The polymorphous nature of place branding: a comparison of Stockholm and Turin

Purpose – This study expands the growing literature on the significance of the spatial dimension in marketing by focusing on place branding. Place branding can be understood as a set of neoliberal practices aimed to build “reputational capital” and product-place imagery within a global, marketing-oriented context of inter-place competition. While the implications of place branding have been discussed, for example, in relation to the problems inherent in the applicability of brand concepts to places (O’Shaughnessy and O’Shaughnessy 2000), ‘country-of-origin effect’ (Anholt 2006), globalization processes and stakeholder inclusion (Askegaard and Kjeldgaard 2007), we witness a generally limited understanding of the political dimension underlying these particular types of spatial ‘products’ and a sui generis set of business processes. Thus, the present study digs into this lacuna by offering a conceptualisation of the negotiated, networked, processual and performed nature of place brands and branding. Design/Methodology/Approach – This study adopts a theory building, qualitative case research approach, based on two case cases of two intrinsically different European cities that have undertaken place branding efforts: (i) Turin, the former industrial centre and nowadays “knowledge city” of Nothern Italy, where a place branding project called “Experience Italy” was launched in 2011 with the aim to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italian unification and boost the tourism appeal of the area; (ii) Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, where an official brand called Stockholm “The Capital of Scandinavia” is being developed and sustained by a sheer number of municipalities and private stakeholders with the aim to increase the attractiveness of the Stockholm region. These two branding undertakings provide thick material for a comparison based on a multi-method approach that includes in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, participant observation and archival method that relies on a thorough study of official documents. The theoretical-methodological approach which informs the analysis is inspired by the contemporary debate in geography about space and sociospatial relations. In particular, the paper relies on the adoption of the “TPSN framework” proposed by Jessop, Brenner and Martin (2008), through which it is possible to identify the key dimensions of geographic phenomena, intended as complex configurations of sociospatial relations in which territories (T) places (P), scales (S) and networks (N) are viewed as mutually constitutive and intertwined dimensions. Findings – The analysis unveils the dynamic, processual and contested nature of (place) brands by capturing them as complex relationships between and among different agents, in different locations and at different scalar levels. Accordingly, brands and branding create topological connections that rework the separation between distant places and reshape their configurations, thus highlighting the ways in which marketing rearticulates and reorganises the sociospatial landscape within the contemporary society.‘Scale’ and ‘networks’ appear to be the two key relevant dimensions that help frame place branding as sets of sociospatial relations, which vary depending on different scale/network articulations. In the case of Turin ‘scale’ acts prevalently as an interfering factor for the ‘networks’ of stakeholders sustaining the celebration of the 150th Italian anniversary. Symmetrically, in the case of Stockholm ‘networks’ operate prevalently as an interfering factor that shapes the relationships between and among different levels of the brand governance. Research limitations/implications – The main limitation of this study lies in the fact that only European destinations have been taken into consideration for the analysis. Regarding the practical implications, place managers are prompted to give due attention to the importance of socio-political dynamics that have an impact on those specific policies aimed at enabling the place branding efforts within cities and regions. Originality/Value – The study provides an alternative understanding of (place) brand management as an activity implying polymorphous constructs. This understanding which can be used to enrich the most widespread conceptualisations stressing the polyphonic nature of cities (Kornberger 2010), organisations (Kornberger et al. 2006) and brands (Berthon et al. 2009), thus expanding a narrow approach focusing only on meanings and semantics. Brands and branding can thus be thought of tools through which new geographies of accumulation and power actively contribute to shape and perform a multi-faceted business and market space (Massey 1994).