Unmistakable Nashville

Walking into the city centre you find the usual banks and tall buildings but almost deserted streets. There are cable boxes along the roads that play country music which start to set the scene, but it's when you turn onto Broadway that it really comes to life.

There are countless saloon bars with bands playing live country and honky tonk music, as well as shops with the widest selection of cowboy boots, hats and shirts I've ever seen and real-life cowboys browsing through the displays. We also found a record store with original Dolly Parton, Gene Pitney and Elvis Presley records to name a few.

We went to the Professional Bull Riding Rodeo which was a major event with a huge and loyal following, and of course more cowboys than we've ever seen in one place before. Similar to other American sports, they stop for commercial breaks every 10 minutes or so and the many, many sponsors each have their moment in front of the crowd. I couldn't imagine an English football game being played in six parts to allow for adverts on ITV.

When visiting so many places in a short space of time you sometimes have to look hard to find the thing that makes each town or city what it is. You don't have to look for that in Nashville, it's a place with a very strong identity, a very strong country music scene and an atmosphere that simply makes you smile. When you're on Broadway there's no mistaking that you're in Nashville. I don't think you can manufacture that but it has reminded me how important it is to know your USP and make sure people identify with it.