What can We Learn from City Marketing Practice?

It is evident in contemporary urban studies that the interest in city marketing both as a practice within urban centre management and as an academic sub-discipline has accelerated. There remain, however, several issues that need clarification before an agreement can be reached as to the exact effects and potential of city marketing as a tool of economic and socio-cultural development. A particular gap can be noticed between theoretical suggestions on the ways in which marketing should be understood and used within cities and the practical implementation as this can be observed in contemporary cities. A common view on this issue highlights the need for practitioners to follow theoretical ideas but the practice can also be a source of useful lessons that might enrich the theory. This paper investigates marketing and branding practices of two European cities in order to extract from the practice lessons that will support the theoretical development of city marketing and city branding and might contribute towards bridging this gap. The cities investigated are Amsterdam and Budapest, both of which provide valuable insights into the challenges of an effective city marketing implementation

Changing the Tide: the Campaign to Re-Brand Amsterdam.

The re-branding of places whose existing brand image has become for various reasons inappropriate or ineffective poses particular challenges to the marketing of major multifunctional cities. The position of Amsterdam as the national cultural capital and major international cultural centre has for some time been threatened by a sharpening of competition from other cities both within and outside the Netherlands and by social and economic trends within the city that have seriously undermined the previously successfully promoted brand image. Furthermore, one of the main elements of the city’s international image associated with the liberal attitude towards soft drugs and prostitution is now seen as inappropriate for the city, as it overshadows other more desirable aspects of the city’s aspirations. This has focussed official thinking and led to a serious and fundamental attempt at strategic re-branding involving a far-reaching examination of stakeholders, goals and competitive positioning. The main tangible result so far, is the recent launching of the ‘I amsterdam’ brand. This paper will first elaborate on the context of the intensifying inter-urban competition expressed through the re-branding of cities. In this context, the process of developing the brand and the ‘I amsterdam’ campaign that has followed will be described and explained and its likely success will be assessed.

Changing the Tide: the Campaign to Re-Brand Amsterdam

The re-branding of places whose existing brand image has become for various reasons inappropriate or ineffective poses particular challenges to the marketing of major multifunctional cities. The position of Amsterdam as the national cultural capital and major international cultural centre has for some time been threatened by a sharpening of competition from other cities both within and outside the Netherlands and by social and economic trends within the city that have seriously undermined the previously successfully promoted brand image. Furthermore, one of the main elements of the city's international image associated with the liberal attitude towards soft drugs and prostitution is now seen as inappropriate for the city, as it overshadows other more desirable aspects of the city's aspirations. This has focussed official thinking and led to a serious and fundamental attempt at strategic re-branding involving a far-reaching examination of stakeholders, goals and competitive positioning. The main tangible result so far, is the recent launching of the 'I amsterdam' brand. This paper will first elaborate on the context of the intensifying inter-urban competition expressed through the re-branding of cities. In this context, the process of developing the brand and the 'I amsterdam' campaign that has followed will be described and explained and its likely success will be assessed

My City - My Brand: The Role of Residents in Place Branding

The theoretical development of place branding is in its early stages. The most important contributions so far have come from publications 'translating' insights, methods and tools from corporate branding theory to places and cities in particular. Obviously, an academic field in its early stages has many critical issues to be developed. One major issue is the role of residents in the formation and communications of place brands and their involvement in the place branding process. This paper attempts to fill in this gap by exploring in detail the role that residents are called to play in current place branding practice. The paper argues that there is an urgent need for resident involvement and participation in place branding, due to the reason, that residents simultaneously fulfil different roles in the place marketing process. Firstly, they are target groups of place marketing itself and therefore the main audience of several marketing actions. Secondly, residents are an integrated part of a place brand. Their characteristics, behaviour and reputation could make a city more attractive to visitors, new residents, investors, and companies. Thirdly, residents could function as ambassadors for their place brand. They are in the position to give credibility to any message communicated by city authorities, "making or breaking" the image and brand of their city. Fourthly, they are also citizens and are vital for the political legitimisation of the whole marketing endeavour. The paper explains in detail this fourfold role of the residents and explores the implications for place brand management. Drawing on examples from place marketing practice it demonstrates how residents exert their influence on city brands either though intentional involvement or unintentional negligence. The paper concludes that only through meaningful participation and consultation a more effective and sustainable place branding is possible

Re-branding the High Street: The place branding process and reflections from three UK towns

Purpose The main aim of this article is to develop a holistic understanding of place branding and reflect on its practical value and implications, by drawing evidence from the rebranding process of three UK towns (Alsager, Altrincham, and Holmfirth) that participated in the HSUK2020 project. Design/methodology/approach A comprehensive place branding process that includes the interrelated stages of research, deliberation, consultation, action, and communication is presented. The practical value of this theoretical proposition is linked to the experiences of three UK towns that participated in the HSUK2020 project. Findings The importance of research, the challenges of participation, and the role of communications in place branding processes were identified as primary issues in all towns. The results of the project demonstrate the significance of the initial research stage of the place branding process and show that the process as a whole is valuable in helping places deal effectively with identity issues. Research limitations/implications Participatory place branding processes can flourish when place stakeholders are engaged in the right context and are encouraged to work together. In addition, place brands are important cues and empower stakeholders’ participation in all stages of place brand processes. Practical implications Knowledge exchange projects that have the potential to engage a plethora of place stakeholders should be considered by practitioners for future place branding strategies. Originality/value The paper offers a refreshing practical grounding on participatory place branding concepts and theories. The value of knowledge exchange strategies for examining the field of place branding is also highlighted and can become a useful research approach for future research

Bridging the gap between culture, identity and image: A structurationist conceptualization of place brands and place branding

Purpose Although place branding is increasingly popular in research as well as in local, regional and national political agendas, the theoretical foundations of the place branding discipline are still underdeveloped. By embracing the stream of identity-based studies, this paper aims to attempt to demonstrate that place brands can be usefully approached through an emphasis of their cultural traits and the practical connection between culture, identity and image. Design/methodology/approach In constructing its theoretical arguments, the paper challenges the place branding model propounded by Kavaratzis and Hatch (2013), and uses practices as units of analysis. The paper conducts a brief review of the principal tenets of practice theory(IES) and uses structuration theory as a theoretical device to demonstrate how this theory can provide a (still lacking) theoretical anchorage for the place branding process. Findings The usefulness of structuration theory for understanding the place branding process is analysed at both the strategic and tactical levels by means of two illustrative examples. Structuration theory proves to be a solid theory which links the constitutive elements of the place branding process, i.e. culture, identity and image, and to inspire further theoretical elaborations and empirical efforts grounded on this theory. Originality/value This is the first paper which uses practice theory(ies) in general and structuration theory in particular to explain the place branding process. The theoretical arguments advanced provide valuable guidance for further theoretical elaborations and empirical applications