First Edition of Anholt-GMI City Brands Index: American Cities Top the Charts in All Areas.

SEATTLE -- In the first-ever brand ranking of major international cities, the Anholt-GMI City Brands Index (CBI) found that New York and Los Angeles rank in the top ten, gaining high marks among global citizens. Developed by branding expert Simon Anholt and global market research solutions provider

GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.), the CBI measured the brand of 30 cities around the world, including San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Sydney, Paris, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong. 17,502 respondents worldwide were asked their opinions in six areas: Presence (contribution to culture/science), Place (physical aspects), Potential (job/education opportunities), Pulse (urban lifestyle), People (welcome/diversity), and Prerequisites (basic qualities).

Overall U.S. city rankings are:

        --  New York City       7th

        --  Los Angeles         8th

        --  San Francisco      11th

        --  Washington, D.C.   14th

New York

New York's overall position was boosted by its first place as "a city that contributes to culture and science," a place for higher education (ranked second) and for the diversity and variety of languages it offers (also ranked second). In addition to having a good reputation for its cultural contributions, New York is America's city of opportunity, coming in second place in the Potential category after London.

On the flip side, the "Big Apple" was also seen as both "dirty" (26th out of 30) and unwelcoming or cold toward visitors (28th). Lagos, Nigeria and Johannesburg, South Africa both ranked better in terms of cleanliness.

L.A.

L.A. ranked fifth overall for the "Pulse" category, which measures the degree to which a city offers exciting, interesting things to do. When asked about what they most associated with certain cities, a third of Aussies, 42% of Italians and more than 50% of Poles selected "Hollywood" as the top choice for LA. L.A. also came in fourth in the "Potential" category, which gauges job, business, and education opportunities, and seventh for "Presence," which addresses whether respondents have visited a city, how much they know about it, and overall contribution.

San Francisco

San Francisco is the only U.S. city in the CBI that ranked in the top ten in both the People and Place categories, coming in sixth and ninth. In the "Place" category, San Francisco came in seventh for climate and 12th for being physically attractive (Paris, Rome, and London ranked in the top three for beauty). 75% of respondents, though, are aware of the Golden Gate Bridge -- one of San Francisco's most-known landmarks. When asked, "Do you think you would find a community of people who share your language and culture and with whom you could easily fit in?," S.F. came in fourth (New York and L.A. were number two and three). The City By the Bay also scored the highest of all American cities for being welcoming and friendly, at 14th place.

Washington, D.C.

Washington came in at 2nd place for "how important has its contribution to the world been over the last 30 years?" and 4th place for higher education offering. Washington placed in the top ten for the following:

--Standard of public amenities (schools, hospitals, public transport, etc.)

--Awareness of what the city has to offer

--Easy to fit in with people and culture

--Easy to find a job

Despite Safety Concerns, Respondents Throw Caution to the Wind

American cities fared the worst when panels were asked, "How safe would you feel in this city?" San Francisco ranked the highest at 18th; Washington, D.C. followed closely behind at 19th, and Los Angeles came in at 22nd. This fact, coupled with the perceived unwelcoming aspect of U.S. cities, has not dampened the global desire to visit the U.S. When asked where they would want to spend a week of free time, respondents ranked New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco in the top ten. The popularity may be due to the fact that New York won third place for offering exciting and fun things to do, while Los Angeles ranked fifth place, and San Francisco seventh.

About The Anholt-GMI City Brands Index

The Anholt-GMI City Brands Index is an annual ranking of cities around the globe including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Cairo, Edinburgh, Geneva, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Lagos, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan, Moscow, Mumbai, New York, Paris, Prague, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, San Francisco, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, and Washington. For further information about the Anholt-GMI City Brands Index, please go to http://www.citybrandsindex.com or contact GMI directly at info@gmi-mr.com.

About Simon Anholt

Anholt developed the concept of the Nation Brands Index in 2005, published in April 2005. Recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on the branding of countries, regions and cities, Anholt advises a number of national governments and UN agencies on brand strategy, public diplomacy, cultural relations, tourism and economic development.

About GMI

GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) is the only company that provides comprehensive integrated solutions for global market intelligence for both market research firms and corporate market research departments at Global 2000 companies. Founded in 1999 with world headquarters in Seattle, Wash., GMI has operations on five continents. More information is available at www.gmi-mr.com.