Branding of Tourism Destinations

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Branding of Tourism Destinations Individual
Products, 12.2.08

• Individual service branding in a tourism context
• different approaches
• attractions accommodation
• Destination branding
• history of place promotion
• understanding the concept
• possibilities pitfalls
• engaging the local population

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Two approaches to product branding

• Product approach
• the brand one of several additions to the
  product
• to identify and differentiate the product
• focus on promotion
• externally oriented

• Holistic approach
• the brand an integral part of the product
• exists in the consumers heart mind
• focus on integration of all company activities
• externally oriented

Inspired by Blichfeldt 2003
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Hotel branding (Cai Hobson 2004, p.201)
Say Planned message
Brand identity Target(s) Brand images
Do Product, service, price, Channel messages
Confirm Unplanned message
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Destination branding

• .there is a general agreement among academics
  and practitioners that places can be branded in
  much the same way as consumer goods and services
  (Caldwell Freire 2004 p.50-51).
• They marketing specialists too easily assume
  that places are just spatially extended products
  (Kavaratzis Ashworth 2005 p.507)

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History of place promotion

• 19th century nation building internal
  external place promotion (Langer 2002)
• Colonial expansion attracting residents to
  remote places (Ward Gold 1994)
• Promotion of seaside resorts historic towns
  (ibid.)
• Not until 1980s acceptable for public actors to
  do strategical place promotion (Kavaratzis
  Ashworth)

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From place marketing to place branding (Pedersen
2004)

• Place marketing
• p.o.d. in consumer demands - adjusting place
• outside-in approach
• Place branding
• p.o.d. in place identity
• inside-out approach

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Place brands resemble corporate umbrella brands
to some extent

• both have multidisciplinary roots,
• both address multiple groups of stakeholders,
• both have a high level of intangibility and
  complexity,
• both need to take into account social
  responsibility
• and both deal with multiple identities
• (Kavaratzis Ashworth 2005 p. 511).

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Place branding - potentials

• Adding feelings/values/experiences to a place
• Creating identification with the consumer
• Speaking with one voice clear message
• Blueprint for place development
• Economy of scale developing one concept for
  many actors
• Useful strategic / analytical framework
• developing marketing strategy
• analyses of identity, image, positioning

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Place branding - challenges

• A mix of different elements difficult to create
  common, clear profile
• Many interests involved to create ownership
  consensus
• Different customers with different interests
• Customers image influenced by many
  uncontrollable sources
• Local population important to involve difficult
  to control
• Often limited resources

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Engaging the local population

• City brands which reflect only the cleaned up
  croissant and cappuccino urbanity of a rising
  urban middle class will not be in unison with the
  true existing living conditions of larger parts
  of the urban population. They will, in the worst
  case, actively oppose the branding strategy and
  the associated restructuring policy, with the
  consequence that city authorities may achieve the
  opposite of what they set out to (Mommaas, 2002,
  p.42).

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Engaging the local population

• Branding is about
• introducing order and certainty into what is in
  principle a chaotic reality.
• not purely a source of differentiation, but also
  of identification, recognition, continuity and
  collectivity
• (Mommaas, 2002 p.34).

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Further readings

• Blichfeldt B.S. (2003) Unmanageable Tourism
  Destination Brands. IME Working Paper 47/03.
  University of Southern Denmark, Esbjerg.
• Caldwell N., Freire J.R. (2004). The difference
  between branding a country, a region and a city
  Applying the Brand Box Model. Journal of Brand
  Management. 12, 1, pp.50-61.
• Mommaas H. (2002) City branding. The necessity
  of socio-cultural goals. In Vermeulen (ed) City
  branding. Image building building images.
  Rotterdam Nai Uitgevers
• Pedersen S.B. (2004). Place Branding Giving the
  Region Øresund a Competitive Edge. Journal of
  Urban Technology. 11, 1.
• Keller K.L. (2003) Building, Measuring and
  Managing Brand Equity. Upper Saddle River
  Prentice Hall