Place + Branding = Opportunities for Engagement
If you keep up with the local goings-on in your hometown or city, or if you happen to be a frequent traveler who looks for cool, new spots to visit or festivals to cross off your bucket list, you’ve probably been exposed to something called “place marketing” or “place branding.”
A trend that began with bigger municipalities looking to brand themselves effectively or accentuate their most attractive attributes, place marketing is “at the intersection of marketing and brand-building for a specific destination,” says Ben Friedman (Partner, IMBIBE), who has worked in the field for a decade.
Friedman helps civic entities at the city, state, and national level—as well as private enterprises such as larger, mixed-use commercial real estate developments—build their brands to emphasize the value of engaging with a physical space. He believes successful place branding today is all about experiences. “With an Internet that can facilitate performing a task simpler, cheaper, or faster, place branding is about creating opportunities for consumers to engage on a deeper, more personal level,” Friedman says. “If successfully done, consumers spend extra money and time personally and provide valuable word of mouth recommendations to others about why they should also pursue those experiences.”
Whether we realize it or not, we’ve all been exposed to place branding. It could be the banners hanging from the light posts along a main street, the Saturday farmers’ market that pulls in locals and out-of-towners, the Art in the Park festival, or the summer concert series, to name a few of the strategically planned “experiences” that draw us to a place’s brand.
So why is it important for marketers to pay attention to place branding? There may be no better representation of experiential marketing. Marketers create the experience, set the stage for it, promote it, then deliver it for our consumption. When consumers come, they will (presumably) love being a part of it and become brand advocates. Sounds familiar, right?
As with most marketing initiatives, the audience in place marketing campaigns receives information from a variety of sources (TV, social media, local publications, merchants, neighbors, realtors, etc.). “It’s all about establishing a profound connection for their consumers with their brand,” Friedman says. “This is done in many ways, and execution should be consistent across all mediums. However, the most successful connections are built via word of mouth.” Yes, personal brand advocates and influencers—every marketer’s dream!
Austin, Texas, which bills itself as the Live Music Capital of the World, is a prime example of place branding. Austin’s music commission coined the name after a local brought the idea to their attention. Adopting the slogan was brought to a vote in 1991 at city hall, and it passed. Today, the trademark of Live Music Capital is owned by the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau. The good people of Nashville may have their own opinion on this, but Austin has enough honest heritage as a bastion of live music to successfully brand itself this way.
“When building a brand, whether from scratch or in helping to better define one that already exists, it is important that what is created is both authentic and aspirational,” Friedman confirms. “It should represent who you are today in a relatable and truthful manner, while also establishing a vision for where you are heading. To do this, we need to understand who our clients are, where they hope to go, the world they operate in, and the people they hope to influence the most.”
While we may think of branding as a means to attract tourist dollars, that’s only part of the story. Today, states, cities, towns, and even neighborhoods compete fiercely to attract residents and businesses, which go hand in hand. To attract top talent in today’s job market, the businesses that set up shop in these locales would be wise to participate in a bit of place marketing. “It may be cliché to say, but it’s important to keep in mind that everything (and everyone) can easily be connected today,” Friedman says. Now, more than ever, we need to listen to our colleagues, friends, neighbors, media sources, and other influencers when it comes to exploring best places to live, work, and play. “The most successful companies recognize that the value of their employees is just as important as the value of their consumers. Younger generations aren’t looking to stay in one job or even one vocation forever. Because of this, recruiting and retaining talent is one of the most critical challenges any organization faces today. Companies that locate their operations in places where great experiences can be had and where life-and-work balance exists within the community are going to have an advantage over their competition. Place marketing plays a huge role in creating a brand around a community that potential residents and employees want to be a part of. And when local businesses participate in the community and its branding, it is win-win for everyone.”
While place branding skills reside with highly talented marketers developing and guiding us through their experiential marketing campaigns, it is obvious that we should ask a few of the same questions about our own brand and physical spaces: Are we creating opportunities for our consumers, employees, and future employees to engage with us on a deeper level? Will they have a great experience within our physical space? And, finally, will they return and spread the word about how great we are?
