When asked why he dined so frequently at the restaurant in Paris’s Eiffel Tower, novelist Guy de Maupassant answered that it was the only place in Paris where he could not see the structure. He wasn’t alone in his dislike for the tower which faced much critisicm when it was built in 1889. If it hadn’t proven so useful for radio communications it would have been torn down in 1909. Many Parisians still hate it.

The Eiffel Tower is however, the most visited paid monument in the world and it is one of the most recognized structures on earth. In 2009, Paris topped the Anholt-GfK Roper City Brands Index and the Eiffel tower is, visually at least, a big part of that brand.

When it comes to branding cities nothing is as effective, albeit expensive, as a memorable skyline. Maybe Boris Jonson should bare that in mind in the upcoming rebranding of London (mentioned in an earlier post). Forget the Gherkin and Big Ben: London needs a huge, pointless, iron tower, preferably visible from space, to snatch the top seat in Anholt-GfK Roper’s Brand Index away from it’s ancient rival, Paris.