We caught up with Natasha Grand, Director at INSTID (Institute for Identity) to discuss how place branding strategies have evolved over recent years.

In the lead up to the City Nation Place Awards 2018, we asked our judges to outline what they believe is essential to a good place branding strategy. Their insights should be invaluable to anyone involved in place branding and, throughout their responses, there were key ideas that continued to resurface: community engagement, authenticity, creativity and demonstrable results.

We caught up with Brad Dean, CEO of Discover Puerto Rico, to discuss his own experience of place branding.

Home is a reflection of who we are, at our best, and who we hope to be. There is always a deep, meaningful reason why we choose to live where we live. We want to express our pride in an authentic way, celebrate what makes us unique, and reinforce it in the way we plan and build together. What gets in the way of powerful place-branding?

Investment promotion agencies and economic development teams are increasingly adept at attracting international companies and growing their locations. We see sector specific segmentation and an understanding that “liveability” and the values behind your place brand are as important as tax incentives. However, relatively few locations have developed the policies, processes and mindsets necessary to help the businesses they have worked so hard to attract actually thrive. This blog discusses the basic principles of Aftercare, and, with a couple of examples, shows the value Aftercare can deliver.

We caught up with Adriana Campelo, Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Salvador to discover how place branding intersects with resilience.

We caught up with Kristina Plavšak Krajnc, Director at the Republic of Slovenia Government Communication Office to discuss how collaboration is the key to successful place branding.

We spoke with Mitch Whitten and asked him to share his thoughts on the challenges faced by those working in place branding and marketing.

Bloom Consulting unveiled the Asia edition of the Digital City Index-Asia at CNP Asia Pacific 2018. Here are a few sneak peeks at their findings.

That’s right, it sounds counter intuitive. As economic and tourism developers or promoters, we are always trying to outdo our competitors with more, bigger, better (more restaurants, more tourist attractions, the largest population of college educated workers). Or perhaps, some places go the opposite direction with less, lower, simpler (low taxes, few regulations, simpler lifestyle).

How can a collective negativism affect a neighbourhood, city, region or nation’s ability to transform its economic fortunes? What does it take to unlock that negativism?  Read this perspective on how to understand the psychology of your place and engage stakeholders in a more positive and effective outlook.

We caught up with Sylvie Gallier Howard, Chief of Staff with the City of Philadelphia Department of Commerce, to discover what the Amazon RFP process has taught those participating about their “pitch readiness” - specifically at how economic development and tourism promotion teams can work together more effectively to the benefit of all objectives.

We caught up with Kristian Sonnier, VP President of Communications & Public Relations at the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau, to understand the story of 300 years of place branding and how New Orleans’ brand strategy will capitalise on its tri-centennial.  How does he see the connection between tourism and economic development?  What does he think is the key to great place branding?

One of the most pressing issues that place brand strategists need to deal with is the increasing interest in the impact of their strategies on the places where they work, particularly from brand stakeholders, politicians and the media.

Read the perspective of leading place branding consultants who are increasingly having to address this issue for their clients and who believe that this will continue to be a major consideration for individuals and organisations funding the preparation, implementation and management of place and destination brand strategies.

On 8^th November 2017, the day before the main City Nation Place agenda, the City Nation Place Think Tank convened for the third year.

This year the theme of the Think Tank was “The difference between place branding and place marketing”. The Think Tank was organised in association with the International Place Branding Association, guided by esteemed academics and place branding experts Robert Govers and Martin Boisen and was sponsored by The New York Times.