Success factors of place branding of European cities

• Název práce v češtině: Faktory úspěchu z "brandingu místa" v evropských městech
• Název v anglickém jazyce: Success factors of place branding of European cities
• Klíčová slova: Město, branding místa, faktory politiky, rozvoj, ekonomická geografie.
• Klíčová slova anglicky: City, place branding, policy factors, city development, economic geography
• Akademický rok vypsání: 2021/2022
• Typ práce: diplomová práce
• Jazyk práce: angličtina
• Ústav: Katedra politologie (23-KP)
• Vedoucí / školitel: Ing. Bc. Petra Koudelková, Ph.D.
• Řešitel: skrytý - zadáno vedoucím/školitelem
• Datum přihlášení: 21.12.2021
• Datum zadání: 21.12.2021
• Datum a čas obhajoby: 20.09.2022 10:15
• Místo konání obhajoby: Pekařská 16, JPEK312, 312, Malá učebna, 3.patro
• Datum odevzdání elektronické podoby: 02.08.2022
• Datum proběhlé obhajoby: 20.09.2022
• Oponenti: PhDr. Tereza Klabíková Rábová, Ph.D.

Zásady pro vypracování

According to the FSV and IEPS standards.

Seznam odborné literatury

Anholt S. Competitive identity: The New Brand Management for Nations, Cities and Regions. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.

Ashworth, G. J., Kavaratzis, M., & Warnaby, G. (2015). The need to rethink place branding. In Rethinking place branding (pp. 1-11). Springer, Cham.

Dinnie K. City branding: Theory and cases. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

Ginesta, X., de-San-Eugenio-Vela, J., Corral-Marfil, J. A., & Montaña, J. (2020). The role of a city council in a place branding campaign: The case of Vic in Catalonia. Sustainability, 12(11), 4420.

Govers R., Go F. Place branding: Glocal, virtual and physical identities, constructed, imagined and experienced. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.

Kavaratzis, M., & Hatch, M. J. (2013). The dynamics of place brands: An identity-based approach to place branding theory. Marketing theory, 13(1), 69-86.

Kotler, P., Asplund, C., Rein, I., & Haider, D. (1999). Marketing Places Europe: How to Attract Investments, Industries, Residents and Visitors to Cities, Communities, Regions, and Nations in Europe. Financial Times.

Lucarelli, A. (2018). Place branding as urban policy: The (im) political place branding. Cities, 80, 12-21.

Martin, R. (2006). Economic geography and the new discourse of regional competitiveness. In Economic geography (pp. 159-172). Routledge.

Nagornyak, T.L. (2013). Brending territorii kak vektor politiki [Place branding as a vector of politics]. Humanitarian information portal “Knowledge. Understanding. Skill” (in Russ.)

North, S. (2014, August 21). Why do most city branding campaigns fail? City Monitor. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from https://citymonitor.ai/government/why-do-most-city-branding-campaigns-fail

Rainisto, S. K. (2003). Success factors of place marketing: A study of place marketing practices in Northern Europe and the United States. Helsinki University of Technology.

Van Ham, P. (2008). Place branding: The state of the art. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 616(1), 126-149.

Wang, J. (2006). Localising public diplomacy: The role of sub-national actors in nation branding. Place Branding, 2(1), 32-42.

Předběžná náplň práce

Topic characteristics / Research Question(s):

My thesis will focus on the following general research question: What are the factors that influence the success of place branding implementation in European cities?
A new discourse on competitiveness that has emerged in economic geography examines the cornerstone role of cities and regions in improving a country's economic situation, growth, and productivity (Martin, 2006). According to experts, we are witnessing the re-emergence of cities as centers of wealth production and economic governance in the global economy, and conceptualization of city competitiveness is essential to this re-affirmation of cities (Ibid.). Empirical evidence strongly suggests that some cities do well in terms of average wealth, employment, living standards, growth, while others do not, leading to spatial inequality and uneven development. Thus, the issue of competitiveness of cities arises. The valuable instrument of the increase in city competitiveness is place branding. Using the competitive advantages of a place, place branding helps create an image of the city that attracts the main stakeholders (tourists, citizens, investors) and, thus, contributes to economic development. Place branding is also considered an important policy tool. Its use can neutralize poor governance at the national level, reduce regional disparities, and help improve the relationship between the branding unit and the capital. Even though place branding strategies are gaining momentum, and many European cities are already using it, according to statistics, 86% of city branding projects fail (North, 2014). Using the theory of place branding, the work will attempt to study which factors may influence the success of place branding implementation in European cities.

Working hypotheses:
1. Political support of place branding by local Government in terms of implementing safety, cultural and environmental programs promotes place at the local, federal, and international level and thus contributes to the creation of a successful city brand.
2. The inclusion and interaction of the main stakeholders (political authorities, business sector, citizens) contributes to the creation of a successful city brand.

3. Hosting global events contributes to the success of a city brand.

4. Management of digital identity contributes to the creation of a successful city brand.

5. Creation of a long-term, sustainable branding concept that ensures its continuity, contributes to the creation of a successful place brand.

Methodology:
The literature review will be used in the thesis to find out which factors are important in the place branding creation and development. The main method that will be used in the thesis is regression analysis. Using the sample of 20 cities (10 cases of successful city brands and 10 cases of unsuccessful city brands), one could compose a dataset with the variables “successful city brand” (0 - if a city brand is evaluated as unsuccessful, 1 - if a city brand is evaluated as successful), “political support” (0 – if the city does not implement programs aimed at increasing life quality, 1 – if it does), “political authorities initiative” (0 – if the political authorities did not take the initiative to create a place brand, 1 – if they did), “inclusion of main stakeholders” (0 – if the business sector and citizens were not included into place branding creation, 1 – if they did), “global events” (0 – if the city did not host global events, 1 – if it did), “digital identity” (0 – if place brand is not maintained through digital platforms, 1 – if it did), “sustainability” (0 – if the place branding concept is not sustainable and not aimed at long-term vision, 1 – if it is). As the “success” of a place branding is a fuzzy concept, I am going to operationalize it in the following way: as the main goal of a place branding is the attraction of investments, tourists, new citizens, talented people, and, ultimately, economic development, the success of a place branding will be measured by dynamics of investments, local GDP, migration, tourism. If the indicators have increased for the period of place branding implementation, then we classify a city as a successful brand. If not, the city brand will be treated as unsuccessful.

Outline

1. Introduction
2. Theoretical background and literature review
a. Placing place branding in the framework of economic geography
b. Place Branding: the content of the concept and economic and political significance of the practice
c. Place branding of European cities
d. Outlining the characteristics of a successful brand
3. Empirical part
a. Formulation and justification of the hypotheses
b. Operationalization of the “success” of the city brand
c. Explanation of cases choice, procedure of composing a dataset
d. Regression analysis
e. Discussion of the results, formation of possible strategies for applying the results obtained in practice
4. Conclusions
5. References/bibliography

Předběžná náplň práce v anglickém jazyce

Topic characteristics / Research Question(s):

My thesis will focus on the following general research question: What are the factors that influence the success of place branding implementation in European cities?
A new discourse on competitiveness that has emerged in economic geography examines the cornerstone role of cities and regions in improving a country's economic situation, growth, and productivity (Martin, 2006). According to experts, we are witnessing the re-emergence of cities as centers of wealth production and economic governance in the global economy, and conceptualization of city competitiveness is essential to this re-affirmation of cities (Ibid.). Empirical evidence strongly suggests that some cities do well in terms of average wealth, employment, living standards, growth, while others do not, leading to spatial inequality and uneven development. Thus, the issue of competitiveness of cities arises. The valuable instrument of the increase in city competitiveness is place branding. Using the competitive advantages of a place, place branding helps create an image of the city that attracts the main stakeholders (tourists, citizens, investors) and, thus, contributes to economic development. Place branding is also considered an important policy tool. Its use can neutralize poor governance at the national level, reduce regional disparities, and help improve the relationship between the branding unit and the capital. Even though place branding strategies are gaining momentum, and many European cities are already using it, according to statistics, 86% of city branding projects fail (North, 2014). Using the theory of place branding, the work will attempt to study which factors may influence the success of place branding implementation in European cities.

Working hypotheses:
1. Political support of place branding by local Government in terms of implementing safety, cultural and environmental programs promotes place at the local, federal, and international level and thus contributes to the creation of a successful city brand.
2. The inclusion and interaction of the main stakeholders (political authorities, business sector, citizens) contributes to the creation of a successful city brand.

3. Hosting global events contributes to the success of a city brand.

4. Management of digital identity contributes to the creation of a successful city brand.

5. Creation of a long-term, sustainable branding concept that ensures its continuity, contributes to the creation of a successful place brand.

Methodology:
The literature review will be used in the thesis to find out which factors are important in the place branding creation and development. The main method that will be used in the thesis is regression analysis. Using the sample of 20 cities (10 cases of successful city brands and 10 cases of unsuccessful city brands), one could compose a dataset with the variables “successful city brand” (0 - if a city brand is evaluated as unsuccessful, 1 - if a city brand is evaluated as successful), “political support” (0 – if the city does not implement programs aimed at increasing life quality, 1 – if it does), “political authorities initiative” (0 – if the political authorities did not take the initiative to create a place brand, 1 – if they did), “inclusion of main stakeholders” (0 – if the business sector and citizens were not included into place branding creation, 1 – if they did), “global events” (0 – if the city did not host global events, 1 – if it did), “digital identity” (0 – if place brand is not maintained through digital platforms, 1 – if it did), “sustainability” (0 – if the place branding concept is not sustainable and not aimed at long-term vision, 1 – if it is). As the “success” of a place branding is a fuzzy concept, I am going to operationalize it in the following way: as the main goal of a place branding is the attraction of investments, tourists, new citizens, talented people, and, ultimately, economic development, the success of a place branding will be measured by dynamics of investments, local GDP, migration, tourism. If the indicators have increased for the period of place branding implementation, then we classify a city as a successful brand. If not, the city brand will be treated as unsuccessful.

Outline

1. Introduction
2. Theoretical background and literature review
a. Placing place branding in the framework of economic geography
b. Place Branding: the content of the concept and economic and political significance of the practice
c. Place branding of European cities
d. Outlining the characteristics of a successful brand
3. Empirical part
a. Formulation and justification of the hypotheses
b. Operationalization of the “success” of the city brand
c. Explanation of cases choice, procedure of composing a dataset
d. Regression analysis
e. Discussion of the results, formation of possible strategies for applying the results obtained in practice
4. Conclusions
5. References/bibliography