There are numerous discussions on how the emergence of the concept of creative industries (CI) has influenced different policies and developments during the last decades. This change has not been much analysed in its broader social and institutional context. The aim of this article is to analyse the change of policies due to the gradual process of CI ideology taking root using the principles of the social innovation concept. Using Tallinn as a case study the authors explain how there has been an intertwining and amplifying of applying foreign experiences in policy-making on one hand and local initiatives on the other. Describing the process of Tallinn’s CI policy formation, the authors follow the planning period of becoming European Capital of Culture in 2011 (Tallinn 2011) as a central signpost in this nearly ten-year period. Regarding methodology, the authors use document analysis, in-depth interviews and also secondary data from the completed studies and mappings on creative industries in Estonia and in Tallinn.