Chaired by Coventry University from the outset, the Image Working Group commissioned and devised a new city brand and slogan for Coventry – Coventry Inspires – which was launched in May 1999, using a public vote as a key decider.

Early applications for the slogan included signage on the Coventry inner Ring Road and a daily strap line over the leader column of the Coventry Evening Telegraph.

Anticipated funding to roll out the brand failed to materialise, but Coventry Inspires later gave its name to the ERDF-supported city marketing project that initiated the City of Coventry Ambassadors Group and the Godiva Awards.

From the project start date, in early 2003, the Image Working Group became effectively the project board for the Coventry Inspires initiative.

In early 2007, with major city centre regeneration now in prospect, the Group began to consider a Campaign for Coventry to run alongside the dramatic physical change that’s coming.

As a first step, research was commissioned to understand current perceptions of the city among local people (see Research section).

Work has continued to work up and develop a proposition for the future, under which Coventry can move forward as a place where people want to live, work and study (see Our Future section).