(00:00) Gold Coast Insider: Introducing Todd Babiak
(00:44) Culture, identity and community
(04:55) The potential of the Gold Coast
(06:29) Case study: The fight to keep Austin weird
(10:39) Who are we and what are we selling to the world?
(11:45) Brand Gold Coast
(13:55) What does it mean to be a Gold Coaster?
(21:34) Interviewing Gold Coasters
(23:21) Key priorities for Brand Gold Coast
(26:55) What is place branding and how does it shape the economy?
(32:31) The Gold Coast's overseas markets
(34:35) The big question: What is the Gold Coast story
(36:31) How can Gold Coasters we part of building our next chapter?
In this week’s episode, we meet internationally renowned place-branding expert Todd Babiak, the new CEO of Brand Gold Coast. You might assume his role is all about logos, taglines, ad campaigns… but you’d be wrong.
In this compelling conversation, Todd shares Brand Gold Coast’s deeper mission: uncovering and articulating the core story of the Gold Coast — what the city means to its residents, why we build our lives here, and how do you amplify this? According to Todd, the Gold Coast is ‘the city that says yes’ — an unpretentiously ambitious place that welcomes and embraces newcomers, creating a fertile field for positive transformation or reinvention.
We explore how a city’s cultural identity shapes investment, entrepreneurship and opportunity — and how the power of a shared story can influence decisions at every level: government, business, community and individual.
About Todd
Todd Babiak is CEO of Brand Gold Coast and, in his spare time, an author and investor. He co-founded the strategy consultancy firm Story Engine, which ultimately brought him to Australia and — lucky Todd — to the life-changing Gold Coast.