Rethinking place branding governance: the implications of a stakeholder-orientated approach when managing the presentation of complex places

The way cities, regions and nations are branded is changing. Instead of communicating images with scripted logos, slogans and taglines, there are calls for branding to centre on the perceptions and activities of the people who live, work, and invest within its boundaries. Building on these changes, my PhD research showed how different groups perceived and prioritised their city and examined the extent these groups can participate in branding activities.

Despite the calls for greater inclusion, the findings pointed to the dominance of large businesses who have access to the knowledge, resources and connections needed to influence the direction of branding activities. The fellowship aims to strengthen these findings and their impact through four complementary work streams:

WS1: Establishing industry collaborations

The first major aim of the fellowship is to enhance the practical and policy impact of my research through industry collaborations with the Development Bank of Wales and Federation of Small Businesses. Together, we will co-design a report and one-day event looking at the potential for small businesses to provide leadership for different groups of stakeholders when creating a shared vision of places.

In particular, the socio-economic impacts of these approaches will be examined. The co-designed research aligns to the place and business environment foundations of the Industrial Strategy, supporting businesses to develop and present their competitive strengths while working collaboratively to promote prosperous places.

WS2: Strengthening research dissemination and development

A second overarching aim centres on developing skills and outputs required to establish myself as a professional researcher. Central to these aims is the dissemination of publications from my PhD. This will involve three publications in well regarded academic journal articles in the fields of place branding, marketing and tourism.

Extending the reach, I aim to publish my findings in more accessible and engaging formats, including blogs for the Institute of Place Management and City-REDI (Centre for Regional and Economic Development Institute), policy briefings and a Conversation article. A further audience to be targeted is students, with my research being translated into lecture material and taught to undergraduate and masters level students at universities in the UK and Ireland.

WS3: Supplementary data collection and analysis

Thirdly, I will supplement and strengthen my PhD findings by focusing on the potential for small businesses to work together to develop and coordinate branding strategies. This will involve co- designing a research strategy with my industry collaborators based around interviews with small businesses in the Cardiff area, observing engagement between business stakeholders at industry events and through access to existing data held by the industry partners.

These findings will support my aim of developing a multidisciplinary base for future career development and extending the scope of the socio- economic impacts. Based on this pilot study I will plan a further multidisciplinary publication and subsequent funding with my fellowship mentor, Prof Max Munday.

WS4: Networks and collaborations

The final overarching aim utilises the resources available through the fellowship to develop academic, industry and policy networks and collaborations. Pivotal to this WS is the invitation to undertake an institutional visit at the Institute of Place Management in Manchester. The policy and practitioner focused research centre specialise in place management research and has access to a wealth of resources, connections and training opportunities.

The visit will also strengthen existing connections and provide a base for collaborative working in the future. Other routes to networks and collaborations are through attendance and feedback at academic conferences, covering place branding, marketing and regional economic development.