Brand orientation and the voices from within

Abstract

This work adds to the brand orientation literature by showing that while brand strategies may sometimes be aspirational, multiple identities exist which may either challenge or support a brand. In this place branding study, in-depth interviews of local residents reveal the existence of multiple place identities as well as how these identities relate to a place brand strategy. A framework is provided which illustrates how longitudinal identity studies can be a useful way to assess changes to place identities and the internal effectiveness of brand implementation. It is proposed that the functional communication-based research approach together with the novel framework developed in this study has relevance to the brand orientation of corporations, as it does for places.

Keywords:

• brand orientation
• place marketing
• place branding
• identity
• brand identity

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jessica Baxter

Jessica Baxter completed a Masters by Research in the field of place marketing in 2011, and is completing a PhD at the University of Wollongong. Jessica is a lecturer and tutor in public relations and corporate identity and branding.

Greg Kerr

Greg Kerr has a history that includes management roles in local government in Australia, followed by a career in business development. He has been a board member of tourist associations, a credit union and a chamber of commerce. In addition to lecturing in tourism marketing and marketing research, Greg has held various governance roles at the University of Wollongong, including Head of Marketing, Member of Academic Senate, and institutional representative for the Australian New Zealand Marketing Academy.

E [email protected]

Rodney J. Clarke

Rodney J. Clarke completed his PhD in Information Systems and Semiotics (2000) from the University of Wollongong and obtained a post-doctoral Docent in business process and services, hypersystems and decision-making (2007) from Karlstad University, Sweden. He is a founding member of the Institute for Innovation in Business and Social Research (IIBSoR) and Director of the Collaboration Laboratory (Co-Lab) at the SMART Infrastructure Facility, University of Wollongong.

E  [email protected]