This study investigates the potential to develop an analytical framework for the measurement of city brands. The research objectives are: (1) to identify any city brand attribute dimensions; (2) to develop a research framework to investigate the city branding related attributes that impact on city branding; (3) to develop a research process to identify additional attributes or variables that have not been recognised as components of city branding in related literature; (4) to develop a city brand measurement tool; and (5) to refine a city brand measurement tool using a case study approach. The research process took a standard format of literature review, method development, data collection and analysis, work critique and further work discussion. The purpose of the literature review was to identify a gap in the city branding academic literature in relation to the existence of a concise city branding measurement framework. A judgement was made that the literature search should also incorporate three brand related subject areas: corporate branding (including corporate reputation); city branding and country branding. The primary research instrument phase 1 was then developed. It took the form of a combined semi-structured interview guideline and a questionnaire. The semi-structured interview was devised to detect potential attributes not identified in the literature review. The questionnaire was devised to test the veracity of the finalised potential city branding attributes derived from the literature review. The target audience consisted of city branding experts from four cities: Dubai; Dublin; Manchester; and Moscow. This enabled views from different cultures and aspects to be explored. They were interviewed and asked to complete the questionnaire. The results of the primary research phase 1 were analysed. New potential attributes were identified from the semi-structured interviews; and added to the listings. Furthermore, most potential city branding attributes were retained from the questionnaire analysis. However, some of the attributes were deemed to be not applicable and deleted from the research instrument. The primary research instrument phase 2, a questionnaire, was derived from the remaining potential city brand attributes from the phase 1 questionnaire analysis and the addition of the potential new attributes. A sample of one hundred and fifty people took part in the research focused on the cities of London and Paris. The sample population consisted of an international population who are UK and Irish residents. It was established that participants had awareness and some knowledge of the two target cities. The results from the primary research instrument phase 2 were initially analysed using exploratory factor analysis. The results provided a refined list of potential city brand attributes. The attribute list was loosely grouped into three dimensions: city brand personality; city business and infrastructure attributes and city cultural/educational and history related attributes. These results were then analysed using confirmatory factor analysis. Subsequently 46 city brand attributes were identified: 16 within a city personality dimension, 16 within a business related and infrastructure dimension and 14 within a history and culture dimension. The finalised city brand measurement framework is then described. An ensuing critique of this study and suggestions or further related work is provided.

Problemformulering och syfte Strategisk kommunikation och platsmarknadsföring har blivit allt viktigare för städer och platser att etablera ett gott rykte och vara konkurrenskraftiga i den globala marknaden som finns idag. Det finns platsmarknadsförare som tror att deras varumärke är kontrollerbart, däremot kan det finnas breda variationer av åsikter och uppfattningar om en stad. I och med detta påstående och konflikten i det växer en problematik och frågan fram hur städer egentligen arbetar med sitt varumärke. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka den strategiska kommunikationen hos en stad samt undersöka stadens image, för att se hur kommunens målsättningar och befolkningens uppfattningar förhåller sig till varandra. Metod och material Studien grundas på en intervju från kommunikationsdirektören på Sundsvalls kommun, en kvalitativ textanalys av Sundsvalls kommuns strategidokument samt diskussioner med fyra fokusgrupper bestående av medborgare i Sundsvall.
Huvudresultat Det finns flera likheter mellan Sundsvalls kommuns kommunikationsstrategier och vad teorierna beskriver om strategisk kommunikation, samt en stads varumärkesbyggande. Människor har olika uppfattningar och upplevelser och ser världen på olika sätt, på grund av detta har en plats eller en stad inte en imagebild, utan är mångsidig.

In the first decades of the twenty-first century, cities around the globe are increasingly seeking to use various branding techniques to uniquely position themselves on the world stage. They do this via points of difference they hope corporations, institutions, and individuals recognize as having value; the intention being a variety of investments in those cities, primarily economic, but, often, via the ingress of human talent. That high-performance and mega sport events (e.g., IOC Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup, and F1 Grands Prix) have often been used to provide such points of difference is very well documented. However, the use of other, less high profile, forms of community-based recreational sport and physical activity in city branding activity has not received much attention. This thesis aims to begin to redress that imbalance. Initially, the thesis describes sporting activities as taking place on a continuum, and proposes a conceptual model to illustrate the notion: the continuum’s end points are labelled ‘upper-case’ for high-performance sport, and ‘lower-case’ for more community-based activities. Subsequently, and using a sample of senior leaders involved in the management of the municipal branding of Canada’s national capital, and various other engaged individuals, the thesis examines perceptions of various modes of sporting activity in the city branding process. Results indicate lower-case community-based recreational sport and physical activity experienced in the city can serve a variety of purposes. Firstly, it can encourage citizen engagement in the city, which could further stimulate ongoing branding activity on behalf of the city via resident’s word-of mouth conversations. Such activity would necessarily reflect individual’s lived experience of the city. Secondly, the notion of quality of life amongst residents emerged from the data. This would appear to be a positive aspect of city living that could be used to actively promote the city to a wide range of corporate and individual audiences seeking to optimise their investment – be it financial or personal.

This paper looks at the perceptions of people within and outside of Jönköping, regard-ing the main attractions/attributes within the Jönköping region and how they are being branded by the municipality. A model was formed to explain how consumer expecta-tions affect demand, and based on that a survey was handed out to find out consumers travelling habits, general perceptions about Jönköping and its branding. The results show that promotion has not been as successful as hoped and that Jönköping is still seen as a religious city among the respondents. A Las Vegas Entertainment Concept was formed to find out whether people would be willing to visit Jönköping more often if something „new‟ was presented. In conclusion, for consumers to visit more often new experiences have to be provided. It is all about the way Jönköping city is marketed in the future and what it will be able to offer to the different consumer segments visiting.

No description available.

<p>This paper looks at the perceptions of people within and outside of Jönköping, regard-ing the main attractions/attributes within the Jönköping region and how they are being branded by the municipality. A model was formed to explain how consumer expecta-tions affect demand, and based on that a survey was handed out to find out consumers travelling habits, general perceptions about Jönköping and its branding. The results show that promotion has not been as successful as hoped and that Jönköping is still seen as a religious city among the respondents. A Las Vegas Entertainment Concept was formed to find out whether people would be willing to visit Jönköping more often if something „new‟ was presented. In conclusion, for consumers to visit more often new experiences have to be provided. It is all about the way Jönköping city is marketed in the future and what it will be able to offer to the different consumer segments visiting.</p>

No description available.

The intention of this study is to get a deeper understanding of the phenomenon city festivals and their impact on a city’s brand. As a result of our intention we have formed the following purpose; describe and analyse in what ways a city festival can promote and develop the city’s brand.   Our study is based on a qualitative research methodology, as the intention was to get a deeper understanding of our research topic. The study took a deductive approach to begin with, however, as time proceeded we worked with the theory and empiricism parallel. This resulted in a shift between a deductive and inductive approach. Our empirical foundation is based on eight semi-structured interviews with respondents from five cities and festivals across Sweden.   During the analysis process we come across some tendencies that the empirical material largely conformed to the theoretical frame of reference. In conclusion we have found that a city festival can be a part of the formation of the city brand, however this requires that the city already has a clear and thorough vision and focus. / Avsikten med uppsatsen är att skapa en djupare förståelse för fenomenet stadsfestivaler och dess inverkan på en stads varumärke. Utifrån detta har vi formulerat vårt syfte vilket är att beskriva och analysera på vilka sätt en stadsfestival kan främja och utveckla stadens varumärke.  Denna uppsats har utgått ifrån en kvalitativ forskningsmetod där förhoppningen är att skapa en djupare förståelse för vårt forskningsämne. Under arbetets gång har vi till en början utgått från ett deduktivt synsätt men allt eftersom har vi arbetat mer parallellt med teorin och empirin. Detta innebär att vi haft ett växelspel mellan ett deduktivt och induktivt synsätt. Vår empiriinsamling har skett genom åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer med respondenter från fem olika städer/stadsfestivaler i Sverige.  I bearbetningen av analysen fann vi tendenser att det empiriska material som vi samlat in överensstämde med den teoretiska referensramen. I vår studie kom vi fram till att stadsfestivaler kan vara en del i uppbyggnaden av ett stadsvarumärke men att det förutsätter att staden har en tydlig samt genomarbetad vision och inriktning.

Många städer försöker utmärka sig på den globala världsmarknaden genom att skapa varumärken för sin stad, så kallade city- och place branding, som översätts till marknadsföring på svenska. Dessa begrepp har fått relativt lite plats inom forskningen, vilket har resulterat i att konsekvenserna av att använda sig av city- och place branding är tämligen okända. Trots att begreppen är outforskade, finns ett fåtal teorier kring kopplingen mellan den identitet som finns på platsen med det brand, som översätts till varumärke på svenska, som skapats för platsen. Syftet med denna uppsats är att studera vilka konsekvenser det finns för cyklister i Uppsala när kommunen satsar på att skapa ett brand kring Sveriges bästa cykelstad, vilket kommer att göras med hjälp av kvalitativa studier. Resultatet i denna studie visar på att kommunen misslyckas med att förankra brandet i den platsidentitet som finns i staden, vilken kan härledas till kommunens arbete med visuella marknadsförningsmedel, istället för ett arbete utifrån cyklisterna.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka förutsättningarna för ett samarbete mellan de interna intressenterna i en stads varumärkningsprocess. Utifrån uppsatsens syfte har en kvalitativ undersökning genomförts i form av sju intervjuer med intressenter inom den varumärkesbyggande processen i Södertälje. Vetenskapliga teorier med inriktning på främst varumärkning av städer och samarbeten har används vid analys av den inhämtade informationen. De slutsatser vi har dragit i denna uppsats är att samarbete som strategi är möjlig men att denna kan inneha sina begränsningar när en stad skall varumärkas. Genom att undersöka den varumärkesbyggande processen i Södertälje har vi uppmärksammat den komplexitet som föreligger hos varumärkning av en plats med flera intressenter. Förutsättningarna för ett samarbete mellan de interna intressenterna inom turism- och besöksnäringen i Södertälje anser vi vara möjligt genom engagemang, delat ansvar och kommunikation. Vi anser dock att det ur ett större perspektiv, då en hel stad skall inkluderas, kan uppstå motsättningar om näringar som inte kände en naturlig roll att deltaga skall inkluderas i den varumärkesbyggande processen. / The purpose of this thesis is to examine the possibilities for cooperation between the internal stakeholders of a city's branding process. Based on the purpose for this thesis a qualitative study was conducted in the form of seven interviews with stakeholders in the branding process of Södertälje. Scientific theories, focusing primarily on the branding of cities and cooperation, have been used in the analysis of the collected information. The conclusions we have drawn in this thesis is that cooperation as a strategy is possible but can be limited when applied on a city. By examining the branding process in Södertälje, we have noted the complexity that exists in the branding of a city with several different stakeholders. We believe that the prospects for cooperation between the internal stakeholders in the tourism and hospitality industry in Södertälje to be possible through commitment, shared responsibility and communication. We do however believe that disagreements may occur when a broader spectrum of the city’s stakeholders, whom do not feel a natural role to participate, are included in the branding process.