Place branding has its origins in the literature on place promotion, which is
primarily associated with the literature on urban policy, a domain of study
that has attracted researchers from a variety of academic areas including
geographers, sociologists, anthropologists and regional economists. For
several reasons this literature has largely developed separately from mainstream
marketing literature; indeed, a signifi cant section of this literature
has been critical of place promotion as a process leading to the ‘commodifi
cation’ of places (Urry, 1990). In addition, those taking a more positive
view of place promotion have regarded place branding theory as inappropriate,
based as it has been on fast- moving consumer goods marketing
practised by private sector organisations in contrast to place products
which have largely been the responsibility of the public sector. The link
with marketing has primarily been through tourism where the focus has
been on places as visitor destinations, but even in this domain researchers
have sought to diff erentiate place marketing from mainstream marketing.
It is only recently that these diff ering perspectives are beginning to be
brought together and, as a consequence, a richer and more useful theory of
place branding is beginning to emerge (Hankinson, 2007).
The purpose of this chapter is therefore to review the literature within
the domains with an interest in place branding, namely marketing, urban
policy and tourism. It will evaluate the contributions of each area of study
in order to provide an overarching framework both as an aide to practitioners
and as a basis for future research. It is accepted that this analysis
cannot be comprehensive, but such is the nature of literature reviews. The
aim is to give the reader a ‘feel’ for the range and balance of the literature
in these areas.
The purpose of this chapter is therefore to review the literature within
the domains with an interest in place branding, namely marketing, urban
policy and tourism. It will evaluate the contributions of each area of study
in order to provide an overarching framework both as an aide to practitioners
and as a basis for future research. It is accepted that this analysis
cannot be comprehensive, but such is the nature of literature reviews. The
aim is to give the reader a ‘feel’ for the range and balance of the literature
in these areas.
The chapter begins with a review of the evolution of classical branding
and is followed by a similar discussion with regard to the urban policy
and tourism literatures. The chapter then examines emerging areas within
mainstream marketing theory, which can help to develop a more comprehensive
understanding of place branding. Finally, the chapter presents a
multi- disciplinary framework of the place branding domain.