Co-branding public place brands: towards an alternative approach to place branding

Abstract

Contrary to the traditional understanding of place branding inspired by product, service and corporation branding, the present paper adopts place branding interdisciplinary literature in order to develop a conceptual framework that focuses on the constituting features of place brands as a form of public brands. The paper suggests the way place brands are constituted is via a co-branded complex and dynamic process in a constant state of change shaped by the interaction of several public brands in particular time-space frames. The co-branded process allows researchers and practitioners to better understand the conditions under which place brands and place brand efforts are emerging. Despite that, the type of co-branded process described in the paper also points out that the process does not necessarily create a linear positive add-on value for all parts involved. Rather, the co-branded process here is fragmented and based on spatial, political and real meaning contexts. The framework is illustrated empirically from material retrieved from a study of a regional branding process. The article concludes with a note on the political dimension of applying a co-branding lens on the public sphere.