On the management of authenticity: Culture in the place branding of Oresund

Place branding has adopted culture as a key focus area. To manage culture a complex whole of interventions to influence key values and perceptions is required. Culture, therefore, cannot be perceived or fixated as the stable essence of a place. Branding often aims to influence the complex social conditions for branding because successful branding relies on patterns of social interaction that are not only beyond its control, but the autonomy of which is crucial to the authenticity of the brand. The difficulty of balancing intervention and autonomy means that branding often fails to recognise the potential and challenges of these social forces. The paper presents two case studies from the Oresund Region to illustrate these challenges. First, it deals with the strategies of the Oresund Network, the organisation managing the Oresund brand. Secondly, it looks at the interplay of two modern dance venues and how they react when subjected to strategies of place branding. From the two cases it becomes evident that place branding requires a model of culture sufficiently dynamic to host the nonconsensual and paradoxical. The management challenges presented in the cases force us to think place branding beyond, first, the appeal to cultural authenticity, and, secondly, the attempt to force the brand on local actors.