Building a public brand : the internal brand building process and the brand team

• While branding strategies traditionally have been applied most extensively by profit driven businesses, brands are now also viewed as powerful tools for public organizations. More and more cities are using city branding to position themselves. A local government can for example develop city brands to attract and retain a growing number of inhabitants, businesses and visitors. Previous research shows that city brands can learn from existing knowledge in the area of corporate branding. Even though planning can be seen as one of the most important aspects in building a brand, research on internal brand building, (i.e., the activities that occur before the brand is implemented) and on the people involved in this process, is still scarce. The purpose of this study was to explore the internal corporate brand building process of a city brand and identify the brand team. An illustrative case of the internal brand building process for a city brand, which was initiated by a Swedish local government, was selected. Findings show that the three stages in the internal brand building process (i.e., brand audit, brand identity, and brand position statements) could be identified. However, results show that the repositioning of the city brand had to be done stepwise and the internal brand building process, including all three stages, was repeated already after five years. Findings indicate that internal as well as external members were included in the brand team. The Head of Development at the local government was found to be the central individual of the brand team, i.e., the brand champion.

Subject headings

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

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

Keyword

Industriell marknadsföring

Industrial Marketing

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)