Maybe “Let’s go, San Francisco” isn’t catchy enough?
Looking for new ways to boost the city’s image, Mayor Daniel Lurie has quietly met several times in recent months with philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, former Apple designer Jony Ive, Gap CEO Richard Dickson, and others, to discuss a branding campaign for the city code-named “SF Identity,” according to records obtained by The Standard.
Not much is known about the effort: All the parties involved either declined to comment or did not respond to interview requests. But it appears that the campaign will double down on Lurie’s effort to rebrand the city as open for business.
Records show that Lurie met with Powell Jobs, Ive, and Dickson on Dec. 3 at the offices of LoveFrom, the design firm Ive founded in 2019 after spending decades at Apple, where he helped develop the iPhone, iMac, iPod, and other devices. Powell Jobs currently serves as president of the Emerson Collective organization.
Powell Jobs has a net worth of roughly $14 billion. | Source: Jemal Countess/Getty Images
In May, Ive’s AI hardware startup, Io, was acquired by OpenAI for $6.5 billion in stock. The deal was announced via a widely shared video of the design icon walking around San Francisco alongside his new business partner, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, extolling the city’s creative virtues.
A memo obtained by The Standard described the Dec. 3 meeting with Lurie as “a follow-up meeting with the SF Identity team to discuss a San Francisco branding campaign.” Also present at the meeting were the mayor’s chief of housing and economic development, Ned Segal, and LoveFrom designer Chris Wilson.
The meeting memo states that Lurie also met with SF Identity in September and June. The mayor’s calendar records from June show that he made a visit to LoveFrom’s office with two other local players in attendance: Rich Silverstein and Jim Elliott of the blue-chip ad firm Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.
The company, famed for its Super Bowl commercials, was behind the 2023 “It All Starts Here” campaign, which sought to uplift the image of San Francisco as it emerged, staggering, from the pandemic. That campaign was funded (opens in new tab) in part by two other civic-minded billionaires: Ripple CEO Chris Larsen and Gap chairman Bob Fisher.
Ive with Lurie in 2015 at a Tipping Point Community fundraiser. | Source: Photo – Drew Altizer
One source familiar with the SF Identity group described it as “the next version” of that San Francisco-boosting campaign.
A spokesperson for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners deferred comment to the mayor’s office.
All those involved with the new campaign have close ties to Lurie or the nonprofit he founded, Tipping Point Community. Ive has donated generously to the nonprofit for years.
Powell Jobs, Ive, and Dickson are all members of the Partnership for San Francisco, established last year to offer the mayor CEO perspectives on his policies — and vice versa. That group is run by former bank executive Katherine August-deWilde.
Gap CEO Richard Dickson is on Lurie’s Partnership for San Francisco group. | Source: Julie Jacobson/AP Photo
Lurie in October posted a video (opens in new tab) with Dickson after the Gap CEO attended a meeting of City Hall department heads.
“Gap’s renaissance mirrors what our city is going through,” said Lurie. “You are such an inspiring leader.”
Since becoming mayor, Lurie has spent his own money spreading the good word of San Francisco. Campaign filings from the summer show he spent $350,000 in the first six months of his tenure on a coterie of consultants who work closely with City Hall staff to portray the city as moving in a new direction.