Place brands exist in various forms (e.g., in the branding of nations, cities, regions
and tourism destinations) and there is no doubt that it is now well-established as an
area of academic study. Despite its long history, it was not until the last quarter of the
twentieth century that articles on place branding began to appear in the academic
literature (Kavaratzis 2005; Pike 2009). A recent study by Lucarelli and Berg (2011)
highlights, in particular, the rapid expansion in the number of articles published on place branding over the period 1988–2009. These appeared predominantly in urban
studies, tourism and geography journals, and more recently in marketing journals.
The latter combined mainstream branding theory with academic literature from the
other three disciplines which hitherto, had largely ignored both mainstream branding
theory and each other. As a result of this emerging convergence, it has been suggested
that “the focus of discussion for place branding has shifted…to business and
marketing” as the dominant perspective (Hanna and Rowley 2008, p. 69). This claim
may be contested, but there can be no doubt that these cross-disciplinary synergies
have led to a more holistic view of place branding. They have helped to develop
place branding theory which has, in turn, provided a broader platform for further
study and accelerated the process of research (Dinnie 2004; Kavaratzis 2005;
Hankinson 2007). This progress has encouraged the publication of a series of future
research agendas (for example, Pike 2009; Kavaratzis and Ashworth 2008; Dinnie
2008; Balakrishnan 2009; Hankinson 2010a) and the development of a more critical
perspective of place branding and marketing (Gertner 2011a, b).