Place branding of seaports in the Middle East

This paper analyses seaports’ brand personalities as a means of understanding similarities and differences of these important locations and their relationship with their host place image. Drawing upon Aaker’s (J Mark Res 34:347–356, 1997) brand personality construct, the study presents lexical analysis from the websites of nine seaports in the Middle East. Each seaport’s website is content analysed, and the brand personality is measured using Aaker’s (1997) framework and Opoku’s (Licentiate Thesis, Lulea University of Technology, ISSN, 1402-1757, 2005) dictionary of synonyms. Findings show that seaports have developed a level of isomorphism upon particular dimensions of brand image; however, the findings also show the most distinctive seaports were linking their seaport to their place brand. In particular, the findings show only the Port of Jebel Ali has a clear and distinctive brand personality and to a lesser extent the Ports of Sohar, Shahid Rajee and Khor Fakkan. The research has important management implications of branding for public diplomacy and demonstrates seaport brand positioning in relation to place branding, used to inform public communication and marketing

Understanding power dynamics in the planning process: the case of a retail development in Glasgow

This paper uses critical discourse analysis (CDA) to investigate power, influence and inequality manifested in a process involving a planning application. The objectives behind the case study research, a planning application for a minor retail development in the west end of Glasgow, include an exploration of the role that language and discourse play in reflecting and constituting relations of power between the stakeholders in the process and to explore the value of the ideas of linguists such as Fairclough and Van Dijk as tools of research in town planning. The premise here is that using CDA to study the language used in texts provides insights not ordinarily evident from more traditional research methodologies. To do this, this paper shows how texts can be used to challenge knowledge, manufacture consent and articulate and sustain resistance and challenge. In broad terms, one of the methodological assumptions that inform discourse-based approaches is that different groups seek to establish a particular narrative or version of events as a means to pursue political objectives. This paper sets out initially the theoretical influences that inform relations of power and dominance in order to better understand the relationship between language and power followed by an analysis of texts drawn from a wider body of information related to the planning application to inform the conclusions. This paper concludes with a discussion of the value and utility of CDA as a valid method for social inquiry and as a useful resource for understanding power and dominance in the urban sphere and the struggle to create sustainable communities