Churín - Village Destination Branding in the Peruvian Andes

Table of Contents

Tables

Figures

Acknowledgements

1 Introduction
Background
Problem Statement
Justification
General Objective
Specific Objectives (so)
Scope and Restrictions
Structure

2 Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Main Concepts of Branding
2.2.1 Definition and Origins of Branding
2.2.2 Characteristics and Benefits of a Strong Brand
2.2.2.1 Characteristics of a Strong Brand
2.2.2.2 Benefits of a Strong Brand for Consumers
2.2.2.3 Benefits of a Strong Brand for Brand Owners
2.2.3 Brand Building Process
2.3 Place Branding
2.3.1 Definition and Origins of Place Branding
2.3.2 Characteristics and Benefits of a Strong Place Brand
2.3.2.1 Characteristics of a Strong Place Brand
2.3.2.2 Benefits of a Strong Place Brand
2.3.3 Place Brand Building Process
2.4 Destination Branding
2.4.1 Definition and Origins of Destination Branding
2.4.2 Characteristics and Benefits of a Strong Destination Brand
2.4.2.1 Characteristics of a Strong Destination Brand
2.4.2.2 Benefits of a Strong Destination Brand
2.4.3 Destination Brand Building Process
2.5 Status Quo Destination Branding in Peru
2.6 Conclusion

3 Methodology
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Research Design
3.3 Data Collection
3.3.1 Destination Brand Building Process (cf. RQ)
3.3.2 Step 1: Set-Up of Working Party (cf. rq1)
3.3.3 Step 2: Desk Research (cf. rq2)
3.3.4 Step 3: Interviews with Insiders (cf. rq3)
3.3.4.1 Local Opinion Leaders
3.3.4.1 Accommodation Places
3.3.5 Step 4: Interviews with Outsiders (cf. rq4)
3.3.5.1 Tourists
3.3.5.2 Tourism Experts
3.3.6 Step 5: Analysis and Development of Initial Ideas (cf. rq5)
3.4 Information Analysis
3.4.1 Destination Brand Building Process (cf. RQ)
3.4.2 Step 1: Set-Up of Working Party (cf. rq1)
3.4.3 Step 2: Desk Research (cf. rq2)
3.4.4 Step 3: Interviews with Insiders (cf. rq3)
3.4.4.1 Local Opinion Leaders
3.4.4.2 Accommodation Places
3.4.5 Step 4: Interviews with Outsiders (cf. rq4)
3.4.5.1 Tourists
3.4.5.2 Tourism Experts
3.4.6 Step 5: Analysis and Development of Initial Ideas (cf. rq5)
3.5 Conclusion

4 Results
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Research Findings
4.2.1 Step 1: Set-Up of Working Party (cf. rq1)
4.2.2 Step 2: Desk Research (cf. rq2)
4.2.2.1 Geographic Setting
4.2.2.2 Political Setting
4.2.2.3 Demographic Setting
4.2.2.4 Cultural Setting
4.2.2.5 Economic Setting
4.2.3 Step 3: Interviews with Insiders (cf. rq3)
4.2.3.1 Accommodation Places
4.2.3.2 Local Opinion Leaders
4.2.4 Step 4: Interviews with Outsiders (cf. rq4)
4.2.4.1 Tourists
4.2.4.2 Tourism Experts

5 Discussion
5.1 Step 5: Analysis of the Research Findings (cf. rq5)
5.2 Step 5: Development of Initial Ideas (cf. rq5)

6 Epilogue
6.1 Conclusions of the Research Findings
6.2 Implications of the Research Findings
6.3 Recommendations for Further Research

References

Appendixes

Tables

Table 1 Structure of the Literature Review with the Respective Chapter Numbering

Table 2 The Saffron Approach

Table 3 Synopsis of the Main Theoretical and Methodological Sources

Table 4 Unstructured Interview with Mariella Soldi Vargas, Coordinator of Country Branding, MINCETUR

Table 5 Structure of the Information on Churín and the Respective Main Sources

Table 6 Unstructured Interview with Alex Yturri Garnica, Specialist in Studies, Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC)/Provías Nacional

Table 7 Unstructured Interview with Leoncio Santos España, MINCETUR, Specialist in Management of Touristic Development and Thermalism

Table 8 Unstructured Interview with Marco Ugarte Huamán, Mayor of the District Pachangara-Churín

Table 9 Unstructured Interview with Three Persons of the Regional Government of Lima

Table 10 Accommodation Survey

Table 11 Structured Interviews with the Bus Agencies

Table 12 Unstructured Interview with Beatriz Iamarra Huamán, Head of the Tourism Division, Municipality Pachangara-Churín

Table 13 Unstructured Interview with Raquel Cuzcano, Coordinator of the programme “Short Routes from Lima”, MINCETUR

Table 14 Synopsis of the Interviewed Local Opinion Leaders

Table 15 Time Frame of the Tourist Survey

Table 16 Profile of the Tourism Expert Interviewees

Table 17 Synopsis of the Sources Useful for the Development of Initial Brand Ideas

Table 18 Compiled Adjectives Describing the Personality of Churín according to the Interviewees

Table 19 Personality Adjectives Grouped in 9 Categories.

Table 20 Sources of Mineral-Medical Waters in Lima

Table 21 Satisfactory and Dissatisfactory Aspects of the Touristic Offerings of Churín

Table 22 General Meaning of Common Colours

Table 23 Idea Group 1: Balneario ("Spa")

Table 24 Idea Group 2: Destino Turístico de Aventura (“Touristic Adventure Destination”)

Table 25 Idea Group 3: Corredores Turísticos (“Touristic Corridors”)

Table 26 Idea Group 4: El Paraíso Churín (“The Paradise Churín”)

Table 27 Proposal of Core Idea by the Researcher: Mamahuarmi and Intipa Churín

Figures

Figure 1 Word map for "brand"

Figure 2 Customer-based brand equity pyramid

Figure 3 Brand methodology

Figure 4 Tourism 2020 Vision

Figure 5 The virtuous circle of the brand power in a touristic destination

Figure 6 Value chain of a touristic destination

Figure 7 Transformation of touristic resources to touristic offers

Figure 8 Churín in Peru

Figure 9 Churín in the region Lima

Figure 10 Churín in the province Oyón

Figure 11 Churín in the district Pachangara

Figure 12 Churín situated in a valley

Figure 13 Churín at the river Oyón

Figure 14 Thermal waters in Peru, according to region

Figure 15 Rainy season

Figure 16 Road network Huaura – Sayán – Oyón – Ambo and Río Seco – Sayán

Figure 17 Cleaning of the street of fallen rocks km

Figure 18 Cleaning of the fairway km

Figure 19 Village plan of Churín, simplified and not true to scale

Figure 20 Entrance of Churín

Figure 21 Entrance of Churín with a little pond

Figure 22 View of the village from above

Figure 23 Village centre with view of the church and the municipality

Figure 24 Bank

Figure 25 Police station

Figure 26 Market

Figure 27 School

Figure 28 Organisation of the Peruvian state, simplified

Figure 29 Team work in the workshop of the Participative Budgeting in a peasant community

Figure 30 Inauguration of a workshop in a peasant community by the mayor

Figure 31 Main occupation of the population in Pachangara

Figure 32 Equipment of the living places in Pachangara

Figure 33 First houses of Churín

Figure 34 Living place at the entrance

Figure 35 Living places before the centre

Figure 36 Living places at the upper part

Figure 37 Living places at the centre

Figure 38 Living places at the exit

Figure 39 Figure of Mamahuarm i and her son

Figure 40 Well of Mamahuarmi.

Figure 41 Typical dishes from Churín and surroundings

Figure 42 Chicha de jora

Figure 43 Women in typical cloths selling their products

Figure 44 Grot of Mamahuarmi

Figure 45 Thermal bath "The Youth"

Figure 46 Thermal bath "The Plateau"

Figure 47 Thermal spring "Bride's Veil"

Figure 48 Ferric thermal baths

Figure 49 Thermal baths of Huancahuasi

Figure 50 Ruin Rapazmarca

Figure 51 Ruin Charki Ragaj

Figure 52 Folkloric customs

Figure 53 Folkloric customs

Figure 54 Lagoon Suracasa

Figure 55 Rafting

Figure 56 I.1.First visit of Churín

Figure 57 I.1. Number of prior visits to Churín

Figure 58 I.1. Frequency of annual visits to Churín

Figure 59 II.2 Number of days interviewees stay in Churín

Figure 60 II.3 Total spending during the travel

Figure 61 III.1. Medium by which the interviewees obtained knowledge of Churín

Figure 62 VI.3 Origin of interviewees

Figure 63 VI.3 Geographic origin in Lima

Figure 64 Resúmé of a “typical Churín tourist”

Figure 65 Tourism-related services in Churín

Figure 66 Map of Churín centre with its businesses, part 1 and 2 (map not true to scale)

Figure 67 IV.2. Year of establishment of the accommodation places

Figure 68 II.7. Promotion of the accommodation

Figure 69 III.2. Grade of occupancy

Figure 70 III.3. Kind of the majority of clients

Figure 71 III.4. Aspects generating satisfaction among the clients

Figure 72 Accommodation

Figure 73 Accommodation

Figure 74 Accommodation

Figure 75 Accommodation

Figure 76 Accommodation

Figure 77 Accommodation

Figure 78 Accommodation

Figure 79 Accommodation

Figure 80 Accommodation

Figure 81 Accommodation

Figure 82 Accommodation

Figure 83 Accommodation

Figure 84 Accommodation

Figure 85 Restaurants at the centre

Figure 86 Chinese restaurant

Figure 87 Small kiosk selling snacks

Figure 88 Open-air restaurant at the entrance

Figure 89 Piscigranja

Figure 90 Trout cooked in tomatoe sauce

Figure 91 Bar

Figure 92 Bar

Figure 93 Handcraft shops

Figure 94 Handcraft shops

Figure 95 Time-table of the bus agencies

Figure 96 Transport agency in Lima

Figure 97 Transport agency in Churín

Figure 98 Bus for the trip Lima- Churín

Figure 99 Mototaxi for short distances in Churín

Figure 100 Taxi as means of transportation between the communities

Figure 101 Combi-vans as means of transportation between the communities

Figure 102 Touristic map of a transport agency

Figure 103 Transport agency

Figure 104 Promotional elements of Churín

Figure 105 Presentation of Churín on the official homepage www.peru.info

Figure 106 I.2. Places with thermal baths interviewees had visited apart from Churín

Figure 107 III.6. Perceived strengths of Churín by the interviewees of the accommodation places

Figure 108 III.5. Perceived weaknesses of Churín by the interviewees of the accommodation places

Figure 109 III.7. Perceived personality of Churín imaged in grouped adjectives by the interviewees of the accommodation places

Figure 110 III.8. Symbolic colour of Churín according to interviewees of accommodation places

Figure 111 II.1. Three words related with Churín by the interviewees

Figure 112 III.2. Perceived strengths of Churín by the interviewed local opinion leaders

Figure 113 III.1. Perceived weaknesses of Churín by the interviewed local opinion leaders

Figure 114 II.2. Perceived personality of Churín by the interviewed local opinion leaders

Figure 115 II.3. Symbolic colour for Churín according to the opinion of local opinion leaders

Figure 116 I.1.a. Reasons for first-time-visitors to come back to Churín

Figure 117 I.3. Pleasant and unpleasant elements of the offerings in Churín

Figure 118 II.1. Price perception of different aspects

Figure 119 III.2. Improvement of promotion of Churín: attractive promotion channels to the interviewees

Figure 120 IV.1. Most appropriate age group to visit Churín according to interviewees’ opinion

Figure 121 IV.2. Main reasons for interviewees to visit Churín

Figure 122 IV.3. Most appropriate social class to visit Churín according to interviewees’ opinion

Figure 123 V.1. Perceived personality of Churín according to interviewees’ opinion

Figure 124 V.2. Symbolic colour for Churín according to interviewees’ opinion

Figure 125 II.1. Three words related with Churín by the interviewees

Figure 126 III.2. Perceived strengths of Churín by the interviewed tourism experts

Figure 127 III.1. Perceived weaknesses of Churín by the interviewed tourism experts

Figure 128 II.2. Perceived personality of Churín by the interviewed tourism experts

Figure 129 II.3. Perceived personality of Churín by the interviewed tourism experts

Figure 130 Three words related with Churín by local opinion leaders and tourism experts, synthesised presentation

Figure 131 Perceived strengths of Churín, weighted opinions of the tourism experts (45%), local opinion leaders (35%), proprietors or administrators of accommodation places (20%)

Figure 132 Perceived per166sonality of Churín according to weighted interviewees’ opinion: local opinion leaders (31680%), accommodation (20%), tourism experts (30%), tourists (20%)

Figure 133 Symbolic colour for Churín according to weighted interviewees’ opinion: local opinion leaders (30%), accommodation (20%), tourism experts (30%), tourists (20%)

Figure 134 Perceived weaknesses of Churín by the interviewees, weighted opinions of the tourism experts (45%), local opinion leaders (35%), proprietors or administrators

Figure 135 Umbrella with the most important place characteristics according to the results

Figure 136 Emblem of the municipality Pachangara- Churín

Acknowledgements

To my parents: for making my life possible in every respect; and to my family in general.

To Churín and Peru: for turning my life and attitude towards life upside down; in the positive sense, I guess.

To Mtra. Elizabeth Salamanca, the best research director ever, and besides the spin doctor of this research paper: for sending valuable feedback more rapidly than the questions were sent.

To all the interviewees: for taking part with enthusiasm in my surveys and interviews.

To Angel: for giving his whole world to me!

To the green areas of the UDLA: for making me go jogging every day for at least one hour, and thus making me be clear-headed.

To Jimmy: for being Mr Hills and big brother.

To Humberto and his family: for distracting me from the thesis with playing cards and jigsaw-puzzle in the evenings.

To the ESB-UDLA-generation 2009: for having done “this” together for almost two years.

To my (Mexican) UDLA-friends: for having me made have an excellent time in Mexico.

To all the potential proofreaders: for having declared their willingness to struggle through this paper; they did not have to, though, as I finished – as usual – in the last possible moment. Which is right now, in this very moment, two hours before deadline.

1 Introduction

Background

The Peruvian diversity offers many opportunities – they “only” have to be discovered and realised. Churín, an Andean village (approximately 1,600 inhabitants), represents an example of one of those opportunities: Due to its numerous thermal springs, it has been attracting (mainly national) visitors for decades who come to enjoy the pure climate, the peacefulness, the typical food, the beautiful landscape, and the curative springs. Thus, the economy and development of Churín – and its surrounding villages – are mainly based on tourism.

The researcher of this paper has spent two years in Peru, the majority of this time in Churín, and the village or rather the residents of the place and the surroundings lie a lot at her heart. Thus, she had already been thinking quite a long time how to include the site into her research paper at university in order to give the academic work a practical context and sense.

The initial idea of the researcher was the development of a promotional campaign for Churín, but after having consulted with her thesis assessor, the subject of the research was changed in favour of the creation of a destination brand which represents a more holistic approach than a mere promotional campaign. In addition, it fits very well into the current setting of the Andean village which is defined by various, but uncoordinated efforts to push on with the social and economic development of the place: The destination brand could act as the golden thread that unites the different existing lines of action of the local stakeholders.

Problem Statement

As stated before, the economy of Churín depends almost exclusively on its tourism activity. However, only at Easter time, on 28 July (Independence Day), and during large holidays, Churín can count on “full houses” – during the rest of the year, the tourism is quite poor and in the end, there is no money for necessary investments: investments in the development of the village towards a modern and recognised health and bathing resort with attractive secondary attractions which would both guarantee higher and more stable incomes for the people in Churín, and help to improve the bad living conditions in the peasant communities around.

Justification

In today’s world everything plays around marketing, promotion – brands! Whatever you want to sell, it does not suffice to have the best product of the world, you have to make it wanted by the final consumers (Klein, 1999).

Ultimately, countries and cities have been increasingly considered as products: products which have to be promoted professionally in order to attract investors, residents and tourists (and/or make them stay) (Seisdedos, n.d.).

Churín on the contrary is very badly promoted: People, especially in the Peruvian capital Lima, know it from mouth-to-mouth propaganda, but it lacks a coordinated and consolidated promotion strategy which would install the same image of Churín in the minds of everybody, and especially of the target group.

Hence, the aspired contribution of this exploratory research paper is the initiation of a destination branding process in Churín as the researcher is convinced of its benefits as long as the destination brand is correctly and professionally applied, of course: On the one hand, the process of the brand building will unify the population of the village, and enhance the self-esteem and appreciation of the resources of its living place; on the other hand, the confluence of tourists should increase, and likewise the incomes of the residents of Churín and the surrounding communities. This would allow a sustainable improvement of the low standard of living and thus, Churín would offer a more positive vision for future generations.

General Objective

Design an instructive proposal for Churín for the creation of a core brand idea as a platform for the ensuing creation of a village destination brand aspiring to improve sustainably the standard of living of its population.

General Research Question (RQ):

How might Churín proceed to create a core brand idea which will serve as a platform for the ensuing creation of a village destination brand aspiring to improve sustainably the standard of living of its population?

Specific Objectives (so)

so1: Identify the stakeholders of Churín who should be part of the working group in the

destination brand building process.

so2: Compilate for the branding process relevant information on Churín.

so3: Find out how Churín is perceived by insiders.

so4: Find out how Churín is perceived by outsiders.

so5: Develop initial ideas for the destination brand development based on the findings of

so2-so4.

Research Questions (rq)

rq1: Who are the stakeholders of Churín who should be part of the working group in the

destination brand building process?

rq2: Which information on Churín is relevant for the creation of a village destination brand?

rq3: How do insiders perceive Churín ?

rq4: How do outsiders perceive Churín ?

rq5: Which ideas could initiate the destination brand development?

Scope and Restrictions

While reading the title of the research paper one could assume that the researcher will actually develop a destination brand for Churín. However, this would have been too presumptuous in view of the time, financial, and most of all: personnel restrictions as the researcher was limited to a time-frame of one year, she met all expenses by herself, and most importantly, she is neither an expert neither in tourism nor in branding. Besides, the object of the destination brand building process is the participation and commitment of all stakeholders, and not the solitary proceeding of one person who in addition is not even native of Churín.

Thus, the scope of the research is not the creation of the destination brand for Churín, but only the “preparation of the territory”, that is a proposal how Churín might initiate and proceed in a possible destination brand building; this must not be mixed up with the development of a general touristic development plan.

The researcher did not have the aspiration, either, to present totally complete and perfect information, but she wanted to provide valuable inputs which could serve Churín and interested persons as a golden thread during the creation of the destination brand.

Structure

The external structure of the research paper follows the classical order and contains the following six chapters and annexes: 1 Introduction; 2 Literature Review; 3 Methodology; 4 Results; 5 Discussion; 6 Epilogue; Bibliography; Appendixes.

However, the internal structure is determined by the general research question or rather the answer of the general research question: The researcher’s proposal of how Churín might proceed in order to create a destination brand is based on an approach called “Saffron approach” (Saffron, 2005 & 2007) found in the literature.

Thus, the literature review presents the search for the answer of the general research question. The layout of the third, fourth and fifth chapter correspond to the steps of the “Saffron approach”. The sixth chapter presents some conclusions and recommendations on the findings turning on the matter “Churín – Village Destination Branding in the Peruvian Andes”.

2 Literature Review

2.1 Introduction

It is the research question itself which determines the scope and structure of the literature review:

How might Churín proceed (3) to create a core brand idea (1) which will serve as a platform for the ensuing creation of a village destination brand (1) aspiring to improve sustainably the standard of living of its population (2)?

The main issue (1), the objective (2) and the way to get there (3) – those aspects represent the content to be covered in the literature review in order to apply the theory and back the propositions in the fourth chapter:

(1) The main issue deals with (destination) branding, so it is required to have knowledge of what branding means, where it comes from and which types of it exist.
(2) The final objective is the creation of a strong (destination) brand in order to exploit its full potential. But what characterises a strong brand? And what kind of benefits can be expected from a strong brand?
(3) The procedure of building a strong (destination) brand finally represents the principal point of interest: True to the motto “The way is the goal.”, it is from utter importance to review more detailed the different approaches proposed by experts in order to choose the most appropriate elements for the village destination brand Churín.

For a better understanding, these three aspects will be contemplated – going from general to specific – at the levels of branding in general, place branding and destination branding, built upon each other, so that the literature review finally represents a matrix structure as illustrated in Table 1.

Table 1

Structure of the Literature Review with the Respective Chapter Numbering

illustration not visible in this excerpt

And last but not least, subchapter 2.5 represents a parenthesis inserting some information about the status quo of destination branding in Peru.

2.2 Main Concepts of Branding

2.2.1 Definition and Origins of Branding

Branding deals with the creation and building of a brand, which suggests to define and understand at first hand the meaning of “brand” rather than “branding”.

Using a word map of Visual Thesaurus as an aid (cf. Figure 1), the noun “brand” shows to have six meanings:

a. “identification mark on skin, made by burning”;
b. “a recognizable kind”;
c. “a name given to a product or a service”;
d. “a symbol of disgrace or infamy”;
e. “a piece of wood that has been burning or is burning”;
f. “a cutting or thrusting weapon with a long blade” (Visual Thesaurus, 2009, brand).

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Figure 1. Word map for “brand”. From “brand” by Visual Thesaurus, 2009.

The first four meanings of the polysemous word are of interest in this context: They emphasise in one way or another the distinctiveness-providing character of the noun; distinctiveness and differentiation also represent the keywords in practically all sources talking about the topic “brand” and “branding”.

“(A) name given to a product or service” represents the relevant meaning in the present case. However, as this is not nearly as adequate as necessary, it is looked for a more appropriate and specific definition of the term “brand”.

According to the largest marketing association in North America, the American Marketing Association, a brand is “(a) name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers” (American Marketing Association, 2009, Resource Library, Dictionary, B, para.106).

This could lead to the simplistic assumption that whenever somebody creates a design for his product, for example, a new brand has been born (Keller, 2003). Nonetheless, the marketing experts agree that it requires a lot more sophistication than that to build a “real” brand, FutureBrand (2006) even calls it a “tremendous challenge to create a cohesive whole (p.40)”.

While some marketers have been underscoring the importance of the traditional brand owner in the brand building process, others have given more significance to its customers and claim them to be the true brand owners. Be that as it may, all of them consider the incorporation of all stakeholders affected by the brand, and both tangible and intangible elements of the branded product as vital brand elements.

Regarding the stakeholders, Kavaratzis & Aswhorth (2005) cut right to the chase of the matter: “The boundaries of the brand construct are, on the one hand, the activities of the firm and on the other side the perceptions of the consumers. The brand becomes the interface between these two (p. 508).” The brand owner’s, here: the firm’s, activities impact the brand identity (how he wants the brand to be perceived), and the consumers form the brand image (how they actually perceive the brand) (Kavaratzis & Ashworth, 2005; Sullivan, 2009).

It shows wittiness to call the brand an interface in order to evade a “chicken or egg” dilemma: What has been first – the perception of the product in the consumers’ minds, or the brand created by the brand owner? Keller (2003) points out that “(a) brand is something that resides in the minds of consumers” and calls it a “perceptual entity rooted in reality, but it is also more than that, reflecting the perceptions and perhaps even the idiosyncrasies of the consumers (p.13)”; those perceptions are generally formed by “experiences, expressions, feelings, beliefs, and knowledge (Martínez Gómez, 2008, p.1)”.

The marketers, that is the brand owners, have to perfectly know the motivations of the consumers (Keller, 2003) and take into account those perceptions, better said: It is their task to influence, manage, and if necessary, try to change those perceptions in favour of their product by providing a powerful set of promises (FutureBrand, 2006; Gelder van, 2002; Sullivan, 2009; Wallenberger & Wanas, 2006) which differentiates the product from the competition. The differentiating element represents as mentioned before the huge potential asset of a brand (Keller, 2003; Martínez Gómez, 2008; Wallenberger & Wanas, 2006) and the differentiation can take place at the five product levels identified by Kotler; however, it is usually most relevant from the fourth level on:

1. “core benefit: the fundamental need or want that consumers satisfy by consuming the product or service;
2. generic product level: basic version of the product containing only those attributes or characteristics absolutely necessary for its functioning but with no distinguishing features;
3. expected product level: a set of attributes or characteristics that buyers normally expect and agree to when they purchase a product;
4. augmented product level: additional product attributes, benefits, or related services that distinguish the product from competitors;
5. potential product level: all of the augmentations and transformations that a product might ultimately undergo in the future (qtd. in Keller, 2003, p.4)”.

Accordingly, the product usually consists of tangible as well as intangible elements, and various marketing experts claim that especially the intangibles such as the value, the credibility and the singularity of a product give birth to the differentiating attributes of a brand (Kavaratzis & Ashworth, 2005; Secretaría General del Turismo & Fundación CEDDET, 2006c; quilladvertising, 2007). However, it seems to be more appropriate to attribute as potential differentiators both the tangible and the intangible aspects; compliant with Keller (2003), a brand is “a product, but one that adds other dimensions that differentiate it in some way from other products designed to satisfy the same need. Those differences may be rational and tangible – related to product performance – or more symbolic, emotional, and intangible – related to what the brand represents (p.4)”. Examples for brands that emphasise its rational and tangible differences would be Gillette and Sony who represent leaders in the respective product category, and Coca-Cola or Marlboro would exemplify the symbolic, emotional, and intangible ones.

Actually, the brand does not only represent an interface between the brand owner and the customer, but also a bridge between the past and the present: On one hand, it reflects everything, that is all the tangible and intangible attributes, people have heard, seen, felt, learned and experienced about the product, and on the other hand, the “brand knowledge created over time by marketing investments dictates appropriate and inappropriate future directions (Keller, 2003, p.61; but also: Martínez Gómez, 2008)”.

In the end, it boils down to the definition of Sullivan (2009) which shall represent the valid definition for this paper:

“(The brand) acts as receiving vessel both for the attributes that marketers wish to impart and for those that consumers discern. A brand is everything that defines your offering and distinguishes it from its competitors (p.1).”

There still remains one aspect to be clarified: What is meant by a “product” or “your offering”, that is what can branding be applied to? A short look into history may help:

The word “brand” represents a derivation of the Old Norse term brandr which can be translated into “to burn” and refers originally to the marking of animals with a brand for identification and ownership purpose (Keller, 2003). While already before Christmas the same scheme was mainly used for marking porcelain and pottery in China, India, ancient Rome and Greek, in the Middle Age the branding practice was adopted in other industries (food, precious stones) as well. The purposes were to make the goods – and their quality – recognisable for the customers and consequently increase their loyalty; on the other hand, upcoming trademark laws intended to clean the markets from inferior quality (Keller, 2003; Winfield-Pfefferkorn, 2005).

However, in the course of time, the branding concept did not remain restricted to goods due to a series of changes: The increase of population, the higher educational levels and standard of living on average, and especially many changes that globalisation has brought along such as the improvement of infrastructure, most of all regarding transportation and communication (including advertising), advances in production processes and the sophistication of retail institutions provoked a growing interest and professionalism in branding (Gelder van, 2002; Keller, 2003) for mainly two reasons: It was considered a mean to confront the ever fiercer competition, and it was found applicable not only to consumer products, but also to products in the broader sense – nowadays practically everything seems to be brandable. The branding of services (for example LanPeru), retailers and distributors (for example Metro), online products and services (for example Google), people and organisation (for example actors, UNICEF), sports, arts and entertainment (for example movies, national sports teams), ideas and causes (for example WorldWildlifeFund), and – relevant for the research – geographic locations (for example country or city branding) has been gaining importance as well (Keller, 2003).

Corresponding to the statement of Kotler that “A product is anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, or use, or something that can satisfy a need or want (qtd. in Keller, 2003, pp.3).”, Keller (2003) points out that: “Marketers can benefit from branding whenever consumers are in a choice situation (p.90)”.

2.2.2 Characteristics and Benefits of a Strong Brand

2.2.2.1 Characteristics of a Strong Brand

Based on the highlighted definition of a brand in 2.2.1, a brand can be considered strong when the attributes the marketers impart coincide with the attributes the consumers discern, and when the offering is provided with differentiating elements.

This general circumscription of a strong brand may be broken down by individual, yet related and complementary characteristics; thus, a strong brand usually features:

a. outstanding performance in its category which is based on high quality, and a reasonable cost-benefit ratio (Keller, 2003; Langer, 2003; Schüller, 2008, Fachbeiträge); unique points of differences (PODs) are crucial, but points of parity (POPs), that is “the brand is good enough (Keller, 2003, p.74)”, are also required;
b. radiation of charisma and sympathy, including credibility by fulfilling the given promises (Gómez Álvarez, 2007; Kavaratzis & Ashworth, 2005; Keller, 2003; Langer, 2003; Schüller, 2008);
c. pervasive, continuous, easily understandable and well-positioned presence in strategic points of sales and the communication media in order to build a strong brand knowledge (Keller, 2003; Schüller, 2008);
d. on one hand, flexible and innovative attitudes to be up-to-date and surprise the customers, but on the other hand, steadiness and consistency to give a reliable and durable image to the customers (Kavaratzis & Ashworth, 2005; Keller, 2003; Schüller, 2008).

In the end, the whole brand value chain should be focused on the customer (“customer-based brand equity (Keller, 2003, p.58)”): By performing excellently, being strongly present, conveying credibility and a likeable image, being innovative and flexible, both the rational, utilitarian, and the emotional, more psychological, needs of the customers will be satisfied and they will tend to be more loyal: the brand should aim to be a “trustmark” or even “lovemark” (Keller, 2003, p.39). All this requires a very professional brand management on the part of the brand owner (Gómez Álvarez, 2007; Keller, 2003).

Langer (2003) sums it up with the so-called „brand tetra chord“: A strong brand …

(1) disposes of a high awareness beyond the core target group and …
(2) is appreciated and sympathised with within the target group.
This usually leads to (3) the readiness for cooperation and use of the offered product;
and, if the competitors and costs do not represent too high hurdles, it is quite probable
(4) that the offered product is actually used (slide 18).

The achievement of the fourth step finally represents the main goal of the brand owner, and, in the best case, as well of the consumers, since theoretically both stakeholders should benefit from the strong brand.

Those benefits are usually originated by the characteristics of strong brands:

2.2.2.2 Benefits of a Strong Brand for Consumers

a. decision support: Due to the marking and unique points of differences, the branded product stands out in its category and facilitates the recognisability (Kavaratzis & Ashworth, 2005; Keller, 2003; Wallenberger & Wanas, 2006). Furthermore, it imparts the sensation of being somebody special and having taken a decision that fits the own personality (Caldwell & Freire, 2004; Keller, 2003; Wallenberger & Wanas, 2006).
b. low choice risk: Due to the pronounced brand knowledge acquired by transparent information sources and the strong presence of the brand, the customer feels safe in its buying decision and assigns all responsibility to the product maker (Keller, 2003; Wallenberger & Wasen, 2006).
c. search cost reducer: As strong brands win recognition more easily and thus diffuse more rapidly, they facilitate the purchase of the branded product (Keller, 2003; Wallenberger & Wasen, 2006).
d. limitless feeling of trust: Related with the already mentioned benefits, the customer builds a strong relationship to the brand as having made good experiences with it; he trusts the brand, and feels well about pursuing it (Schüller, 2008; Wallenberger & Wasen, 2006).

2.2.2.3 Benefits of a Strong Brand for Brand Owners

Regarding the benefits for the brand owner, they could be contemplated as the result of customer satisfaction derived from customer benefits, or better said, the limitless trust of the customers may activate a chain reaction:

Satisfied, loyal customers are likely to recommend the branded product by the highly effective word-of-mouth-propaganda to other persons, and thus, they facilitate the acquisition of new customers and may cause a demand pull (Schüller, 2008; Wallenberger & Wasen, 2006). The demand pull will probably result in a higher public interest in general, and consequently, the brand may facilitate the personnel recruiting, open the capital market, and represent a leading function in many aspects (Schüller, 2008).

Furthermore, branded products usually enjoy a higher acceptance than new products, and they can be sold more expensively than no names products as the costumers are convinced of the product quality and are subject to a lower price elasticity (Keller, 2003; Schüller, 2008).

The mentioned benefits represent very valuable assets, that is the brand is a very valuable intangible asset that needs to be handled carefully by the brand owner: It is a “source of competitive advantage (…) and financial return (Keller, 2003, p.60)” – another benefit for the brand owner.

That is all well and good, but: How does one obtain a strong brand, and thus hopefully the mentioned benefits? In the following, the distinct starting points and aspects from different authors are presented and juxtaposed.

2.2.3 Brand Building Process

“The gardener always has to adhere to the conditions of growth, which are simply given by nature. He can prune, he can sow the seeds, he can clear of weeds, and with a careful hand, he can conduct the growth in the right direction (qtd. in Wallenberger & Wanas, 2006, p.4).”

This image of the gardener restricted by nature, or at least influenced by external and given factors, applies to the building and management of a brand very well: The success of a brand depends on an interaction of favourable conditions which cannot be influenced by the brand owner, and consistent, hard work of the persons in charge of the brand development (Wallenberger & Wanas, 2006).

And to remain in the garden imagery: If the gardener seeks beautiful flowers and fructiferous plants, he needs to know exactly their needs and preferences. Similarly, the starting point for any brand building programme, are the clients, the target group (Colling, 2005; Gelder von, 2002; Gómez Álvarez, 2007; Keller, 2003; Schüller, 2008); said in another way, the brand owner should define beforehand what he wants from the customers and he should be well aware of the customers’ considerations during their purchase. Keller (2003) illustrates this scheme with the help of a pyramid which indicates the performance of four succeeding steps “to create the right brand identity, brand meaning, brand responses, brand relationship (p.75)” (cf. Figure 2):

1. brand identity: “(e)nsure identification of the brand with customers and an association of the brand in customers’ minds with a specific product or customer need”;
2. brand meaning: “(f)irmly establish the totality of brand meaning in the minds of customers by strategically linking a host of tangible (performance) and intangible (imagery) brand associations with certain properties”;
3. brand responses: “(e)licit the proper customer responses to this brand identification and brand meaning”;
4. brand relationships: “(c)onvert brand response to create an intense, active loyalty relationship between customers and the brand (Keller, 2003, p.75; but also: Gelder van, 2008b; Sullivan, 2009)”.

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Figure 2. Customer-based brand equity pyramid. Adapted from “Strategic Branding Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity” by K. L. Keller, 2003, pp.76.

This pyramid shall represent the conceptual framework of the brand building process. Yet, it does not provide with a real palpable recipe for the brand building; the subsequent brand methodology (cf. Figure 3) meets this requirement, though, and the aspects of the pyramid can be easily integrated.

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Figure 3. Brand Methodology. From: “My Brand

Methodology” by P. Collings, 2005.

Collings describes the brand building process as a “constant fine tuning and major rework (2005, Brand Methodology, para.2)” and recommends the following methodology which coincides with the opinion of other authors:

1. objectives: This phase basically refers to the task of the brand owner to clarify the clients’ tangible and intangible needs (Collings, 2005), their motivations and perceptions. Especially the last aspect requires special attention, not without good reason, in marketing, the “law of perception” exists which conveys the following: “The things are not like they are, but how they are perceived.” Thus, the brand owner needs to identify the moments and places which form those perceptions (Gómez Álvarez, 2007).
2. research: At this stage, quantitative and qualitative data are seeked, for example “organizational support for the brand; performance and perception of the brand in the marketplace; market segmentation and demographics; competitor analysis; industry and economic drivers; etc. (Collings, 2005, Brand Methodology, para.5)”
3. strategy: The development of the brand strategy constitutes a key phase – and in the end, it can be named the differentiating phase as the key differentiators of the brand are to be defined (Collings, 2005); Kotler names eight possible differentiating factors: a. turbo marketing (be the fastest); b. trustworthiness (keep your promise); c. services (add value); d. design (nice to see; easy to use, install, repair, eliminate); e. customer loyalty; f. addition of new characteristics; g. build-up of brand personality; h. technology. The brand owner should aim at the leadership in the chosen and appropriate key differentiator, but not at the leadership of all differentiators as this would be impossible and not very wise (in Gómez Álvarez, 2007). Besides the determination of the differentiating factor, the development of the strategy also implies the positioning of the brand in comparison to the competition (Collings, 2005; Keller, 2003), and the determination of the general brand strategy which consists of the horizontal (for example single / multi / family / umbrella brand), vertical (for example manufacturer’s / trade brand / no name), and as the case may be, international (for example multinational / global / glocal brand) dimensions. Last but not least, the brand owner should think about the protection of the intellectual brand property and, quite important, the alignment of the brand and the respective organisation (Collings, 2005): Not only an internal brand awareness in the minds of the customers has to be built up, but also the personnel needs to literally live the brand promise inwards and outwards – in other words, they represent the brand ambassadors as they are the visible representatives of the branded product for the customers (Collings, 2005; Gelder van, 2002; Gómez Álvarez, 2007; Schüller, 2008);
4. implementation: The implementation is to transform the theoretical strategy in concrete operative steps. This refers to the development of the (audio-)visual brand elements (for example logo, images, type of letter, jingle, mascot, uniforms, slogan, packaging) which should help to identify and differentiate the product and enhance the brand awareness in general (Collings, 2005; Keller, 2003; Schüller, 2008). Moreover, at this stage the communication campaign is to be executed (Collings, 2005; Keller, 2004), guidelines for the use of the brands should be announced and the personnel should participate at training events (Collings, 2005; Gómez Álvarez, 2007). In addition, Keller (2003) suggests a “leverage of secondary associations”, that is to relate brand associations to other entities such as “countries or other geographic regions, channels of distribution, other brands, characters, spokespeople, sporting or cultural events (p.47)”.
5. monitoring: Do the outcomes of the implemented strategy correspond to the objectives (Collings, 2005)? This question is to be responded in the monitoring phase by analysing the levels of established indicators. These indicators can be based on complaints management (Gómez Álvarez, 2007), brand reports, brand audits, brand evaluation, etc. (Keller, 2003) – depending on the nature of the brand and the product, this may differ.

The respective steps are to be realised by “various individuals and entities with specialist skill sets and experience (Collings, 2005, Brand Methodology, para.9)” and the brand methodology needs to be applied on the whole brand value chain in order to create the “cohesive whole” mentioned before; or returning to the gardener imagery: The garden will only yield fruits when the gardener considers the whole garden value chain starting with the quality and origin of the seeds, going on to the weather conditions, probable plagues, etc. and most importantly: the tangible and intangible needs of the plants such as specific alimentation and an attentive, knowing, and affectionate hand.

After having taken a look now on the main concepts of branding, the same will be done for the more specific branding category of place branding.

2.3 Place Branding

2.3.1 Definition and Origins of Place Branding

“(W)idely used, but little understood (Kavaratzis & Ashworth, 2005, p.5; but also: Saffron, 2005).” – this comment reflects the average opinion of various authors on the topic place branding that is said to be the equivalence to product branding applied to places as both dispose of “multidisciplinary roots, a high level of intangibility and complexity, take into account social responsibility and deal with multiple identities (qtd. in Kavaratzis & Ashworth, 2005, p.6)”.

“Like brands, also places satisfy functional, symbolic and emotional needs, and the attributes that satisfy those needs need to be orchestrated into the place’s unique proposition (qtd. in Kavaratzis, 2005, pp.7).”

Place branding is the “practice of applying brand strategy and other marketing techniques and discipline to the economic, social, political and cultural development of cities, regions and countries (qtd. in Kerr, 2005, p.3)”.

However, the brand experts also coincide in the fact that place branding is provided with an even more complex and complicated nature (Kavaratzis & Ashworth, 2005; Papadopoulos, 2002) than conventional consumer good brands, mainly due to:

a. the major number of stakeholders such as private and public institutions, residents, industries, visitors, investors, government officials and agencies, associations, etc. (Casado, 2006; FutureBrand, 2006; Saffron, 2005; Papadopoulos, 2002);
b. the multi-faceted character and patrimony of the place which constitute endogenous and non-transferrable assets: climate, geography, history, culture, art, music, famous citizens, architecture, environment, knowledge, events, ethnic mix, demographics, monuments, etc. (Casado, 2006; e-Cultura Net S.A., 2006; FutureBrand, 2006);
c. the varied concurrent goals which use to have economic, political and socio-psychological characters (Kavaratzis & Ashworth, 2005);
d. existing stereotypes: Every place has an image – “whether positive or negative, focused or diffuse, held widely or by only a few, developed deliberately or by default (Papadopoulos, 2002)” and thus, it is a lot more difficult, if not out of reach, for the marketer to control completely and directly the brand image he actually wants to be perceived.

The general brand definition remains valid, but specifications are sought, or better said: are possible. Instead of talking about a product, we talk about a place, which might be any geographic location such as a continent, a country, a region, or a village (e-Cultura Net S.A., 2006; Kavaratzis, 2005; Keller, 2003); in the following, the paper will disregard the country and region brand as the thematic priority rests on a village, that is a small city. The brand owners are the people in charge of the strategic orientation of the place, that is usually the government, and the consumers would be the tourists or the investors or the business people or the public diplomacy or the residents themselves, or – depending on the branding strategy and the idiosyncracies of the place – all of them together (Keller, 2003; Papadopoulos, 2002; Saffron, 2005).

Recalling the first phrase “(w)idely used, but little understood”, it seems to be wise to have a look at the historical development of the place branding concept in order to dispose of a stable fundament for the next two subchapters, and not to commit the same errors as the majority obviously does. Almost all sources (e-Cultura Net S.A., 2006; Kavaratzis, 2005; Kavaratzis & Ashworth, 2005; Kerr, 2006; Malowany, 2006; Saffron, 2005; Seisdedos, n.d.) derive the place branding from the phenomenon globalisation: Due to the changes which have been provoked by globalisation, and viceversa: the changes which have been provoking globalisation (cf. 2.2.1), altered the circumstances of the countries, regions, cities and territories. Nowadays those places need – and can – compete for tourists, foreign direct investors, residents, and export activities on a global scale as people, companies and capital have turned to be nomads moving rapidly all over the planet benefitting from the falling barriers and frontiers, and settling down at the places which offer them the best conditions. Thus, the old “need” to differentiate a place (countries and even many cities have always been investing a lot of resources in the buildup of prestige and influence), has gained importance. However, the generic, “intuitive, randomly undertaken (Kavaratzis, 2005, p.2)” place marketing in the 80s and 90s of the past century has proven to be insufficient, and only recently, since the beginning of the new millennium, the place marketers have been increasingly drawing on the consumers’ goods and corporate branding techniques in order to implement a “more focused, integrated and strategic oriented (Kavaratzis, 2005, p.2)” branding model.

So, the place and especially the city branding are still in their infancy and hence, considering as well its complex nature, it does not amaze too much that the application of the branding concept on places has not exploited its full potential yet: The lack of political long-term intent and sufficient investment, the scarcity of coordination between the stakeholders, the deficiency of relating the branding activities with the economic development strategies of the cities and of not having defined well the target group have been common mistakes, and have created confusion and mistrust towards place branding initiatives (Seisdedos, n.d.).

But as FutureBrand (2006) notices: The countries “embrace potential to become the strongest brands in the world (p.1)”, and this certainly applies – in an extenuated manner – as well for the cities which are increasingly run in a “businesslike manner (Kavaratzis, 2005, p.3)”; it all depends on the quality of the place branding strategy.

2.3.2 Characteristics and Benefits of a Strong Place Brand

2.3.2.1 Characteristics of a Strong Place Brand

In the following, the same characteristics as in the prior chapter (2.2.2) will be used as basis, and then adjusted to the peculiarities of place branding:

a. outstanding performance: Successful place brands such as New York, Paris, San Francisco distinguish themselves by a high quality of place including both functional and value-added elements with an extraordinary attraction value (Winfield-Pfefferkorn, 2005). Those elements may be elements endogenous to the place such as the climate conditions, the landscape and the history, or influenced by the place inhabitants themselves such as lifestyle, culture, diversity, gastronomy, cleanliness of environment, attractiveness of buildings and parks, and the appearance in general (GfK Custom Research North America, n.d.; Saffron, 2005; Winfield-Pfefferkorn, 2005). Both the hard and soft infrastructure actually constitute crucial points if a place wants to score well in the eyes of potential clients such as tourists, investors, and the residents themselves: good and affordable housing, well-functioning public transport, health care, sports and recreational facilities, attractive employment, reasonable prices, etc. (Gelder van, 2008a; GfK Custom Research North America, n.d.). To sum it up: Place brands tend to be more successful when they can offer economic, social, cultural, natural diversity (Gelder van, 2008a) and perform well respectively.
b. sympathy and charisma, reliability: How is the place, and most importantly, its population, perceived? Does it stand for something such as New York represents the financial centre of the world? Strong place brands are based on proactive cooperative partnerships and good relationships between all stakeholders such as the government or the municipality, the population, institutions, business industries, etc. (Winfield-Pfefferkorn, 2005): They sit united together, and develop a shared vision (Gelder van, 2008a). This unity will be transmitted to outsiders who will perceive the population as “warm and welcoming (GfK Custom Research North America, n.d.)” – a very valuable asset. As we mentioned before: A brand is the promise of value which needs to be kept (Gelder van, 2008a); a brand needs to be an “inclusive and common good” which appeals to the local community and provides intangible and tangible goods, so that the residents can act as credible ambassadors to outsiders (Gelder van, 2008a). And although the place marketers should also try to turn negative aspects into positive ones in order to create a place of interest which tells an interesting story (Winfield-Pfefferkorn, 2005), and which disposes of interesting things to fill the free time or discover new things (GfK Custom Research North America, n.d.), it is utterly important to always tell the truth and make the reality reflected by the brand (Gelder van, 2008a; Casado, 2006): Customers never forgive lies, but look for reliable products.
c. presence: Does the place dispose of (inter)national status? Does a global or regional familiarity and knowledge exist? Has the place contributed to science, culture, historical and political acts (GfK Custom Research North America, n.d.)? Those aspects contribute to an increased brand awareness which represents an important asset in the highly competitive place markets: If you do not know a place, if you have never heard of it, how will you possibly consider it in any decision you take? Furthermore, especially places profit highly from word-of-mouth propaganda as they constitute intangible products which cannot be tried without buying it (Winfield-Pfefferkorn, 2005). Thus, it is even more important to be present on the consumers’ mind.
d. flexible and innovative, steady and consistent: Winfield-Pfefferkorn (2005) suggests the “creative class” of a place to play an important role in the branding of a place and refers to the “idea” workers such as scientists, teachers, artists, engineers, architectures, musicians, entertainers, etc. (p.3) who can have a high and positive influence on the image of a place regarding its creativity and innovativeness (Gelder van, 2008a). Gelder van (2008, May) calls for a very well handled balance between contrasting attributes in order to dispose of a successful brand: The brand needs to be complex and rich, but also simple and straightforward; on one hand, it needs to experiment, take risks, and adapt to changes (also: Winfield-Pfefferkorn, 2005), on the other hand it should remain valid and relevant over a long period of time (Gelder van, 2008a). In the end, it boils down to the recommendation to honor the past and merge with future goals (Winfield-Pfefferkorn, 2005).

According to the independent branding and identity consulting firm Saffron which developed among other things the country brand for Poland, a brand-building programme is successful when anything connected with the branded place, for example products, services, cultural manifestations, film, sporting events, political acts, are “perceived as part of an interrelated whole (Saffron, 2005, preface; but also: Winfield-Pfefferkorn, 2005)”. This success will be reflected in various benefits:

2.3.2.2 Benefits of a Strong Place Brand

a. Although it exists the risk of agreeing on the lowest common denominator solutions due to the participation of so many stakeholders, a branding programme tends to make the stakeholders focus on key issues and ideas with impact (FutureBrand, 2006). In addition, the stakeholders will try – in their own interest – to create consistency and optimise the strategic objectives across politics, exports, tourism, foreign direct investment, and social matters (FutureBrand, 2007). Thus, the brand constitutes a unifying and synergy-generating platform (Casado, 2006; FutureBrand, 2007) which leads decisions for the future (Martínez Gómez, 2008) in favour of a coherent place development (Gelder van, 2008a).
b. In the end, the places, or better said: its stakeholders, aspire at brand utility, in order to boost social and economic development (Kavaratzis & Ashworth, 2005). And indeed, place branding can provide the respective place with an improved and sustainable competitiveness and with higher ROI rates (Gelder van, 2008a).
c. Besides the material benefits, the place may also profit intangibly from the brand: The population, the local businesses, and institutions will feel pride in their place; the media will praise and endorse the branding efforts and thus, with the increased word-of-mouth propaganda, strengthen the brand image even further (Gelder van, 2008a).

All these branding benefits jointly may really generate a buzz about a place – which is what places usually aspire at. If well managed, this buzz will represent a virtuous circle elevating the benefits to unknown heights.

The example of Valencia (Santón, 2006) illustrates that those benefits may be obtained in real life: Based on two pillars, the private-public cooperation and the development of the population participation, the CeyD (Strategy and Development Centre of Valencia) designed a city brand which aims exclusively at the well-being of the city and its residents. The human being is considered as the main protagonist, and all attention is concentrated on the human development. Put in concrete terms, Valencia promotes the efficient use of all resources of the city, promotes the change and adapts constantly to technological, economic, social changes. Furthermore, it reacts to neighbour activities in order to remain competitive, but also to represent an integrated picture within the region and on a national level. The results are pleasant: Valencia shows better economic outputs and the well-being of the citizens has experienced an improvement.

2.3.3 Place Brand Building Process

“The thinking is always the same. It is to create a core idea that encapsulates what the product, service, organisation or nation stands for, to visualise it, and then to project it with coherence, consistency, passion and rigour through everything it does, so that everyone who comes into contact with it – either insider or outsider – understands it intuitively (Saffron, 2005, p.11).”

The place brand building process resembles a three-step approach for mathematic problems: 1. Given; 2. Wanted; 3. Solution.

1. Given: Given in the sense of existing – but the details and circumstances of the status quo and the problem have to be investigated as well. What is the basis of the place brand, and first of all: Why does a certain place think to need a brand?
2. Wanted: A strong place brand.
3. Solution: Depending on the nature of the problem (that is the place), and the knowledge and mode of thinking of the problem solver (that is people in charge of the place branding), the solution process will always differ. No specific recipe for the most adequate solution process can be given; however, the ingredients, that is the tone of the general recommendations, are almost throughout the same (Casado, 2006; Grupo Mibalia, n.d.; Saffron, 2005; Seisdedos, n.d.).

In the following, the Saffron approach for a national brand (Saffron, 2005) will constitute the fundamental framework of the brand building process, however, complementary opinions of other marketers will be added, and focus more on the branding of a city.

Saffron (2005) divides the place branding process into two stages: The first stage serves to develop the core idea of the brand which shall represent the platform for the second stage that is characterised by the concretisation of the core idea. Each stage in turn, consists of various subsections.

However, before starting the actual branding process, the step zero is of uttermost importance: The respective place has to identify the reasons why it needs a brand, and which goals it pursues in general, that is which future vision it has (City Branding, n.d.). For example, more likely brand candidates would be places with “intense and increasing competition” and places in “slow and steady decline or which have lived through a crisis and need to reinvent (Gelder van, 2008a, p.3)”. The goals pursued with the brand could be the alignment of perceptions with reality, the desire to present prejudices, misconceptions and stereotypes in a proper light, or the exploitation of a significant potential (Saffron, 2005).

Stage 1

a. Working party

Set up an interdisciplinary working party that integrates all relevant interest groups such as representatives of the public and private sector, representatives of the industry, the arts, the education and science, the media, social and youth leaders (Casado, 2006; e-Cultura Net S.A., 2006; Grupo Mibailia, n.d.; Saffron, 2005). The working group has to remain open to new members (Casado, 2006; Gelder von, 2008, June) and should aspire at a “partnership and leadership (Gelder van, 2008a)” relationship. Moreover, the stakeholders should arrange a schedule of meetings with a suggested monthly frequency (Saffron, 2008).

b. Research

Find out about the hard facts and soft facts of the place.

On one hand, this phase is characterised by “(d)esk research (…) the bedrock of any branding programme (Saffron, 2005, p.33)” which refers to the hard facts: What, how and when has shaped the place? The people in charge of the place branding have to become experts in the history, the economic, the commercial and legal patterns, the cultural and political elements, the demographics, the attractions, the lifestyle, the competitors, the nicknames, the climate conditions, the infrastructure, the current primary (non-intentional) and secondary (intentional) communication, briefly worded: the reality of the place (GfK Custom Research North America, n.d.; Grupo Mibalia, n.d.; Kavaratzis, 2005; Malowany, 2006; Saffron, 2005; Winfield-Pfefferkorn, 2005).

The soft facts, on the other hand, relate to the inside and outside perceptions which are to be captured best with the help of existing research, interviews and travelling: “How (is) the (place) perceived both by its own people and abroad (Saffron, 2005, p.31; but also: Grupo Mibalia, n.d.; Interbrand, 2003; Seisdedos, n.d.)?”

The “own people”, that is the insiders, experience the place daily and usually know best about its diversity and peculiarities, about its life style and social cohesion, they should be able to provide information about how they feel about the place (Saffron, 2005; Seisdedos, n.d.). Contrary to the real picture given by the residents, the external image uses to be coined by stereotypes and partial knowledge: It is the perspective of an outsider who does not know – if at all – the place by heart, in lieu he relates some associations which he has formed in the past with the place in his mind, and bases his preferences and purchase consideration on that limited knowledge (FutureBrand 2007; Keller, 2003; Seisdedos, n.d.). At this point, it shall be emphasised that in both cases, the view of opinion leaders as well as the public opinion are equally important (Casado, 2006); however, the place associations of professional persons may often kick off the initial phase of the core idea searching (Agio XXI, n.d.).

This image study of the current and potential users of the place allows to get to know the relative position of the place, and it constitutes a crucial element in the place branding process to proceed from the existing stereotypes as those are difficult to change; if possible and desirable, they should even be enlarged (Agio XXI, n.d.).

c. Analysis, development of initial ideas and solicitation of feedback

The findings of the research will be analysed aiming among other things at defining the strengths and weaknesses, the opportunities and threats of the place: What represent the unique and differentiating, perceptible and sustainable attributes of the place that offer superior quality in comparison to other places? What is the current positioning of the place compared to the future vision it aspires at? Which would be the umbrella concept amalgamating all these place characteristics in a unique manner? (Casado, 2006; City Branding, n.d.; Grupo Mibalia, n.d.; Malowany, 2006; Seisdedos, n.d.; Winfield-Pfefferkorn, 2005). Those questions should be consulted with opinion leaders of the place and branding experts: They probably will come up with “initial thoughts on possible core ideas” for the place brand. The core idea shall “(capture) the unique qualities” of the place in a powerful and simple way: It is the “idea behind a brand”, “the simplest, shortest expression of what the brand stands for, that is the brand’s essence (…) the two cannot be separated (Saffron, 2005, p.62)”. (Examples: The core idea behind the Apple computers would be something like technology that’s easy and fun to use and for Nike winning.)

d. Further development and refinement

After developing and refining the initial core ideas, one core idea will emerge: This idea will be the base for all future place branding activities. To be effective, different authors recommend the core idea to dispose of the following characteristics: differentiating, that is to give a good reason for not choosing the competitive product; simple and comprehensible, that is it is helpful to “humanise” the brand by providing the brand with human attributes; versatile; appealing to “hearts and heads”, that is to provide emotional and rational arguments in favour of the place; etc. (Saffron, 2005; Seisdedos, n.d.). Especially the last characteristic may decide on success or failure of the brand, as Malowany (2006) expressly underlines concerning this matter: Branding is “the art of developing adrenalin which continuously generates a passion and an affinity to the (place) (p.1)”.

As mentioned before, the second stage works on the basis of the developed – still abstract – core idea in the first stage, and seeks to turn it into something concrete. This part will be contemplated in short as it will only embody an element of secondary interest in the fourth part of the paper.

Stage 2

a. Visualisation

The magic word regarding the (audio-)visualisation process is “coherence”: The composition of the visual system including the design, the type of letter, the colours, the slogan, maybe the jingle, all the graphic applications need to show coherence with the developed core idea (Casado, 2006; Grupo Mibalia, n.d.; Saffron, 2005).

b. Evaluation and modulation

Everybody and everything potentially apt for the promotion of the place brand is willing to utilise and project the brand – this represents the ideal conception: As many potential sub-brand holders as possible should be convinced to adapt their own symbols, if existing, or on the contrary, adopt the brand attributes, in order to dispose of a coherent brand architecture as a whole with the sub-brands corresponding to the master brand. However, the use of the brand attributes need to be controlled and guided; probably the brand messages are even to be adjusted to the respective audiences of the sub-brands such as to the investors or tourists, for example (Saffron, 2005).

c. Coordination and involvement

Last preparations are to be taken before the brand launching which constitutes a considerable act (Casado, 2006; Saffron, 2005), and thus, needs to be celebrated duly and appropriately to the nature of the place and of the brand programme (for example by promotional campaigns, sports and cultural events, etc. (Casado, 2006)). For this act, all stakeholders of the working party have to be aligned, and “sustain the programme in activities throughout the nation and encourage supportive action from appropriate organisations (Casado, 2006, p.6)” in different sectors, including the media.

Future steps

Having launched the place brand, all efforts should be directed to an excellent brand management: A brand does not maintain itself, it needs continuous refinement derived from the analysis of selected measure indicators (Saffron, 2007) as was mentioned in the chapter before (2.2.3): “Years of consistent and persistent actions (Gelder van, 2008a, p.2, but also: Grupo Mibalia, n.d.; Interbrand, 2003)” will decide over the success or failure of the place brand, and those actions should actually be planned for the next decade (Saffron, 2007) as the development of the brand lasts ten to twenty years (Casado, 2006) corresponding to the words of David Ogilvy, the advertising legend: “(A) good campaign idea should last 20 years (qtd. in Saffron, 2007, p.21).”

One very important task of the management team is the determination of the brand funding (Casado, 2006; Saffron, 2007): Which budget is required in order to be able to realise all the desired activities, and equally important, where shall the money come from? Private sponsorship, licensing of the brand elements, in-kind participation, public financing, etc. – all these are options and need to be balanced against each other with anticipation. In this context, the choice of a strong chief fundraiser represents a major decision.

Speaking of the different positions within the branding team, the decision on the exact organisation structure is left to the place brand owners who will consider the peculiarities of the place and its stakeholders. Saffron suggests a management team of five organs, for example: a national reputation and branding directorate in charge of the day-to-day operations; a steering group responsible for taking key decisions; an advisory panel consisting of various key figures from different areas; task forces looking at specific brand assignments; and brand champions who may enhance the brand success due to their own popularity in a certain sector (Saffron, 2007). Moreover, it is recommended to draw on an external consultant or even consultancy during the whole process as outsiders tend to be more objective, they are often more effective at benchmarking and dispose of a balanced view in case of contrary opinions; finally, as branding experts, they use to provide more professional work due to respective experiences and knowledge (Saffron, 2007).

All the presented concepts and recipes regarding the branding in general, and the more specific branding, are also applicable for the last and central topic of this research paper: The next subchapter will look in detail at the even more specific destination branding.

2.4 Destination Branding

2.4.1 Definition and Origins of Destination Branding

Since 1998, tourism has been ranking first in the export statistics and thus surpassing petroleum, motor vehicles, and electronic devices (Caldwell & Freire, 2004): International tourism constitutes the world’s fourth largest industry (Saffron, 2005) and grew on average 6.8% from 1950 (25 million travellers) to 2005 (806 million travellers); the income generated by this activity even outperformed this expansion with an annual increase of 11.2% (aprox. US$ 860 billion in 2005)(World Tourism Organisation (WTO), n.d.). Furthermore, the predicted growth rates remain at high levels: Till 2020, more than 1.6 billion international arrivals are expected which corresponds to an average annual growth rate of 4.1% (World Tourism Organisation (WTO), n.d.) (cf. Figure 4).

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Figure 4. Tourism 2020 Vision. From “Tourism 2020 Vision” by World Tourism

Organisation (WTO), n.d.

These impressing figures let assume a strong dependence of many places on the earnings derived from the tourism sector which moreover uses to be related to and favour other sector activities such as construction, agriculture, or telecommunication (Saffron, 2005; World Tourism Organisation (WTO), n.d.). It does not amaze that those places do everything in their power to exploit their tourism potential having identified it as a profitable source of income and as an important factor in the contribution of socio-economic progress (World Tourism Organisation (WTO), n.d.).

As the globalisation also impacts the tourism industry by augmenting the competition between places all over the world, the destinations have been looking for ways to increase their attraction and to differentiate themselves from their competitors: Among other things, their attention has been drawn on the relatively new practice of destination branding (Caldwell & Freire, 2004; Ekinci & Hosany, 2006; Saffron, 2005) which is considered as a “value generator for touristic destinations (Secretaría General del Turismo & Fundación CEDDET, 2006c, pp.5)” or even as the “key to success” according to Morgan and Pritchard: “(T)he battle for customers in the tourism industry will be fought not over price but over the hearts and minds — in essence, branding . . . will be the key to success (qtd. in Caldwell & Freire, 2004, p.2)”.

This potential of a brand for a destination arises especially from its immaterial character: A touristic product belongs to the “experience goods” which means until you have not experienced them, you cannot be sure of their characteristics (Meyer, Schmid, Stengl, Tagmann, 2003). Hence, the destination image plays a crucial role: Which associations do the potential or actual visitors relate to the destination, how is it perceived? Only if the mixture of perceptions, believes, impressions, and ideas a destination transmits to its customers are positive, there will be actually a positive effect for the place (Secretaría General del Turismo & Fundación CEDDET, 2006c).

Thereupon and having in mind the former definitions of brand in general and place

brand, the following phrases shall constitute the definition for a destination brand:

A destination brand refers to the “name, symbol, logo, word or other graphic that both identifies and differentiates the destination. Furthermore it conveys the promise of a memorable travel experience that is uniquely associated with the destination. It also serves to consolidate and reinforce the recollection of pleasurable memories of destination experience (qtd. in Kerr, 2006, p.2).”

2.4.2 Characteristics and Benefits of a Strong Destination Brand

2.4.2.1 Characteristics of a Strong Destination Brand

As a destination brand is nothing else than a place brand but with an exclusive focus on the tourism sector, the four main characteristics used in 2.2.2 and especially in 2.3.2 may be applied with some specifications as well:

a. outstanding performance: Touristic products are not “touchable” before they have been experienced – the destination has to evoke a well-positioned and unique image in the mind of the people (Meyer, et al., 2003), especially in order to contrast from the numerous competitors. The lack of a globally recognisable icon will complicate the aim of a destination to be a leader in its category: Authenticity is the main key factor for success (FutureBrand, 2005; Secretaría General del Turismo & Fundación CEDDET, 2006c). FutureBrand (2006) says in this context: “My advice: If you can claim and provide authenticity, do it (p.17).”
b. sympathy and charisma, reliability: Be personal, reliable and count on the support of the population (Secretaría General del Turismo & Fundación CEDDET, 2006c)! To be personal and reliable, the destination brand has to focus primarily on the needs and wants of the customers: What are their travel motivations, considerations, behaviours (FutureBrand, 2006) and do those coincide with the potential or current offerings of the destination? Moreover, as the attraction of a touristic place depends highly on the offered services in situ – whether directly related to the tourism activity or not – the attitude of the residential population is of utter importance. In the end, it is the local community who will live the social, cultural and economic effects of the branding efforts. To grant beneficial and no harming effects, that is the sustainability of the touristic activity, the participation and integration of the residents are a crucial condition (Secretaría General del Turismo & Fundación CEDDET, 2006b).
c. presence: The consumers of a destination are the tourists. Where and how do they take their travel decisions? The answer to this question will directly lead to the channels to be considered by the brand managers when outlining the communication plan of the destination. In general, word-of-mouth propaganda, and web and print ads have been shown to be especially useful to increase the brand awareness of potential and current tourists (FutureBrand, 2006).
d. flexible and innovative, steady and consistent: While “campaigns come and go, brands must last” (Secretaría General del Turismo & Fundación CEDDET, 2006c): The marketers of the destination brand do have to consider and adapt the brand elements (for example the campaigns) to the changing needs and wants of the tourists, however, the essential brand message is to remain consistent and to be based on the key asset of the destination. It is anew about finding a balance: a brand representing something broad and diverse, inspirational and enduring (Secretaría General del Turismo & Fundación CEDDET, 2006c). Furthermore, it is recommended – in the case of the destination being a city – to consider the national or regional image campaigns for the sake of consistency (FutureBrand, 2006).

To sum it up: Again is made reference to both the tangible and intangible needs of the consumers, and according to this, the destination should seek to exploit their potential on the representational (“attributes linked to the individual’s self-expression“) as well as on the functional level (“utilitarian aspects of destinations”) (Caldwell & Freire, 2004; Secretaría General del Turismo & Fundación CEDDET, 2006c): Only by addressing to heart and brain, the destination brand may succeed.

2.4.2.2 Benefits of a Strong Destination Brand

Secretaría General del Turismo & Fundación CEDDET (2006) put all the benefits of a strong destination brand in a nutshell: It is a “value generator for touristic destinations (pp.5)” as was mentioned before. The generated value increases the level of both the visitors’ and residents’ satisfaction:

Due to the brand, the visitors will identify easier the specific destination and associate determined attributes to it, among others they will assume a high quality of local services and attractions – and, in case of a “purchase” decision, they will actually live this high quality as the destination endeavours to keep its promises (Secretaría General del Turismo & Fundación CEDDET, 2006c).

And the residents? The residents should benefit from the effects of the virtuous circle (cf. Figure 5) which the destination brand should activate: In the end, the destination should profit from the higher income caused by an increased tourism, and this could help to develop the community in general (Secretaría General del Turismo & Fundación CEDDET, 2006c). Brent Ritchie and Ritchie (1998) state that the destination brand has the potential to play a coordinating role “for a broad range of community development efforts (p.19)”. However, this requires a very good brand management and brand planning as emphasised earlier.

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Figure 5. The virtuous circle of the brand power in a touristic destination. From “Creación y gestión

de productos y destinos turístico culturales competitivos: módulo 3: comunicación y comercialización de los destinos turísticos culturales.” by Secretaría General del Turismo & Fundación CEDDET, 2006, p.17.

2.4.3 Destination Brand Building Process

The Saffron brand approach (cf. 2.3.3) remains valid as well for the destination brand building, just with the emphasis on the tourism sector. Hence, in the following it will be dwelled on the peculiarities of the touristic activities in order to apply the Saffron approach appropiately and specifically on a destination.

According to the World Tourism Organisation (WTO), “tourism comprises the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes.” Travelling within a country is called “domestic tourism” and leaving a country is called “inbound tourism” or “outbound tourism” depending on the perspective (World Tourism Organisation (WTO), n.d., Tourism Indicators).

With “other purposes”, the definition makes reference to an ever-growing list of travel motivations: agritourism, health tourism, gastronomic tourism, sustainable tourism, ecotourism, sex tourism, garden tourism, pilgrimage tourism, winter tourism, cultural tourism, music tourism, war tourism, poverty tourism, … (Gurría Di Bella, 1999).

The itinerary of a tourist starts precisely with the – influenced or not – arise of a (or some) basic travel motivation(s) which define(s) which nuclear elements the touristic experience shall consist of (FutureBrand, 2006; Secretaría General del Turismo & Fundación CEDDET, 2006c). Only having determined the prime want (FutureBrand, 2006), the tourist will proceed on his itinerary: At first, he will plan the travel with the restriction of the disposable time and money; in a second step, he will choose the destination after having compared prices and destinations. The tourist will usually make a reservation with the help of an agency which furthermore will provide him with more specific information. He will arrive at the destination, settle down at an accommodation place, eat at restaurants. Having requested detailed information in situ , the tourist will enjoy the touristic offers of the place and thus having contact with touristic and non-touristic agents. Then, he will leave the destination heading home, archiving the experience in his memory (Secretaría General del Turismo & Fundación CEDDET, 2006a). The value of the travel for the tourist is the amount of the (positive or negative) happenings included in this itinerary and hence, the destination managers and destination brand managers need to consider and organise the whole touristic value chain (cf. Figure 6) in a consistent and appealing manner in order to create durable and hardly imitable competitive advantages (Secretaría General del Turismo & Fundación CEDDET, 2006a): All potential “touch points” are important and the brand attention should be especially given to the arrival and departure points (FutureBrand, 2007) as those use to impress deeply the tourists’ mind.