentations and workshops are, of course, the discussions with colleagues on the sidelines, so that you can always take something away for “your” city.

Jan Koormann, Managing Director, Lingen Wirtschaft & Tourismus GmbH