Dynamics Of Place Branding

Challenges of Place Branding

Discuss about the Dynamics of Place Branding.

In the contemporary world, the national identity of goods and services is a valuable asset. The identity of a country’s trading items should be strong, real, and communicable. Nation branding is a product of globalization because countries strive to compete with each other depending on their resources. Countries focus on developing strong and positive brands that introduce their competencies to the entire world (Wang 2006). The nation brand includes perceptions regarding six competencies namely people, culture, tourism, investment, governance, and exports. The influences of international media, history, ignorance, and globalization make it hard for a country to change a negative stereotype. Therefore, the brand image of a nation rarely reflects the reality. While it is hard to change the international reputation of a country, governments can utilize strategic planning and engagement of place stakeholders to achieve competitive advantage. 

Economic, environmental, and financial challenges affect the capacity of countries to attract foreign investment as well as establish a competitive advantage (Porter 2011). Nation branding is a constituent of place branding that seeks solutions to the factors that slow down economic development among nations. The existence of such challenges is an indicator that the traditional planning instruments become irrelevant with time. Therefore, policy developers need to develop new policies that cope with the current challenges effectively. According to Oliveira (2015), place planning promotes social inclusion, economic restructuring, and place identification. The researcher states that place planning contributes to the development of social and economic structures in a country. Finally, the technique reveals the need for restructuring the current system in response to contemporary economic challenges.

Incidentally, the human capital is important in developing a nation’s reputation. People create perceptions about a country through contact and engagement (White & White 2007). Therefore, countries concentrate on developing talent that attracts international reputation. Citizens participate in branding by sharing their ideas and innovations that promote economic development (Volcic & Andrejevic 2011). Additionally, people should participate in different government programs to create positive perceptions. A national brand gives the citizens a sense of belonging and an appreciation of identity. A reputable nation brand inspires citizens to engage in sustainable economic practices.

Branding is an innovative process of sharing relevant information with the customers. The consumers require information on identity, image, purpose, and equity (Aaker 2012). Place branding is an emerging concept that aims at attracting businesses to new locations. Place branding involves management of reputation to attract immigration and foreign investment. It includes the interactions of a place with its environment. Such environments include trade, politics, and investment. The concept of place branding establishes a relationship and engagement between the consumers and the brand. The brand interacts with consumers through different experiences.

Techniques of Place Branding

Furthermore, people develop perceptions of a place through three areas of contact (White & White 2007). The encounters are important because they enable an individual to form an opinion about a place of interest. Firstly, the frequency with which a person uses a place helps them to develop particular perceptions. Secondly, the representation of specific places in the news, paintings, and films gives an individual an impression of a place. Finally, the impact of deliberate policies utilized in particular areas attracts interest from investors. Therefore, policy makers can influence the perception of people by facilitating initiatives that represent localities positively. The planning involves three key tools namely personality association, signature building, design and event hallmarking.

Personality association involves the tendency of identifying a place using an eminent person (Ashworth 2009). The distinguished individual plays an ambassadorial role while interacting with other communities in the country, region, and world. The administrators in places like cities and countries associate themselves with prominent people with the hope of establishing a unique identity. Such planners hope to transfer the qualities of the prominent person through associating with the individual. Additionally, cities associate distinguished architects and utilize their designs to develop unique identities. Establish a special link between the person and place is necessary. People with distinguished achievements through their work are preferred for place branding. Finally, the policymakers must create mechanisms of fighting off the competing qualities of persons from competitor places.

Conversely, personality associations might result in undesirable results. In this case, the characters with unattractive achievements cannot be utilized for personality associations. The continuous evolution of productions through utilization of innovative techniques challenges the effectiveness of personality associations over time (Ashworth 2009). Additionally, the demise of an eminent person utilized in personality associations can harm the prospects of economic growth in an area. The death of a famous person with personality associations with a place might affect the perceptions of people negatively. The death of Chester Weinberg, a popular fashion designer, shocked the close-knit community. Initially, the designer enjoyed fame but his death went unremarked in public. In this case, the distinguished fashion designer had succumbed to AIDS-related complications. Such unfortunate situations indicate that policy developers should use personality associations cautiously.

The signature building is a useful tool in place branding because the structures represent outstanding physical and aesthetic values for a particular place (Ashworth 2009). It aims at introducing a place to residents and nonresidents in terms of history and culture. It indicates to people that the place is important for protection and re-creation of historic forms or demonstration and consumption of cultural experiences. Such structures represent cities as units extending beyond the immediate neighborhood. The signature building is a useful technique of representing the identity of a place especially for cities created for functions other than cultural heritage and historical significance. For example, the museumufer in Frankfurt is a financial center but demonstrates the people’s way of life. 

Personality Association

Additionally, event hallmarking is important because it combines the content of activities with the organization process. In this case, the strategy demonstrates a city’s capacity to host an event as well as its association with the occasion. Event hallmarking introduces the public to a city’s qualities in organization and commitment to successful performance (Ashworth 2009). Cultural events are widely acceptable because the products add value and unique brand qualities to a place. Other events include political rallies, commercial fairs, sporting activities, and international meetings. Primarily, the impact of event branding depends on the perceptions of consumers after the occasion. The main cities that host cultural events register the largest economic benefits. Interestingly, the prospect of hosting world events can trigger changes in the existing structures of host cities. For example, hosting the Olympics in a developing nation requires the construction of stadia. In this case, it is the event that informed the decision of restructuring cities.

Place branding takes place in the presence of many stakeholders who can either provide support for the proposed brand or interrupt the entire process of formulation and adoption. Klijn, Eshuis, and Braun (2012) indicate that the participation of stakeholders in place branding affects the efficacy of the process in the public sector. Other factors that influence the success of place branding include marketing activities, brand image, and participation of consumers. The customers participate in the creation and sustenance of initiative (Klijn et al. 2012). It is a continuous process that requires stakeholders and consumers to participate in brand creation, recreation, and implementation. Therefore, the different characters determine the success rate of place branding. The stakeholders contribute resources; they reduce possibilities of misuse of power, provide details of decision making, and participate in the democratic process of governance.

Subsequently, the creation and management of successful partnerships involve the interaction of different success factors (Hankinson 2009). The diversity of stakeholders involved in place branding contributes to the complexity of developing successful partnerships. The process requires commitment and involvement of all participants. Successful brands represent and integrate the principal stakeholders and maintain consistency over extended periods (Anantachart 2006). In this case, it is important to achieve reasonable levels of integration in place branding. Therefore, it is relevant to identify the right people to establish the place branding partnerships. For instance, the partners should have shared goals for the initiative.

The reputation of a place plays a crucial role in securing sufficient funding for place branding (Van Ham 2008). The occurrence of disasters can limit opportunities for investment because of stakeholders’ perceived risks. Community disasters that receive local and international media attention may affect the desire for companies seeking relocation (Avraham & Ketter 2008). However, in the presence of proper mitigating strategies, the impact of such challenges remains minimal. It is necessary for the community to provide sufficient information regarding the situation. Additionally, effective communication with the affected parties demonstrates responsibility and capacity to manage disasters.

In conclusion, globalization and international competition demand strategic realignments in governments. The traditional techniques for promoting economic development become inefficient in the current global economic state. It is important to acknowledge that globalization increases opportunities for companies and markets within regions and the world. However, national governments should adopt strategies that ensure sustained economic development. It is important to utilize national resources appropriately to minimize losses and wastage. Successful partnerships encourage effective communication, collaboration, and consistency. Communication is a fundamental component in securing enough funding for place branding. Countries should evaluate the different place branding techniques to identify the most appropriate for their development endeavors. 

References

Aaker, D.A., 2012. Building strong brands. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

Anantachart, S., 2006. Integrated marketing communications and market planning: Their implications for brand equity building. Journal of Promotion Management, Vol. 11, No.1, pp.101-125.

Ashworth, G., 2009. The instruments of place branding: How is it done?. European Spatial research and policy, Vol. 16, No.1, pp.9-22.

Avraham, E., and Ketter, E., 2008. Media strategies for marketing places in crisis: Improving the Image of cities, countries, and tourist destinations. London, UK: Routledge.

Hankinson, G., 2009. Managing destination brands: establishing a theoretical foundation. Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 25, No.(1-2), pp.97-115.

Klijn, E.H., Eshuis, J. and Braun, E., 2012. The influence of stakeholder involvement on the effectiveness of place branding. Public management review, Vol. 14, No.4, pp.499-519.

Oliveira, E., 2015. Place branding as a strategic spatial planning instrument. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Vol. 11, No.1, pp.18-33.

Porter, M.E., 2011. The competitive advantage of nations: creating and sustaining superior performance. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

Van Ham, P., 2008. Place branding: The state of the art. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 616, No.1, pp.126-149.

Volcic, Z. and Andrejevic, M., 2011. Nation branding in the era of commercial nationalism. International Journal of Communication, Vol, 5, pp.21.

Wang, J., 2006. Managing national reputation and international relations in the global era: Public diplomacy revisited. Public Relations Review, Vol. 32, No.2, pp.91-96.

White, N.R. and White, P.B., 2007. Home and away: Tourists in a connected world. Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 34, No.1, pp.88-104.