City branding : introducing methods of measuring branding strength

Abstract EN

Cities increasingly compete in contested international markets for a wide range of beneficial assets, opportunities, and investments that help the city to develop and generate opportunities and resources for their citizens.

Increasingly, cities are using thoughtful promotional brand strategies to better project their advantages, and to foster a clear identity and reputation that will help them win the competition for mobile opportunities over time.

These identities and reputations are much more than logos or strap lines, they communicate a 'whole story' about the value added that the city can offer to mobile activities that have a choice where they locate.

The purpose of the brand is to provide an authentic and aspirational message about the city, brand models and rankings are then used to assess the cities standing among others in respect to image and to reveal their comparative shortcomings.

This paper introduces the different models that assets city branding strength, in order to conclude the main factors that help cities to increase their branding strength.