‘Where is place branding heading?’

An analysis of terminology use in place branding

“…To be precise, place branding, both as a necessity and a phenomenon, is mainly provoked by globalisation processes where the market place for ideas, culture, reputation, in addition to products, services and funds are fusing into a single global community ( Anholt, 2005 ). People can now simply work and live almost anywhere, abandoning failing and deteriorating places for ones offering growing opportunities ( Kotler, 2004 ). Places are and have always been subject to ' internal growth and decline cycles [along with] external shocks and forces beyond their control ' ( Kotler et al ., 1993: 4 ).…”

Do experiential events create city brand?

“…Applying techniques to create brands for nations, cities and places is increasing (Anholt, 2002(Anholt, , 2007Hall, 2003;Dinnie, 2004;Kotler et al 2004;Ponsonby-McCabe and Boyle, 2006;), given the strong global competition they face to retain industries and attract tourists (Dinnie 2004).…”

“…The "city brand" concept is relevant because there are more and more reasons for cities to manage and control their images as brands (Kotler et al 2004); the need to attract tourists, factories, businesses and talented people, the urgency in finding markets for exports (Dinnie, 2004), or the importance of increasing their citizens' satisfaction (Zenker et al 2009) are but a few of them. Financial constraints, alongside local authorities' lack of knowledge and skills in effectively implementing and directing city brand strategies, leads them to frequently cooperate with other public and private institutions (Pascual-Esteve, 1999), with the ultimate aim of increasing the satisfaction of people living in a particular place (Zenker et al 2009), as a result of a previously developed positive attitude towards the city brand (Merrilees et al 2009).…”

“…In any case, the goal is none other than the commitment to differentiation (building city brands), to demonstrate in this way that local governments can successfully manage their city brand if they choose to hold experiential events. This is because a good city brand translates, ultimately, into an improvement in the perception of quality of life among citizens (Kotler et al 2004;Kavaratzis, 2004;2008).…”

Understanding place brands as collective and territorial development processes

“…It is assumed that this growing tendency will continue (Dinnie 2008, Kotler et al 2004. It seems that place brands derive mainly from public policies.…”