Measuring place branding strategy implementation

• Place branding caught significant attention both among researchers and practitioners in the last decades, moving from corporate branding and marketing concept to a more multidisciplinary approach. Being an influential part of new public management, urban planning, and governance place branding concept became more complex and broader.Place branding is considered as a way for places to differentiate themselves addressing concrete actions highlighting identity and communicating values to beneficiaries and targets. Even if the literature and practitioners share frameworks and processes to design place branding strategy, problems emerge with the implementation of plans. The question on how to measure place branding strategy implementation remains. A paradox occurs when measurement models and indicators are fragmented or too broad and complicated. Moreover, these models are mostly focused on measuring results and outcomes of events and campaigns, confusing tactical with strategic results. It is necessary to search for measurement systems and indicators focusing on the day-by-day communication and implementation of place branding values and identity coming from the concrete activities, approaches and decisions of place brand primary stakeholders.This study aims to discuss the nature and possibilities of identifying a measurement model of place branding strategy implementation and to propose a framework for collecting qualitative and quantitative data among the primary stakeholders of a place. The study's conceptual framework adopts place branding and identity concepts to identify measurement indicators of place branding strategy implementation. In particular, the role of primary stakeholders is recognized in their strategy implementation and place identity diffusion.Economic and not economic activities, organizations, and citizens that everyday work and live the place can communicate and implement the place branding strategy. For this reason, this work presents a selection of indicators, mainly based on secondary data, helpful to identify if primary stakeholders of a place are on the right track in communicating and implementing the place branding strategy.Different from the actual existing models about place branding assessment, this study focuses on the primary stakeholders and their interpretation, communication, and implementation of the place branding strategy. Because place branding is a strategy to highlight place identity and values to beneficiaries and targets, the work selects indicators to measure the compatibility between the place identity and values and the effective communication, investments, and actions on the ground coming from the primary stakeholders.The research makes it possible to measure the alignment between the place branding strategy and place stakeholders’ practices, aiding desired positioning and amplifying brand value dissemination. Researchers and practitioners can obtain valuable elements to understand if strategy implementation, stakeholders’ involvement and even the communication is going toward the right direction identified by the place branding. It is a process useful at the end of the place branding process but even in progress.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

Keyword

place branding

measurement

target groups

primary stakeholders

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)