Massimo Giovanardi

Towards brand ecology : An analytical semiotic framework for interpreting the emergence of place brands

Brand-management philosophy has recently expanded to include public and spatial contexts producing a cacophony of logos, slogans and events all aimed at promoting and marketing places. Yet, there is still a lack of understanding about how the brand-management philosophy changes when moving into and across places and in which way places change when affected by this way of thinking. Through a multi-site ethnography of three Italian territories, this paper applies a semiotic framework (based on the constructs of syntax, semantics and pragmatics) to interpret the interweaving of procedures, mechanisms and symbols that underpin the emergence of place brands. The enquiry reveals that each place brand is characterised by a specific level of integration (‘symbiosis’) between functional and representational dimensions. By recognising this interrelatedness through an ecological perspective that focuses on the connections among all the constituents of a place, the concept of brand ecology is offered to unpack the complexity of place brands and to reconsider the relationship between place branding and place marketing approaches.

Producing and consuming the painter Raphael's birthplace

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to draw upon Johnsons “Circle of Culture” to develop a cultural approach for studying place marketings internal audience. A research project on the small Italian Renaissance city of Urbino explores how a number of marketing events dedicated to the painter Raphael, who was born there, have been produced and then received among different urban “populations” (dwellers, commuters, students, etc.). The second part of the paper conceptualizes events as both “inward” and “outward” forces and compares the Raphaellian events with some of Urbinos traditional festivities.Design/methodology/approach – This is a qualitative study that applies discourse analysis to media texts, official documents and 42 in‐depth interviews held with both local officials and internal place consumers.Findings – The inquiry reveals a predominance of discourses in support of the events: civic pride, identification, and economic benefits. What is more striking is that some participants not only appr...

A Multi-scalar Approach to Place Branding: The 150th Anniversary of Italian Unification in Turin

Abstract This study draws from an interpretation of scale as a social construct to elaborate a multi-scalar approach to place branding that represents a growing set of theories and managerial practices aimed at leveraging the reputational capital of places. The article unveils that far from consisting of clear-cut processes which occur within a pre-given and fixed set of scalar boundaries, city, regional, country and supra-national brandings actually converge in a complex mechanism of intertwined practices and discourses. By grounding its theoretical investigation in a case study about the celebration of the 150th anniversary of Italian unification, this paper furthers the understanding of place branding from a multi-level perspective, addressing the tendency of previous studies to treat scale as a fixed hierarchy of nested levels. The findings show that scalar boundaries remain significant for the purpose of coordination and identification among the institutional actors involved. And yet, the investigation highlights that scalar boundaries do not constitute a structure of ontologically given contexts, but rather are the outcome of an ongoing dialectic process among place stakeholders through which scalar relations are constantly reproduced and nurtured during the staging of the place branding project.

Challenges in delivering brand promise – focusing on municipal healthcare organisations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how healthcare professionals understand a new organisational brand and examine the ideas discussed in relation to it within healthcare organisations. Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a discursive approach that facilitates understanding how the informants perceived a new organisation brand and how that might shape their activities in the enterprise. Findings – The study identified four distinct interpretative repertoires: the organisational brand as an economic solution, the magic wand, the factory and a servant to the customer. The new brand was understood in terms of economic and business-like functions marked by external branding and its signs (logos, etc.). The brand is not communicated to patients or colleagues and the factory metaphor is applied to work practices. Hence, several potential dilemmas arise concerning the brand promise, customer expectations, economic and efficiency gains and the professional values of employees....

The ambiguity of place branding consultancy: working with stakeholders in Rio de Janeiro

ABSTRACT This study explores the tensions inherent in place branding consulting, by problematising the prescriptive and functionalistic view of consultants that characterises the place branding literature. If consultants’ pervasive impact on the contemporary place branding practice cannot be ignored, their fixed representation as powerful agents of top-down policies might limit more holistic accounts of consultancy practice. Indeed, consultants can find themselves mediating between bottom-up and top-down approaches to place branding. Thus, they can decide to promote more inclusive activities that give voice to local communities, while simultaneously addressing the needs of urban elites that are likely to pay the consultancy bill. Liminality is suggested as an appropriate idea to challenge role fixity and appreciate the ambiguity of place branding consultancy. The study reports self-reflective accounts from a case study on Rio de Janeiro, where the first author was involved in a three-year activity of working with stakeholders to stimulate a more inclusive public debate on city-brand management. Charting, snowballing, coopting consultants, informal advising, feeding and scientific arming are the six types of consulting practices of stakeholder engagement that the study identifies in order to offering a more nuanced representation of place brand consulting.

Rediscovering the “urban” in two Italian tourist coastal cities

This chapter appreciates the role of tourism within the more holistic framework of urban policy in the context of coastal cities. Through an investigation of two medium-sized Italian cities (Rimini and Pesaro), the study addresses the paucity of literature on regeneration strategies conducted in coastal areas where tourism has already reached a mature stage of development. The idea of a “culture city” emerges as the most appropriate pathway to innovation, change and progress in line with the several, albeit often criticised, examples of culture-led regeneration in urban studies. The discourse analysis of the strategic plans of each city emphasises the different role that the sea and the seaside play in each location. Rimini explicitly includes these factors as pivotal cultural resources, which is evident in the innovative concept of “sea wellness”. Pesaro, on the other hand, does not attribute a specific role to the sea and the seaside; they are instead simply juxtaposed with a vibrant city centre that appeals to business and cultural tourists.

Sustainability, liveability and connectivity

The previous Place Management Institute Conference, held in Manchester in 2013, delved into the different interpretations and applications of business principles to places. It helped to highlight the overlapping between different business perspectives, such as place management, place marketing and place branding. Once clarified, the boundaries between and among various business philosophies as applied to places, the time has come to better illuminate the context in which this phenomenon is happening; how is the “business of places” entangled with the global trends shaping the world today? What are its relationships with issues of sustainability, quality of life and the increasing global connectivity?