Place branding
[4] The practice is understood to have gained significance with the emergence of the post-industrial society among developing nations, in which places contend in an interdependent, increasingly-globalized economy.
Most often associated with capitalistic function, branding has traditionally been understood as a strategy used when promoting goods and services to evoke an emotional response from consumers.
This emphasis is considered to represent a broader phenomenon that emerged around the 1970s known as urban regeneration, whereby systems of production within developed countries became "vertically disintegrated," giving way to post-industrial societies,[12]: 10 typified by "entrepreneurial" forms of governance.
Such interest seems to have come out of recognition that "places of all kinds can benefit from implementing coherent strategies with regard to managing their resources, reputation and image.
"[13]: 3 Though scholarly interest in the domain of place branding is still in its nascent stages, published academic research has seen considerable increase in recent years.
As the world economy becomes more and more integrated and interconnected, this interest will only continue to grow, especially as cities compete for "talent attraction, tourism promotion, the hosting of sporting and cultural events, investment attraction, and the many other goals that cities set out to achieve in their quest for urban development and regeneration.
It may even be applied to other arts and humanities, such as film studies or literature, in so far as observing how places are portrayed or imagined (e.g. Thebes in Oedipus Rex or Gotham City in the Batman franchise).
One of the tenets of place branding posits that the struggle for attention and preference is not limited to commercial goods and services; it applies equally to geopolitical entities.
The two differ in the fact that marketing uses consumer wishes and needs as its guiding principle for the operations of an organization, whereas in the case of branding a chosen vision, mission and identity play that role.
[18] Equally important is the role of positioning in the branding process, i.e. creating a distinct place in the market for the city to occupy.
