How to Assess Place Branding

In such a highly competitive environment, place branding can help by building competitive identity in order to have a strong presence in relevant markets. In particular, sustainable competitive advantages can be created by building brand equity in relation to the identity of the nation, region, local area, city or town. Over the past 20 years, place branding has been increasingly adopted in both local and regional scale to attract business.

Place branding is all about the identity or the impression of a place, products it offers, the experience visitors (tourists, expats, potential investors and traders) get when they visit and the image or perception that people have of a place. Place branding should have five principles：

1. Distinctiveness: Place branding is to show the distinctiveness of a place. What makes your place unique when you compare it to other places or competitors? What are the core values of your place branding? What is the brand promise?

2. Authenticity: Key features of a place branding are usually inspired by the identity or the image of the place. It’s suggested to find the connection between existing perceived images with real visitor experience about the place.

3. Memorable: When a place has a unique and distinctive side, it becomes memorable.

4. Co-creation: Place branding is not a top-down exercise, and it will only produce the best results when it is created and maintained through a strong collaboration between government, business, civil society and target markets (investors, expats, travel traders, press).

5. Place making: In the experience economy, an integrative branding strategy of the place is needed to capture the hearts and attention of visitors. This means that the place branding should be supported by policies, innovations, events, structures, investments and symbolic actions.

Moreover, you should also know how to assess the performance and results of your place branding. Below are some of the main challenges when it comes to assessing the effectiveness of place branding initiatives：

1. Establish KPIs

To measure the effectiveness or ROI of place branding activities, you can start with the initial purpose of such initiatives, which ranges from attracting foreign investment to increasing visitor numbers, improving public diplomacy or even strengthening a sense of community among the local residents. Experts suggest to make a satisfying and scientific KPI before each funding phase and set realistic and measureable targets. In their view, a better approach would be “to measure the effects of brand initiatives based on the outcomes that are specifically intended to achieve, i.e. recognition and awareness, improved image on the international stage and an enhanced sense of pride among residents.”

2. Benchmarking

Benchmarking is the best way to measure the effectiveness of place branding, since the results of place branding cannot be measured in absolute values, but in comparison with other competing places.

3. Real-time tracking

On a destination level, Kevin Bowler, CEO of Tourism New Zealand, tells us that his organization uses multiple approaches, and always keeps in mind the DMO’s main purpose - to increase international visitors to New Zealand. To measure the effectiveness of the country’s branding and marketing campaign (commercially very successful 100% Pure New Zealand), Bowler uses intermediate measures and indicators: intelligence generated from tracking studies in key markets. Those intermediate measures include the intention to travel to New Zealand and the ratings of a range of destination brands. Most marketing tactics adopted by Tourism New Zealand now focus on responsive digital channels, which allows the organization to capture exposures, interaction levels, and referral levels of travel sellers and operators.

4. Stakeholder satisfaction

Most leading professionals on place branding, who are interviewed by The Place Brand Observer, regard stakeholder involvement as an integral element of successful place branding.