7. Contrasting strategies and lived experiences—Cornwall
8. Contrasting strategies and lived experiences—Northumberland
10. Conclusions
The overlap of the two strengthens
place attachment and sentiment in rural areas, adding a particular
challenge for the marketing of these areas, especially if marketing
messages are from outside agents and/or if those messages have
the aim of bringing about certain changes to rural places.
As a result of the diverse audience(s) for place marketing, the
array of images portrayed can appear contradictory; ‘enterprising’
and ‘forward-thinking’ may be associated with new building and
change, whereas touristic and environmental imagery may be
associated with conservation and stasis
Key learning points include that marketing can capture
real and idealistic images of an area, but can all too often overexaggerate certain aspects (e.g., Cornwall—surfer-types). This can
alienate other groups and sub-communities as well as creating
outside perceptions of an area which are not matched with the
lived reality. Additionally, from a business perspective, the contribution of businesses to a particular area can be downplayed or
even forgotten in the marketing of a place. This could be rectified
by helping marketers to recognise the many forms of identity
creation, the different meanings of ‘‘identity’’ and how marketing
messages are communicated within and outside of an area. An
additional node in the Interaction Model of Communication to
reflect ‘‘local community values’’ is one such example that can
help marketers to recognise subtle differences in the marketing of
places compared to the marketing of commodities and brands
For the effectiveness of the regional marketing strategy as a
whole, there will always be an element of conflicting perceptions
between different groups of people and business owners. The
degree of influence of such groups, whether in different sectors,
owned by indigenous or in-migrant people or between more or
less rural parts of the region all raise future questions for the
research, but this paper has shown that giving a stronger voice to
local populations can have a significant impact on the support and
therefore the credibility afforded to marketing strategies targeted
at rural regions.