EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BRANDING A PLACE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

There has been a steady increase in competition between places in terms of attracting tourists, businesses and investments, over the past few years (Kotler, et. al. 1993). This has made the marketing of places a key driver of the economic activities and a leading initiator of local development and regeneration. As a result, 'Place Marketing' has become a regular and more intense practice over the last few decades as a result of the rapid increase in competition among places, cities, regions and nations around the world (Baker and Cameron, 2008). Moreover, place marketing is not only limited to increasing the tourist trade but also plays an important role in regional and urban development, place and/or country positioning in international relations and maintaining continued infrastructural and economic growth. However, there is little academic research to support the practice. Indeed, 'Place Branding' is seen as an emerging field (Hankinson, 2001, Kavaratzis, 2004), in which there is an apparent lack of empirical research (Caldwall and Freire, 2004) and little clarity or agreement about terminology and definitions (Anholt, 2004). According to Placebrands, (2006) place branding brings together a range of existing specialisms, in particular those of brand management and corporate branding, general management and marketing concepts, together with developmental policy, to create a new discipline with equal emphasis on visionary strategies and hands-on implementation. Moreover, whilst there has been some academic research into the branding of places as sustainable centers for business tourism (Hankinson, 2004), there has been a little focus on the place branding concept itself, and no research on investigating place brand and its relationship to the sustainable development. Therefore, this research paper sets out to explore the construct of place branding and its influence on the continuous development and sustainable growth by reflecting on the aspects of traditional branding, product branding, corporate branding, place marketing and destination branding. This research will then consider the evolution and the liminalities of the place branding construct and will examine the role and importance of the various place-specific facets embedded in it. Thus, the main purpose of this paper is to provide new insights to the existing knowledge of place branding and its relationship with sustainability. This research reviews the evolution, development and effectiveness of the place branding concept from the perspectives of regeneration, growth and sustainability. The main research focus is on establishing key facets responsible for driving the brand of a place and examining the relationship between them in terms of achieving sustainability. A place-specific branding campaign (using the Liverpool' 08, European Capital of Culture status) was considered and data collected from the key stakeholders that included top-level representatives such as Chief Executives, Chairpersons, Directors and/or senior managers from 14 key authorities and organizations both from the public and private sectors, alongside civic leaders, residential associations and educational institutions responsible for creating and delivering the Liverpool place brand image. The findings of this research suggest that place branding plays an important role in the sustainable development of a place provided that the momentum of progress is maintained. In turn these sustainable developments help promote the place and thereby create stronger place brands.