Defining West London A case study of the initial stages of a strategic place branding exercise

Abstract

Branding is widely recognised in many walks of life as an important element in how we perceive and interact with a product, service, organisation, or person, and increasingly, a place. In turn, organisations that have an economic or political interest in a place-brand are looking to develop and capitalise on their brand. This paper explores the general context of place-branding and gives the case study of the process that was followed to put in place the foundations of a brand for West London. Branding in the context of West London combines the opportunity and challenge of collaborating across a large geographic region and with a diverse range of stakeholders. This context presents a complex set of issues and requires collaboration between heterogeneous groups of stakeholders.

Keywords:

• Brands
• branding
• place-brands
• destination branding
• design
• stakeholder matrix