Place Marketing Strategies Research Articles

Place marketing and phases of the image: a conceptual framework

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework that serves as: a potential how‐to guide for place managers; an evolution of place branding strategy; a cautionary tale about place brands developed without stakeholder involvement; and a way to open up the theory space to arrive at a potentially ideal marketing mix. The framework reveals consequences of relying on imagery with little connection to the place's reality. Place brands developed without these characteristics could lead to auto‐communication, which could affect the organization‐public relationship by stunting genuine organization learning and simulating meaningful two‐way dialogue.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual framework was developed using Qualitative Media Analysis to explore several constructs – market‐based models of governance, public relations models, Baudrillard's phases of the image, and six promotional tactics cities are used to promote the place.FindingsBased on the concepts employed, it is argued that cities need to be cognizant of after effects of place brands, as the organization‐public relationship might be fractured.Research limitations/implicationsA limitation might come from theories selected, but implications for place branding academics and practitioners are potentially great. Further research questions are presented.Practical implicationsPractitioners could use the piece as a how‐to guide when developing a place marketing strategy, as well as become cognizant of when auto‐communication could take place based on the communications strategies employed.Originality/valueThe paper develops a workable tool for place marketers while bringing attention to an area not often explored, be it theoretically and empirically, which is the after effects of place marketing.

Restless Urban Landscapes in China: A Case Study of Three Projects in Shanghai

ABSTRACT:This paper investigates the emergence of diversified landscapes in postreform China. The new urban forms are understood as a result of broader changes in the institutional and sociocultural spheres since reform. The commodification of housing provision on the supply side and the rise of a new rich and consumer culture on the demand side have together led to an ever-important role of place marketing in adding to the exchange values of land and buildings. Three projects in Shanghai are further studied in detail to illustrate what has been built and how they are built. It is revealed that, whatever the building style, the landscapes are manipulated to conjure up a certain type of good life by mixed-use packages and distinctive images. Furthermore, a new mode of public–private partnership favoring place marketing and holistic development strategies has also emerged. In comparison with other countries that have witnessed similar urban changes, an important process that China is experiencing is the commodification of urban space under globalization. But the dominant role of the state makes the case of China distinct. How market and global forces could shape the built environment still largely depends on the state’s urban policies.

City marketing for Bogotá: a case study in integrated place branding

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to bring together theory and practice of place branding/marketing from a practitioner's point of view. It is a critical assessment of the recent place marketing strategy for the city of Bogotá, Colombia.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on a case study, that of the place marketing strategy for Bogotá. After a description of the initial task for city officials and the consultant, the paper presents the process of designing the strategy, focusing on citizen participation. It describes the inherent difficulties and tensions of any similar task and the practical compromises that had to be reached. Finally these findings are discussed again in a theoretical context, integrating place branding with other planning and positioning measures.FindingsPlace branding can indeed be a useful tool for place development, if it is understood as one possible tool of policy making and is incorporated in a broader conceptualization of the relationship among places, not limited to competition alone.Practical implicationsThe paper's main position is that place branding is legitimate when there is a gap between a place's reality and perception. Understanding place branding as one possible tool for the development and positioning of places, means that practitioners and academics alike will have to rethink how to integrate it more effectively into existing policy making. Finally it shows both the importance and limitations of participatory processes.Originality/valueThe paper is a critical assessment of the experience of a practitioner linked with theoretical and methodological consideration; it tries to fill the gap between theoretical considerations and constrains of the profession.

장소마케팅 관점에서 공공미술 프로젝트에 대한 고찰 -부산 공공미술 프로젝트 사례를 중심으로-

최근 지자체 및 정부 기관에서 소외지역 생활환경 개선 및 문화 복지를 위한 도시 재생사업의 일환으로 공공미술 프로젝트를 시행하고 있다. 따라서, 공공미술 프로젝트는 공공미술 자체의 담론에만 빠져있을 것이 아니라 도시 재개발 속에서의 그 의미를 생각해야 한다. 즉, 공공미슬 프로젝트를 통해 소외지역에 문화 예술을 입히는 것이 궁극적으로는 지역 주민들의 경제를 활성화할 수 있는 장소마케팅의 목적으로 시행될 필요가 있다. 본 논문은 과연 최근 5년간 진행된 부산의 공공미술 프로젝트들이 그 목적성을 달성했고, 장소마케팅 관점에서 성공적이었는지, 공공미술의 성격과 전체 마을의 설립 양상이 비판적으로 재검토될 필요는 없는지에 대한 의문에서 출발하였다. 먼저, 공공미술의 개념 및 공공미술 프로젝트의 효과와 장소마케팅의 개념 및 전략에 대해 이론적 내용을 문헌을 통해 고찰한다. 이를 바탕으로 분석틀을 도출하고 부산시의 최근 5년간 진행된 대표적인 공공 미술 프로젝트 사례를 공공미술적 차원의 요건과 장소마케팅 차원에서의 실효성에 대해 분석하였다. 분석결과를 토의함으로써 공공미술 프로젝트의 실질적이고 궁극적인 목표이어야 하는 장소마케팅 차원에서 향후 공공미술 프로젝트의 나가야 할 방향에 대해 시사점을 제시하였다. Recently, many regional governments and national organizations have propelled public art projects as a part of city regeneration project for improvement of living environment and cultural welfare of neglected regions. It is necessary to think of meaning of the public art project in a context of city regeneration, not only in public art discourse. This paper starts from the question if recent public art projects performed in city of Busan during last 5 year was successful in terms of place marketing. This paper tried to revoke to consider public art project in terms of place marketing because it should be utilized ultimately to activate regional economy for the habitants. First, we reviewed theoretical background regarding definition of public art and place marketing, intended effects of public art project, and place marketing strategy. we elicited an analytical framework and analyzed representative 6 cases of recent public art projects performed in city of Busan in terms of requirements of public art project and viability of place marketing. Discussion of the analysis result suggested implications for the future public art project to direct.

Special issue on places for people in a turbulent world

In a world where the values and stability of our financial and work environments are threatened daily, one thing remains relatively stable through the years and even generations: our sense of place. The greater the chaos, the more the people seek security of the places that they know and trust – the place brands. How can places compete against growing competition in times of economic downturn? The key challenge of place marketing and branding is that places are not products or corporations, and there is a widely held view that simply applying commercial marketing techniques to places may be inappropriate, inadequate and arguably ineffectual. This special issue illustrates, applies and comments on place branding and marketing strategies and consumer reactions.

Putting Architecture in its Social Place: A Cultural Political Economy of Architecture

As well as being shaped by bureaucratically codified state regulations, architecture is also fundamentally conditioned by the broader political-economic context in which it is commissioned, designed and understood. However, drawing attention to these noncodified regulations can be controversial, as it necessitates questioning the complex social production of architecture, in the process challenging those discourses that position architecture as a practice concerned primarily with the design of socially meaningful form and meaning. Such discourses have been problematised elsewhere and, building on these contributions, this paper suggests a framework for taking seriously architecture’s distinctive relationship with aesthetics and semiotics while also maintaining a sense of architects’ position as a cultural élite working in definite political-economic contexts. Drawing primarily on theories associated with Pierre Bourdieu and cultural political economy, the paper uses the case of iconic architecture to illustrate this argument. The central role of architecture in recent place-marketing strategies is understood as a resonance between the agendas of high-profile architects and those political and economic agencies ‘selling places’. The role of architecture in providing a culturalised frame within which economic transformation is embedded is a crucial consideration here. In short, this paper suggests the necessity of a non-reductionist, political-economic foundation to the regulation and built environment research agenda.

Study on Undeveloped Areas Sustainable Development: A Theoretical Framework of Place Marketing Strategy and System Analysis

Place marketing strategy plays a key a key role for the success of regional/local especial undeveloped areas in gaining competitive edge, optimally allocate economic resources, and make long term economic development strategy and policies. To discover the behavior and mechanism of organization, nowadays, more and more people have paid attention to the complexity theory such as self-organization, dissipative structure theory, synergetic theory, etc. The paper introduces the concept of self-organization theories and place marketing strategy firstly. Then enlightened by the systematical methodology, the paper puts forward the concept of sustainable development of urban on the basis of analyzing the characteristics of self-organization place marketing strategy. A thorough analysis of the mechanism of place marketing strategy sustainable development has been made accordingly. Finally, the paper adopts the strategy of Xian Yang as an example, indicating that the success of undeveloped areas is mostly due to its effective and efficient self-organized place marketing strategy.

Alternative perspectives on marketing and the place brand

PurposeThis paper aims to consider the role of demarketing in the specific context of the marketing of places, and to introduce a typology of place demarketing and related place marketing activity.Design/methodology/approachFollowing a review of the extant literature on place marketing and branding, place image and demarketing, the paper outlines a number of different types of place demarketing and more unusual place marketing strategies, with examples of each.FindingsThe marketing of places has grown in scale and importance, both as a practice and as an area of academic research, as places have had to become more entrepreneurial in an ever‐increasing competitive environment. Places are increasingly conceptualised as brands to be marketed, and a key emphasis of such activity is the creation of an attractive place image and/or the dilution of negative place images. This is reinforced in the academic literature. Counter to this “conventional wisdom”, this article conceptualises various types of place demarketing activity and related place marketing activities; namely “passive place demarketing”, “informational place demarketing”, “crisis place demarketing”, and also “perverse place marketing” and “dark place marketing”.Originality/valueThis paper provides a unique counter to the “conventional wisdom” of place marketing by introducing the concept of place demarketing and perverse and dark place marketing which more explicitly accentuate the negative, rather than accentuating the positive which is the norm in this marketing context. A typology of such activities is introduced and the implications for place brands are considered.

장소성에 입각한 하멜의 문화콘텐츠 자원화

The establishment of differentiated place image is becoming more important as a cultural tourism development policy in order to secure regional identity and boost regional economy. Place marketing strategies using culturally and historically differentiated regional places is very valuable as part of a regional development strategy to strengthen regional competitiveness. To construct place image as a differentiated brand, place image positioning suitable for a specific place and region needs to be established and comprehensive marketing strategies are required to generate various synergy effects. Based on existing theories and discussions regarding place and place marketing, this study is aimed at seeking for possibility as a cultural activity space and its more efficient use plans by selecting a region which has historical and cultural backgrounds and assets about Hamel`s drift and stay. For these purposes, this study investigated historical and cultural backgrounds through a case study and made suggestions about brand making and place image promotion. In addition, this study aimed to examine efficient plans and utilization possibility for comprehensive image construction.

Sustainable Festivals: On Becoming an Institution

This article conceptually addresses the sustainability of festivals from the perspective of the organizations providing them, specifically in the context of how event organizations can become permanent institutions. Festivals and other recurring events are often viewed as tourist attractions, and are commonly used in place marketing and destination image-making strategies. Little attention has been paid, however, to their individual or collective viability and long-term sustainability. Supportive data are provided from a survey of 14 live-music festivals in Sweden in which responding festival managers confirmed the importance of attaining "institutional status," occupying a unique "niche" in the community, sustaining committed stakeholders, and practicing constant innovation. Theoretical conclusions are drawn on the institutionalization process for festivals, including a set of propositions that can be used both as indicators of institutional status, and as hypotheses for future research.

Marketing the Chinese Dream Home: Gated Communities and Representations of the Good Life in (Post-)Socialist Shanghai

This paper examines the advertising themes and rhetoric that have been assembled in the place-marketing of Shanghai's newly built gated communities. We demonstrate how place-marketing strategies, in this case selling the Chinese dream home, draws upon specific landscape meanings and values that are embedded in Chinese/Shanghainese history, even as symbolic and cultural capital from the contemporary scene also exert their influences. Collectively, these representations of the good life both reflect and reinforce the exclusivist housing aspirations and privatist visions of middle-class residents of gated communities in contemporary Shanghai. While advertisements do not always achieve the outcomes that property developers wish for, there is no doubt that they play significant roles in both shaping and reflecting landscape meanings and values. As medium and outcome, they reveal the growing aspirations of a new Chinese middle class.

A tale of two cities — A commentary on historic and current marketing strategies used by the Liverpool and Glasgow regions

This is the first of two papers looking at the place marketing strategies used by the cities of Liverpool and Glasgow to attract either investment or tourist revenues. It will review how both cities have attempted to market themselves since the beginning of the 20th century using research on the history of place marketing. It will examine current developments in both areas in light of current contemporary academic thought, and the complex challenges faced by the agencies involved.

Meeting the New Foreign Direct Investment Challenge in East and Central Europe: Place-Marketing Strategies in Hungary

The attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) has become a major economic development goal of the postsocialist countries of East and Central Europe (ECE). ECE countries have rapidly adopted ‘Western’-style place-marketing policies to attract FDI. However, little is known about place marketing under postsocialism, and particularly in the context of an enlarged European Union; hence the author presents an analysis of the supply-side policies which Hungary has developed in response to its rapidly changing position with regard to FDI. In particular, he examines the strategies developed by two key agencies responsible for attracting inward investment, the Ministry of Economy and Transport and the Hungarian Investment and Trade Development Agency. Hungary's current position in respect to patterns of attracting FDI is evaluated and, through outlining the key changes in the nature of FDI, a set of key issues which must be addressed in any place-marketing strategy in ECE is developed. The author then analyses how these two key agencies have responded to this new FDI context. The author assesses how Hungary has been able to address the new FDI context and also considers how FDI and attempts to attract it is reshaping supply-side policies, and postsocialist states themselves.

Marketing Town Centres: Retailing and Town Centre Management

The role of town centre management (TCM) schemes in the UK has expanded to incorporate a more overt and explicit focus on marketing and promotion. This paper considers the marketing/promotional activities of TCM schemes in the UK. TCM schemes operate at the interface of the public and private sectors. The implications of this are discussed, including the need for a consensual approach by a wide range of urban stakeholders, and the actual activities undertaken, influenced by the funding imperative under which such schemes operate (which impacts on the feasibility of certain activities and the efforts made to evaluate them). Comparisons are drawn between specific place marketing practice by TCM schemes and wider place marketing strategies.

Industrial Relations in the Latrobe Valley: Myths and Realities

In this paper we examine attitudes towards work, employment and industrial relations in the Latrobe Valley region of South East Victoria, Australia. The Latrobe Valley is an old industrial area of Victoria, 150 kilometres south east of Melbourne, based on power generation connected to open cast brown coal mining. The formerly stated-owned power generator (SECV) was broken up and privatised in the 1990s with devastating employment and social impacts on the locality. Before privatisation, the area in general, and SECV in particular, had a reputation for militant union organisation, leading to the joke that SECV stood for Slow Easy and Comfortable. Despite a radical restructuring of work and employment in the region, and a flurry of academic studies which suggested that the old image of the region as a hotbed of militancy was unwarranted, it is believed in some quarters that the old image of the region deters inward investment on the one hand and local entrepreneurial activity on the other. This paper draws on two pieces of work; firstly an ongoing study of the impact of locality on workplace organisations (see Rainnie & Paulet 2005), and secondly a project on industrial relations in the region (see Rainnie et al. 2004). The project, commissioned by a Victorian State Government Taskforce on the region, was designed to investigate what employers, trade union representatives and most importantly, inhabitants of the Latrobe Valley thought about the image and reality of work, employment and industrial relations in their region. This was in the context of an attempt (the most recent of many) to construct a new non-conflictual image of the Valley that would aid restructuring. Drawing on the work of people such as Bradon Ellem, Ray Hudson and Doreen Massey, we argue instead that attitudes to work, employment and locality revealed in the study point to a more complex and conflictual construction of place. While not denying the possibility of short term, local boosterist, place marketing strategies that promote a collaborative image of place, uniting unions, local employers and government institutions, we point to conditions which also allow for the (re)emergence of a more conflictual future. Unions have drawn on the history and conception of the locality to organise in new and often hostile environments.

Place Marketing, Tourism Promotion, and Community based Local Economic Development in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Local economic development(LED) is a common community-based development response to changes in the economic fortunes of a locality. Various economic strategies are associated with LED, some of the most prominent being those of place marketing and attempts to refocus economic activity along new or previously underused avenues, with tourism promotion being an increasingly common option. The authors examine the responses of the small community of Still Bay in Western Cape Province, South Africa, to economic crisis and the absence of vital social facilities. Critical to the success and sustainability of this LED initiative was the establishment of various community development projects, in which certain key actors took a leading role in bringing the community together. Community cooperation, linked with successful place marketing and tourism promotion strategies, has laid the basis for the economic revival of the town and empowerment of historically disadvantaged groups.

Plant location and place marketing: understanding the process from the business customer's perspective

In the past decade, there has been an increased interest in place marketing, especially as countries and locations have been spending more money to encourage firms to locate their offices and plant locations in the place marketer's area. In this paper, we examine the place marketing from the perspective of the marketer and that of the business customer, specifically in the area of communication and information distribution (in the era of the Internet). In literature, place marketing strategies vary from the very simple to the very sophisticated. Through examination of present marketing and communication practices of place marketers, we find that these strategies are unplanned or “seat of the pants.” We also find that the primary reason for the lack of deliberate and targeted strategies is a lack of understanding of customer decision-making processes. We suggest that only by understanding differences in business customer segments of the market can place marketers become more efficient and effective in winning plant placements. Using data from business customer decision-making processes, we attempt to close the knowledge gap.

Tales from the Riverbank: place-marketing and maritime heritages

Although place-marketing and image-enhancement are increasingly common elements of Western urban policy, when applied to specific locales, these abstract theories have to negotiate local conditions and contexts. This paper discusses the ways attempts to place-market the city of Hull, England, prompted debates surrounding questions of place, memory and heritage. Despite being Britain's leading fishing port in the 20th century, Hull's place-marketing strategy elided this past in favour of a sanitised vision of a modern, post-industrial city. These debates crystallised around a 1999 planning inquiry over the proposed redevelopment of the erstwhile fishing dock. While the proposals contained some reference to the dock's role as a site of place-memory, this was deemed insufficient by local protest groups and politicians who argued for a more appropriate memorial to Hull's fishing community. Eventually, the redevelopment proposals were accepted, but not before attendant debates exposed both the depth of local sentiments over place-memories and fishing heritage, and also the difficulties of negotiating inclusive and plural heritage landscapes.

Urban Competitiveness, Marketing and the Need for Organising Capacity

Fundamental changes in the economy, technology, demography and politics are reshaping the environment for towns and cities in Europe. These changes have induced competition between towns and cities at regional, national and sometimes international scales. Increasingly, cities and towns behave in a logic of competition in a highly dynamic and complex environment (Bramezza, 1996). In such a competitive environment, the policies of local governments need to be more market-oriented with an eye to chances and threats, bearing in mind the city’ s strengths and weaknesses. Cities and towns are waking up to the fact that an entrepreneurial and anticipatory policy is called for to cope with urban and regional competition. In the past two decades, a growing number of European cities and towns have acknowledged that marketing could be a powerful instrument in such a new style of urban management. Cities aspire to become and remain attractive places for (potential) residents, businesses and visitors. In this process, cities `invent’ their own marketing strategies, discovering that the marketing of a city or region is not as straightforward as many people think. Our contribution considers one of the main challenges in this respect: the need for organising capacity. What lessons can be drawn up to now? The next section of the contribution describes some of the main features of the pattern of urban development and the increase in competition, setting the scene for a more strategic and entrepreneurial approach to the control of the development of metropolitan regions. The third section touches upon some of the consequences for urban management and discusses the speci® c role of urban place marketing in that setting in more detail. For any urban place marketing strategy to succeed, organising capacity has become indispensable, as argued in the fourth section of the contribution. The ® nal section concludes.