Place branding

Place branding (also known as destination branding, place marketing or place promotion) is a relatively new umbrella term encompassing Nation Branding, Region Branding and City Branding. The term was first developed by Philip Kotler, [ [http://www.amazon.com/dp/074323636X "Kotler, P. Haider, D.H. & Rein, I. (1993). Marketing Places, New York: Free Press.] ] and was further researched by Gold and Ward [ [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0471948349 "Gold, J.R. and Ward, S. V. (eds) (1994) Place Promotion: The Use of Publicity and Marketing to Sell Towns and Regions. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.] ] , Simon Anholt [ [http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0750649941 "Destination Branding: Creating the Unique Destination Proposition, Edited by Nigel Morgan, Annette Pritchard and Roger Pride, Oxford, UK, Butterworth Heinemann 2002] ] , Avraham and Ketter [ [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0750684526 "Avraham, Eli and Ketter, Eran (2008). Media strategies for marketing places in crisis. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann] ] Seppo Rainisto [ [http://lib.tkk.fi/Diss/2003/isbn9512266849/isbn9512266849.pdf "Success Factors of Place Marketing: A Study of Place Marketing Practices in Northern Europe and the United States by Seppo K. Rainisto, 2003] ] , and others. The term Place branding could refer to a city, country or a tourist destination, and to their competition over tourists, visitors, investors, residents and other resources.

Place Branding is based over the strategic approach to public relations, stating that a change of image is ongoing, holistic, interactive and wide-scaled process, requiring much more than a quick change of logo or slogan [ [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0750684526 "Avraham, Eli and Ketter, Eran (2008). Media strategies for marketing places in crisis. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann] ] [ Place marketing in Europe: the branding of the Øresund Region, Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, 39, 5, 271-279 by G.J. Hospers, 2004 ] . In other words, branding a city, country or a tourist destination does not merely stick on new labels, but consolidates the essential characteristics of the individual identity into a brand core ["Branding territor y: Inside the wonderful worlds of PR and IR theor y, Millennium, 31, 2, 249–269, by Peter Van Ham, 2002] . As part of the holistic process, the creation of a brand sets social, economical and cultural processes in motion, which can nuance, strengthen or correct foreign perceptions. The routine development of mechanisms leading to a strong and consistent brand is highly important for Place Branding. [ [http://www.nationbranding.de/site_english/IDENTITY_PLACEBRANDING_EN.pdf "Building Reputation - Communicating Identity. Identity and the Place Branding Process" by Marie Spiekermann, 2007] ] Such development doesn’t merely promote a core message, a logo or a claim, to the public but additionally communicates the Place Brand on a long-term basis using a consistent communication concept. [Place Branding: A Review of Trends and Conceptual Models, The MarketingReview, 5, 4, 329–342, by M. Kavaratzis, M., 2005 ] [ Morgan, N., Pritchard, A. and Pride, R. (2002) (Eds.) Destination branding: Creating the unique destination proposition. Woburn, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann. ]

The struggle for attention and preference is not limited to the contest between countries and cities; even within cities there is a fierce competition between city centers vs. neighborhoods, big box retailers vs. main streets, shopping malls vs. traditional down towns. This heightened competitive environment makes it important for places, no matter their size or composition, to clearly differentiate themselves and to convey why they are relevant and valued options. In 2005, the International Association of Convention and Visitors Bureau published a book on the subject called "Destination BrandScience," co-written by a destination marketing veteran Gary C. Sherwin that emphasized that brand development was not a logo or tag line, but rather a commitment to a community wide strategy on what differentiated the community from others as well as a community wide effort to effectively communicate and create that unique destination experience for the customer. Rather than advertising based, this brand effort focused on delivering an exceptional experience that was memorable and emotional [ http://www.amazon.com/Destination-Branding-Small-Cities-Baker/dp/0979707609/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-7361784-6031156?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188055870&sr=8-1 "Destination Branding for Small Cities" 17, by Bill Baker, 2007 ] .

References

Brian Lonsway, “The Experience of a Lifestyle,” pp. 225-246 in The Themed Space: Locating Culture, Nation, and Self, ed. Scott A. Lukas (Lanham, MD, Lexington Books, 2007), ISBN: 0739121421

----"Destination BrandScience," Duane Knapp and Gary Sherwin, 2005 International Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus