Branding From Above: Generic Cultural Branding in Shetland and other Islands

This paper considers the development of a generic cultural brand for islands. In 2002, Shetland’s local government and the Corporate Edge consultancy developed a modernized, internationally-oriented Shetland brand. This official brand conflicts with Shetlanders’ traditional, locally-oriented identity concept, which has impeded the brand’s success. With emphasis on printed tourism marketing materials, Shetland’s experience is compared with those of other European islands. This comparison highlights a predominance of cultural island brands emphasizing modernity and old-fashionedness. Finally, this paper looks at problems with top-down place branding and suggests that those involved in centralized place branding processes take local identity into account.