Cities all over Europe include more and more marketing techniques and methods in their administration practice and governing philosophy. The transfer of marketing knowledge, however, to the operational environment of cities proves a cause of difficulties and misalignments, mostly due to the peculiar nature of places in general and cities in particular as marketable assets. In this paper, city branding is suggested as the appropriate way to describe and implement city marketing. City marketing application is largely dependent on the construction, communication and management of the city's image, as it is accepted that encounters with the city take place through perceptions and images. Therefore the object of city marketing is the city's image, which in turn is the starting point for developing the city's brand. The most appropriate concept to understand marketing applicability within cities is the recently developed concept of corporate branding, which with the necessary modifications is applied to cities. The core of the paper is a theoretical framework to understand the city's brand and its management, which was developed through a review of the literature on both city marketing and the corporate brand. City branding provides, on the one hand, the basis for developing policy to pursue economic development and, at the same time, it serves as a conduit for city residents to identify with their city. In this sense the relevance of and need for a framework describing and clarifying the processes involved in city branding are equally strong for facing increasing competition for resources, investment and tourism on the one hand and for addressing urgent social issues like social exclusion and cultural diversity on the other. The framework focuses on the use of city branding and its potential effects on city residents and the way residents associate with and experience their city, and it is based on a combination of city marketing measures and the components of the city's brand management.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1057%2Fpalgrave.pb.5990005.pdf

From city marketing to city branding: Towards a theoretical framework for developing city brands

Cities throughout Europe are increasingly importing the concept and techniques of product branding for use within place marketing, in pursuit of wider urban management goals, especially within the new conditions created by European integration. However, there is as yet little consensus about the nature of city branding, let alone its role in public sector urban planning and management. This exploratory paper will first, use contemporary developments in marketing theory and practice to suggest how product branding can be transformed into city branding as a powerful image-building strategy, with significant relevance to the contemporary city. Second, it will define city branding, as it is being currently understood by city administrators and critically examine its contemporary use so that a framework for an effective place branding strategy can be constructed.

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City branding: An effective assertion of identity or a transitory marketing trick?

This article introduces a novel approach towards place branding theory, adopting a view based on the relationship between the place brand and place identity. The article first evaluates the dominant conceptualization of identity within place branding. It is argued that better understanding of the relationship between place identity and place brands might advance the theory of place branding. In its current state, place branding practice and, to a great extent, place branding literature adopt a rather static view on place identity as something that can easily be articulated and communicated for the purposes of branding the place. This approach is limited as it does not reveal the full complexity of place identity and limits the role and potential of place branding. The article, drawing on a combination of the literatures on place identity and organisational identity, proposes a more dynamic view of place identity that considers identity a constant dialogue between the internal and the external. The role of...

The dynamics of place brands An identity-based approach to place branding theory

Purpose – This paper deals with the importance of residents within place branding. The aim of this paper is to examine the different roles that residents play in the formation and communication of place brands and explores the implications for place brand management.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on theoretical insights drawn from the combination of the distinct literatures on place branding, general marketing, tourism, human geography, and collaborative governance. To support its arguments, the paper discusses the participation of citizens in governance processes as highlighted in the urban governance literature as well as the debate among marketing scholars over participatory marketing and branding.Findings – The paper arrive at three different roles played by the residents: as an integral part of the place brand through their characteristics and behavior; as ambassadors for their place brand who grant credibility to any communicated message; and as citizens and voters who are vital fo...

My city – my brand: the different roles of residents in place branding

The Tahrir Data Project gathers empirical data on media use during the Egyptian revolution of January and February 2011. The Project consists of three data sets documenting media use by protesters, by coordinators, and by transnational audiences. Preliminary descriptive analysis of the data suggests that social media use was not dominant in demonstrations, but may have played an important role in connecting and motivating protesters. Metrics for media use by protesters indicate a strong presence of activities and characteristics commonly associated with communication in protests to social media and social media users. These metrics, along with preliminary data on coordinator strategies and preliminary analysis of the #jan25 tweet set, suggest an important but complex role played by social media in the Egyptian revolution of 2011. The data and preliminary analysis are presented here, together with a number of research questions for further study.

The Arab Spring| Digital Media in the Egyptian Revolution: Descriptive Analysis from the Tahrir Data Set

The aim of the present study is to evaluate which are the most critical success factors in place marketing, and how these factors could be utilised in place development. The study builds a framework and analyses place marketing practices from the perspectives of the process, assessment criteria and success factors. The main research focus is on marketing management aspects in place marketing. The primary theoretical background and concepts in place marketing for this study consist of marketing theory, branding, assessment criteria, process, place development, local economic development and non-profit organisations. This study uses a theory building, qualitative case research agenda, with an embedded, longitudinal and multiple case design. The study applies the theoretical framework of successful place marketing in an empirical research with the case locations of the Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Chicago regions. The field research was carried out between April 2002 and March 2003. This study investigates also how Northern European versus U.S. place marketers differ in their practices and comes to the conclusion that both regions can benefit from a study of each other’s practices. This study contributes to the literature by “translating” the key concepts of corporate marketing theory for places, forms a conceptual framework and makes 35 propositions about general place marketing practices and its specific success factors. The study makes a managerial contribution by giving recommendations for place marketing practices, and by offering a new and holistic framework to help places move to a more systematic and effective marketing approach. Strategic marketing can be also applied to places, and the tools of corporate marketing can be transferred to place marketing. Places can also be branded, through creating and communicating a place identity, which increases a place’s attraction.

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Tekniska Högskolan

Papers

Success factors of place marketing: a study of place marketing practices in northern europe and the united states