Place Branding: A Review of Trends and Conceptual Models

The concept of Place Branding has emerged in recent years as a powerful instrument and it is increasingly popular among both commentators on place marketing theory and practitioners in place management all over the world. There is, however, an evident confusion in the use of the term. This paper first offers a short description of the development of place marketing and its routes in general marketing. The paper goes on to describe the recent shift towards place branding. Major trends in current understanding of the concept and its use in the practice of place management are identified. The paper draws on the development of corporate branding to demonstrate its relevance to place branding and discusses two different frameworks for place brand management, found in the literature, comparing them in an attempt to build on the main contributions of each and start an effort of integrating relevant suggestions into one practical framework.