scholarly journals ‘All for One, One for All’: communicative processes of co-creation of place brands through inclusive and horizontal stakeholder collaborative networks

1970 ◽  
pp. 59-76
Author(s):  
Laura Ripoll-González ◽  
Libby Lester

This paper examines stakeholder communication and interaction dynamics in place branding processes in order to inform alternative participatory place branding models. The paper draws from critical communications and branding theory to argue that place brand identities are the result of mediated messages in the public sphere. Consequently, place branding processes need to be observed as communicative exchanges. Through a case study of Australia’s southern and only island state of Tasmania, the research employs participatory action research combined with the method of sociological intervention to explore stakeholders’ communicative interaction patterns and engagement in place branding processes. Participants representing formal and informal stakeholders engaged in communicating meaning about places were invited to participate in a series of interviews and focus group discussions that allowed a unique self-reflective process and analysis of practices and power-geometries. The proposed quasi-real scenario led to an understanding of the impediments for communication and to scoping alternative modes of engagement towards effective stakeholder communication to support the development of resilient place brand identities. The findings of the exploration contribute to theoretical development of the field by providing an analysis of the nature of stakeholder interactions and communication patterns, impediments and opportunities for greater communication and collaboration towards a common purpose. On a practical level, the study can also inform the development of participatory models of place brand development. Finally, the method proposed here can serve as a practical tool to foster stakeholder engagement in processes of cocreation of place brand identities.

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 90-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janne Lindstedt

Purpose – The paper aims to address a neglected issue in the literature on place brand co-creation, namely, the strategic planning of the branding process. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates the benefits of a deliberately emergent strategy. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative case study focusing on Turku, Finland, supports the development of the argument. In this study, branding of Turku is examined both during the European Capital of Culture 2011 (ECoC) project and after it. Findings – The contribution of the ECoC 2011 project – which was widely perceived as a success – to Turku’s brand was based on a deliberately emergent strategy. Afterwards, the local government has, however, chosen a different approach to branding. Research limitations/implications – Given the increasing popularity of brand thinking among practitioners all over the world, it would be meaningful for scholars to pay more attention to the application of brand co-creation in place branding strategies. Practical implications – The deliberately emergent branding strategy could be considered an approach to applying the idea of brand co-creation in practice. It enables local stakeholders to make their voices heard and results in increased credibility of a branding process. Originality/value – Place brand co-creation has not yet been examined from strategic planning’s point of view. The need for this kind of examination is apparent, because branding strategies have traditionally been based on the idea of static place identity. The Turku case helps to propose a solution in terms of the notion of deliberately emergent branding.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guenther Botschen ◽  
Kurt Promberger ◽  
Josef Bernhart

Purpose This paper aims to present an interdisciplinary approach for the development and design of place brands, which goes far beyond communication strategies and advertising campaigns. The so-called “Brand-driven Identity Development of Places” (short: BIDP) approach provides a structured three-phase model that can serve as a practical guide for the development of commercial, touristy, urban and rural places. Design/methodology/approach Longitudinal collaborative action research over a time span of 20 years plus extended case study research supported the evolution of the BIDP approach. Findings BIDP is a circular three-phase model starting with the definition of the intended place brand identity, which in Phase 2 becomes translated into concrete touchpoint experiences along the main constituents of the place, and finally materialising into the new place format. The case study of the City of Innsbruck is prototypically used to illustrate the application of the designed approach and to report achieved results. Research limitations/implications Place brand development based on translating socio-cultural meanings into touchpoint experiences to materialise and align place constituents is opening up new avenues to initiate and govern place development. At present, the approach is based on case studies in the western region of Austria and South Tyrol. Practical implications The three-phase model represents a practical tool for place brand managers, who want to renew and to develop their place format in a structured way. The BIDP model can be applied for all forms of places. Social implications Foremost, the described place branding collaborations reassure the proposition of Olins (2002) and Schmidt (2007) that place branding is a crucial internal project that unites groups of people around a common strategic vision providing sense and direction besides reaching out to the traditional customer–stakeholder audience. Originality/value A structured model for brand-driven place development, which evolved during 20 years of longitudinal collaborative action research with executives and representatives of commercial, touristy, urban and rural places, BIDP locks into anthropological research findings where cultural meanings are considered as the main source for the construction of brand identities.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-37
Author(s):  
Gloria Monica Woodlove ◽  
Mike Emerson Vurly

The research was to aim at approaching a political discourse as an effort to solve the issues. News reporting assigns meaning to issues by providing a continuous record of public events and visibility to the claims of actors. The public sphere is an important field where social problems are constructed and political alternatives become defined. When one considers these functions, it is hardly surprising that news has become an important source of data for a group of researchers who are interested in studying the nature of political challenges that are mobilized in the public domain. However, there sometimes appears to be a tendency within the social movements field to let theoretical development outrun a discussion on the methods with which we are equipped to address our research questions. In this contribution, our focus will be self-consciously directed to methods, and more precisely we make specific proposals regarding how the important methodological developments that have been made in the field in recent times, might be profitably extended. 


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-30
Author(s):  
Ioana S. Stoica ◽  
Mihalis Kavaratzis ◽  
Christina Schwabenland ◽  
Markus Haag

Co-creation in place branding is used as an umbrella term for the complex brand meaning emerging through stakeholders’ participation in place activities, their contribution, collaborations and interchange of ideas and resources. Co-creation is often an aspiration for places to create and promote their brands collectively. In this context, storytelling—an old technique used in corporate marketing to instigate brand stakeholders’ participation—serves as a method which facilitates place brand co-creation through shared place stories. With the rise of online interactions, the chances of place stakeholders’ participation in brand meaning creation increase, and place stories are effective in allowing diverse place meanings to emerge from various stakeholders. However, when storytelling emerges as a marketing tactic, mostly from a top-down campaign, the stories are not always accepted by all place stakeholders, and they create contrasting brand meanings. The paper aims to investigate the benefits and risks of participation in “Many Voices One Town” (2018), a top-down campaign from Luton, UK, which used storytelling to instigate place brand co-creation. The campaign was created by the Luton Council with an external advertising agency. The campaign attempted to tackle the town’s segregation issues and foster community cohesion through the promotion of seven selected Lutonians’ stories about their diverse and multicultural experiences of living in Luton. The study employs a qualitative methodology to analyse the MVOT case study. Interviews with the council and participants in the campaign and netnographic data from Twitter, Facebook and Instagram were used to gain an insight into residents’ participation in a top-down approach and examine the outcomes of co-creation. Residents’ participation in such a campaign shows numerous benefits but also risks for the place brand. The findings show that participation can sometimes intensify disputes about the town if people’s needs are not properly addressed. The study highlights the importance of open communication between all parties involved in the process, bringing into focus the need for careful coordination of top-down initiatives in line with stakeholders’ needs. It also demonstrates the ‘power of the people’ in the sense that stakeholder engagement with the shared stories led to negative outcomes that were not predicted by the Council.


Author(s):  
Tafadzwa Matiza ◽  
Elmarie Slabbert

Despite the proliferation of destination branding-related studies, there appears to be a limited academic inquiry into generic place brands and their potential influence on tourist behaviour towards destination countries. More-so within the African context. This paper explores whether there are place brand factors that potentially influence inward tourist’s perceptions of South Africa as a tourism destination country. Data generated from a survey of 233 inbound tourists to South Africa were analysed using Exploratory Factor Analysis. The findings establish that South Africa's place brand consisted of six distinct factors, two of which, namely, Socio-cultural and Competitive Advantages were new place brand factors within the South African context. Theoretically, the study complements the extent of the literature within the tourism discourse by providing an international demand-side perspective on place branding within an African tourism context. Practically, this study provides both South African and African tourism practitioners with insights into the potential utility of place branding as a heuristic cue in the decision-making process of international tourists, predominantly from the European and American markets.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carola Strandberg ◽  
Maria Ek Styvén

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of brand love in place brand communication by incorporating potential antecedents and behavioral outcomes of place brand love in a social media setting. Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered from 281 residents and visitors of a place through an online survey focusing on a place brand video. Structural equation modeling was employed to examine the research model. Findings Results show that place brand love has a strong direct relationship with positive word of mouth (WOM), and an indirect effect on intention to share the place brand message. Self-expressiveness of the place brand message also seems to influence place brand love as well as intention to share the message. Research limitations/implications The role of self-related concepts and brand love to a place has theoretical implications for research in place branding and electronic word of mouth. The study has limitations to its generalizability in terms of cultural aspects and sample representativeness. Practical implications Place marketers need to successfully reflect the self-concept of key stakeholders in communication messages in order to increase the probability that recipients will engage in positive WOM and share the message. Originality/value Research on place brand love is scarce and previous studies have focused solely on brand love in connection to tourists. The main contribution of the current study is the exploration of the role of brand love in connection to residents, who are vital co-creators of the place brand.


2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (7) ◽  
pp. 1445-1465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riza Casidy ◽  
Jessica Helmi ◽  
Kerrie Bridson

Purpose This paper aims to explore the factors that drive and inhibit national stakeholder organisations’ engagement with an established an umbrella place brand identity (PBI) in the context of country branding, during the PBI implementation stage. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted a case study approach to examine Australia’s current country brand identity initiative: Australia Unlimited, as an example of PBI. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with senior executives (n = 39) representing 30 Australian national organisation stakeholders across a range of sectors (i.e. government agencies, public and private organisations and industry associations). Findings The tension between the PBI and the brand identity of the stakeholders’ own organisation was an emergent finding at the heart of potential disengagement. Moreover, stakeholders’ perception of the leadership of the organisation managing the place brand plays a key role in influencing their engagement with PBI. Research limitations/implications The findings contribute to place marketing theory by identifying drivers and inhibitors of stakeholders’ engagement that originated from the PBI itself (PBI-centred factors) and from the stakeholder organisations (stakeholder-centred factors). Practical implications The findings provide a practical framework for place brand managing organisations to foster stakeholders’ engagement during the implementation stage of a PBI initiative. Originality/value Place branding research to date has focussed primarily on resident stakeholders’ engagement in the development of PBI initiatives. This paper contributes to knowledge by proposing a framework that encompasses the drivers and inhibitors of national stakeholder organisations’ engagement with PBI during its implementation phase.


2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 166-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Cress

Although children with complex communication needs (CCN) may be identified during infancy, there is little information on systematic differences in social and communicative interaction patterns from typical expectations, particularly during the pre-intentional period. This article summarizes conclusions drawn from a research study (Cress et al., 2013) that contrasted pre-intentional communication behaviors in typically developing infants at 6–7 months with pre-intentional communication behaviors in children with CCN at an average of 20 months chronological age, and average 6–7 months receptive language age equivalence scores. Behaviors in both groups were analyzed from structured play video samples using coding from the Infant Social and Communication Behavior Scales (ISCBS), a prototype assessment of pre-intentional communication in infants (Cress, Olsen, Sabers, & Wetherby, 2012). Multiple differences emerged in communication patterns between these two groups at similar points in receptive language development that indicate very early divergence of social and communication patterns demonstrated by young children with CCN from typical expectations.


2017 ◽  
pp. 1316-1334
Author(s):  
Sonya Hanna ◽  
Jennifer Rowley

This chapter contributes to the understanding of the essence and representation of places by considering the personification of places and their relationship to the notion of place brand personality. More specifically, the chapter reviews the personification of places and its link to place representations in place marketing and branding. The theme of place brand personality is further developed and critiqued with reference to traditional theories associated with brand personality. A review of the existing body of theory and research on place brand personality demonstrates the need for further research into place and destination brand personality. The chapter culminates with proposals for further research in this area and suggestions for further embedding the notion of personality in place branding practice.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Varsha Jain ◽  
Preeti Shroff ◽  
Altaf Merchant ◽  
Subhalakshmi Bezbaruah

Purpose A place brand is a culmination of its exclusive history, people and traditions that affect customer and community experiences. Place branding has become increasingly important for collective heritage brand strategy, as stakeholders undertake efforts to create an aura of a distinctive geographic location. Though place branding has received considerable scholarly attention, there is a lacuna: the role of residents as co-creators of a place and its heritage. Accordingly, this paper aims to develop a “bi-directional participatory place branding” model by applying the stimulus–organism–response approach grounded theory. Design/methodology/approach A grounded theory approach with multi-sited ethnography, personal interviews (with residents and city leaders) and observational techniques were adopted in a UNESCO world heritage city of India, Ahmedabad. Findings The findings indicate that the people (residents) aspect of place branding is associated with their life stories, past experiences, feelings and aspirations. However, the place acts as a nostalgia enabler, disseminating symbolic and heritage metaphors to residents and visitors as place brand ambassadors. When the place and people components are perceived positively, residents participate involve themselves with the place and thus, in turn, become the place ambassadors. Originality/value No prior studies have analyzed the association between residents, the place where they reside and the resultant behavior toward the place. The unique contribution is the bi-directional participatory place branding model, especially involving a UNESCO world heritage city rather than solely a site.


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