Place branding in a bottle: management strategies for unplanned messages

Purpose This paper explores an important yet overlooked concept in place branding literature, unplanned messages. Focusing on unplanned messages, this study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the concept of spontaneous order in place branding and how to manage the unplanned communication process so as to ensure a high reputational status for a place. Design/methodology/approach This paper builds on past research on place brand communication and proposes a conceptual framework for unplanned messages. Findings Classification schemes for places and place brands are proposed, contributing to place brand management in three aspects: reviewing of decisions and strategies undertaken, assessing current situation and planning way forward when it comes to priorities for place management and development. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper that introduces the emergent image and presents a classification scheme for places that contributes to a strategic management program of unplanned messages in place branding.

Place Brand Co-Creation through Storytelling: Benefits, Risks and Preconditions

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.

An image worth a thousand words? Expressions of stakeholder identity perspectives in place image descriptions

Purpose This paper aims to explore how place identity can be expressed in residents’ place image descriptions, addressing differences and similarities in place identity expressions between residents’ descriptions of the image of their place and the image of the place as described to others. Design/methodology/approach In-depth interviews were conducted with residents of a Swedish city. Place image descriptions were analyzed through thematic analysis. Findings Different types of identity perspectives manifest in the place image descriptions of residents. Respondents’ associations reflect place, person and social group identity perspectives, including their own perspective as residents, but also as visitors, or a combination of both. Priming is needed when gathering place image perceptions, to establish which underlying identity perspective is expressed. Research limitations/implications This study offers a Nordic perspective on the organic communication of place image. The scope and qualitative nature of this study is a limitation to its generalizability but also suggests a rich ground for future cross-cultural studies on the topic. Practical implications Results point to the importance of accurately formulating questions to catch stakeholders’ place image. Insights are offered into how stakeholders communicate Nordic place image perceptions when engaging in communication about a place and into the effects of identity on organic place brand communication. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to explore how key stakeholders’ lenses to interpret a place brand are activated in the communication of place image, and how this influences their descriptions of the place.

Authenticity, local creatives and place branding: a case study from the Blue Mountains, Australia

Purpose This paper discusses the notion of authenticity and the role of local creatives in the place branding process based on a case study of Mtns Made, a brand for the creative industries in the Blue Mountains of Sydney, Australia. This paper aims to examine the development, implementation and management of a place brand from the ground-up and explore the implications for a situated place branding practice. Design/methodology/approach The concept of brand culture was used as a theoretical lens to view place branding. A qualitative case study approach was taken, incorporating the collection of primary and secondary documents, observation of online platforms and real-world events, field notes and personal reflection from an insider position. Findings The findings of this study suggest that local creatives can and have played a central role in place branding. The study also illustrates a model for place branding that centres on stakeholder participation in an ongoing process. Originality/value Local culture and creativity are largely viewed as assets for place branding; this paper draws attention to the agency of local creatives in the place branding process. This study offers three pillars of place brand authenticity and establishes a framework for place brand analysis based on a branding design strategy.

Correction to: So near, so far, so what is social distancing? A fundamental ontological account of a mobile place brand

A correction to this paper has been published: 10.1057/s41254-020-00186-z.

A gentler structure to life: co-creation in branding a cultural route

The study explores how a cultural route supports the identity of a place. The study applies co-creative and identity-based place-branding theory and advances research on the significant role of culture when various actors identify with the brand of a place. Moreover, cultural sustainability is seen as a form of meta-narrative that frames the symbiosis of a place brand and its cultural values. Contributing to the previous research on branding a cultural route, this study discusses the value of a person (an architect) to the branding of a cultural route. The study also contributes to place-branding theory by linking the discourse on architectural heritage and branding an emerging cultural route. We used a single and critical case approach focusing on one of the sites representing a group of cities involved in the branding of the Alvar Aalto cultural route. Various qualitative research methods including interviews and publicly available material were utilized. The study presents empirical findings on branding an emergent cultural route. As a key theoretical contribution, the study shows how the culture and image of an individual site are expressed in the cohesive brand identity of that cultural route. Communication and co-creation are revealed to be prerequisites of efficient collaboration.

Branding cities, regions and countries: the roadmap of place brand equity

Purpose The purpose of this paper is two-fold: to expand the understanding of brand equity for places (e.g. countries, regions or cities) and propose two frameworks to increase its value. Design/methodology/approach By interviewing international participants, this study was exploratory and interpretative; thematic analysis was performed for a broader understanding about place brand equity. Findings The Roadmap of Brand Equity is provided by proposing three “pathways” founded on core value drivers as “road signs” (potential influences or main variables of the value of a place brand), which are required to be strategically monitored and aligned to place branding activities to enhance the value of a city, region or country. Value drivers of place brand equity and the roadmap of place brand equity are proposed through the figures. Research limitations/implications A natural progression of this study is the investigation of place brand equity by applying statistical procedures for measuring places. Due to specific locations’ (often) unfavorable and threatening reputations worldwide, the key value-drivers (government initiatives, stakeholders' perceptions, residents’ engagement, news media, social media and real data indexes) are noted as influential partakers – either separated or combined – when analyzing their brand equity. Practical implications Both proposed archetypes suggest applications for several co-creators involved in public or private places, which can be beneficial for both emerging and non-emerging countries, regions or cities. Furthermore, both may be applied to the analysis of other places (e.g. universities, schools, museums, public squares, airports, hospitals, etc.). Social implications This study may inspire planning and actions for public policies, including private partnerships, government initiatives and practical endeavors. Originality/value This is one of the first studies to perform an analysis of brand equity of places under a qualitative approach and to propose strategical frameworks for both research and practice.

Customer-Based Place Brand Equity and Tourism: A Regional Identity Perspective

The major purpose of place branding is to attract tourists and investors by enhancing the value proposition of a place through its unique regional identity. We undertake two studies to test the impact of regional identity on destination brand loyalty, and thereby on investment attractiveness. Study 1 involves identifying the dimensions of customer-based place brand equity (CBPBE) from a regional identity perspective. Data were collected from the state of West Bengal in India. Results of exploratory factor analysis show a four-dimensional structure of CBPBE consisting of brand salience, brand meaning, perceived quality, and brand attachment. Based on 290 responses collected from Thailand, we use these CBPBE dimensions in study 2 to develop and validate the psychometrically robust CBPBE-RI instrument. Finally, we test for the impact of CBPBE-RI dimensions on destination brand loyalty and investment attractiveness. The results have managerial and theoretical implications.

Introducing bi-directional participatory place branding: a theoretical model with multi-stakeholder perspectives

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.