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The purpose of this paper is to monitor the changes of delivery of city branding advertisements in China and to try to find a tendency of city branding ads in the delivery for the future.

The quantitative research methods used in this paper study the advertisements with city image messages in 13 China Central Television (CCTV) channels that appeared between the year of 2007 to 2010 – a total of 320,653 advertisements. This paper is based on several data sets: advertisement producers, regional distribution of producers, advertisement time slots, types of advertisings, and other such categories. In addition, they have also studied city branding advertisings from international producers in terms of channel selections, program choices, and media outlet choices and so forth.

Through an analysis of quantity and total duration of city image advertisements, it can be concluded that first‐tier cities have been reducing the broadcasting of city image ads domestically yearly, and third‐tier cities are proving to be a significant power in producing city branding advertisements. Significantly, the eastern littoral region has surpassed the central and west region both in the duration and in growth rate of city branding advertisements. Moreover, between 2007 and 2010, a total of nine foreign cities have produced city branding advertisements on CCTV channels. Unlike cities in China, international cities have scattered their ads widely across different periods of one day.

Finally, based on analysis of advantages and disadvantages in city image advertisements strategies applied by those advanced cities at home and abroad, this author hopes this study can offer some scientifically based reference point for other cities.

Based on analysis of advantages and disadvantages in city image advertisements strategies applied by those advanced cities at home and abroad, this study tries to offer some scientifically based reference point for other cities.

This chapter explores the concept of branding in a contemporary competitive arena of places. The multi-dimensional interpretations of places offer a variety of possibilities to better understand the true essence of destination branding. One of the common interpretations of places is through the study of their images, as destination branding requires a thorough understanding of destination image. The important foundation and relation of destination image are specified and explained. The notion of destination branding has evolved from the fields of marketing and urban studies and has become a cross-disciplinary research area. Thus, the researchers explain that destination branding as well as ‘place branding’ are dynamic concepts that are being continuously being explored in academia for the benefit of practitioners in travel and tourism. This chapter suggests that the use of brand equity is also one of the frontier areas of study in ‘place branding’ as it emphasises the need to thematise destinations (e.g. for their historical heritage, cultural value, natural attractions, etc.) and places for residence (e.g. as green cities, creative cities, smart cities, etc.).

The present chapter aims to assess how digital transformation impacts current trends in city branding, to analyze the role of digital communication in the branding of selected cities, and to compare the level of exploitation of digital communication for city branding between European and Slovak cities. We conducted empirical research in several phases, and the overall sample consists of 155 cities in Europe and Slovakia. The results of our research showed that European and Slovak cities use to some extent all the investigated tools of digital marketing communication in city branding with a dominant position of social media, both in terms of exploitation and importance for city branding in European and Slovak cities. European cities score significantly better than Slovak cities in all elements of the City Brand Hexagon, as well as in the overall city brand index. Therefore, city branding strategies in the best European cities can serve as a good practice example or inspiration for Slovak cities. Cities with lower rankings and scores on city branding should focus on strengthening their city branding or strengthening their digital communication. The possible trajectory is also the concerted strategy for the branding of the city and its digital communication.

The purpose of this study is to examine how five different multi-level governance (MLG) models affect place branding (PB) performance in Saudi Arabia.

In hierarchical administrative systems, central governments exert control on PB, influencing its effectiveness. While PB as such is widely studied, the effect of MLG on PB performance in centralized administrative systems remains understudied. The study is approached as a multiple case study of nine cities.

The study reveals that different MLG models indeed affect PB performance differently. Direct access to central leadership and resources boosts branding performance, while privatization promotes flexibility with similarly positive effects. Study findings, furthermore, show that some cities are considered too big to fail. Cities such as Riyadh and Neom are of prime importance and receive plenty of resources and leadership attention, while others are considered peripheral, are under-resourced and branding performance suffers accordingly. Emerging differences in PB performance associated with different MLG models are thus likely to deepen the gap between urban economic winners and losers.

This paper introduces five MLG models based on the actors involved in PB, their interactions and their access to resources. For each model, this paper assesses other factors which may influence the effectiveness of PB as well, such as access to the national leadership and staff capacity. This research thereby adds to the literature by identifying specific factors within MLG models influencing PB performance in hierarchical administrative systems.

This study aims to propose a conceptual framework for the acceptability of city branding on social media. The conceptual framework of the acceptability of city branding is necessary to achieve a successful city brand in the social media era. It tries to develop the use of social media in city branding practices and its acceptability, especially in the areas of urban planning and development. The study also explores important issues in the use of social media and its acceptability in city branding practices.

This study was initially conducted using a literature review of relevant, recent, and trustworthy scholarly publications (books, journals, reports, and proceedings) about city branding and acceptability from the electronic database by using relevant terms and keywords to find the relevant literature. The next step was to identify the essential variable described in the literature and assess how these are connected to one another. The last step was to create a conceptual framework using the variables that were found and their interrelationships.

Social media is crucial for determining a successful model of city branding strategy. Incorporating social media in the city branding process may lead to emerging bottom-up forms of influencing the city branding process, creating better-accepted city branding from wider audiences and guaranteeing a long-term successful city brand. The results of this paper indicate that one can utilize social media user-generated content (from residents and visitors), local government-created content, peer interaction, electronic word of mouth (e-WOM), and the engagement and participation medium to understand whether city branding is accepted by stakeholders through nine dimensions of acceptability: knowledge, information diffusion, experience, attachment, congruence, behavioral intention, perceived quality, engagement, and participation.

This research outcome can be used to evaluate and extend the classical theory of the acceptability of city branding, or even the overall umbrella term of branding, in the digital age. Despite its contribution, this study is not without limitations. The conceptual framework herein is best suited to a branded city with a high social media penetration rate to better represent real-life phenomena in the offline environment; in other contexts, it presents certain reliability concerns regarding its implementation.

The conceptual framework herein is best suited to a branded city with a high social media penetration rate to better represent the real-life phenomena in the offline environment; in other contexts, it presents certain reliability concerns regarding its implementation.

This research highlight some acceptability dimensions of city branding practice and also emphasize social media platform as useful tool to understand people's opinion, attitude and behavior. Combining these two concepts of the acceptability of city branding and the use of social media provides an opportunity to achieve the goals of meaningful, authentic and resilient city branding.

With society’s growing environmental concern, developing a green brand identity provides cities with opportunities to enhance their competitiveness. Nevertheless, few studies have explored green city branding and specifically considered the diverse perceptions of multiple stakeholders. Accordingly, this study aims to explore green city branding from the perceptions of multiple stakeholders.

Based on associative network theory, the study uses brand concept maps and network analysis approaches to construct and analyze the content and structure of mental models among local residents and foreign tourists for a green city brand. This study further seeks empirical support for the findings via a survey, using the sample case of Yilan County in Taiwan.

The results of this study reveal that foreign tourists possess a more diverse and heterogeneous brand perception than local residents. Additionally, the study uncovers significant green city brand associations regarding their influences on the behavioral decisions of local residents and foreign tourists.

This research is the first attempt to advance the knowledge of green city branding by empirically exploring the green city brand perceptions of multiple stakeholders based on associative network theory. The results provide brand researchers with different analytical perspectives on the existing knowledge about city brand perceptions and offer strategic information for city managers.

The purpose of the study is to verify the theoretical assumptions based on literature review regarding the issue of brand effectiveness evaluation and the potential measurement framework, as well as to provide insights into the nature of effectiveness measurement of city brand strategies. The findings are considered important foundations for designing a place branding measurement system, which is the next step and final purpose of the author’s research project.

A total of 12 international academic experts from eight countries (in four continents) were individually interviewed. A semi-structured individual interview was applied as a research method. Sampling was purposive and the respondents represented the fields of marketing, place branding and public management. The standardized set of 19 open-ended questions was categorized into four themes (city brand effectiveness, methodology, measurement process and indicators).

The measurement of effectiveness of city branding should be treated as a strategic endeavor; however, it is a complex issue where political, social and methodological challenges overlap. Barriers to the development of a well-functioning measurement system include: too narrow understanding of what brand is, lack of knowledge or culture of measurement, conflicting political interests, reluctance to involve internal stakeholders, insufficient funding and complexity of the brand itself. The reliable measurement system should be characterized by attributes such as simplicity and durability, stakeholder inclusion, political rationale, adjustment to the specificity of the city and the independence of the measuring body/institution.

Up-to-date, common standards or universal measurement frames of the place branding measurement system do not exist. No discussion can be found in the literature on how such a system should be designed and implemented. Opinions of the experts interviewed provide important insights into the components and conditions of the reliable measurement system that would meet both methodological standards and practical needs. Further studies and analyses are however necessary to eventually compose the optimal city brand measurement system.

The purpose of this paper is to offer a framework for the analysis and evaluation of city brands equity that is firmly anchored to the interdisciplinary characteristics of the city branding research domain.

The study builds upon a database of 217 articles dealing with the phenomena of city branding retrieved from Lucarelli and Berg.

City brands are understood by different scholars as being characterized by both intangible and tangible elements, properly researched adopting a mixture of different methods and endowing certain type of outcomes that concern both the more directly related image and identity of the city as well, to a larger extent, the socio‐political and economical aspects.

The study is based only on published English articles in the last 20 years.

The present paper suggests a framework that is based on the individualization of diverse city brand elements and the relations those have with the reported impact and the methodologies applied to reach this purpose. The framework can be used for both analyzing city brand equity research and practices. The paper contributes to the emerging field of city branding by offering a city brand equity framework that goes beyond the previous attempt in its interdisciplinary breath.

This study investigates the relationship between medical tourism and city branding as the main purpose. To this end, two measurement scales (questionnaires) were designed and validated. The data obtained through the questionnaires was analyzed using descriptive statistics, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses as well as structural equation modeling via SPSS and LISREL. The study was done in the city of Shiraz which is a famous tourist destination worldwide and has high capacities in medical tourism as well. Participants included scholars and managerial staff in the fields of medical tourism and city branding. The results confirmed that the four underlying factors of medical tourism include medical facilities and services, doctors and staff, tourism factors and costs. Furthermore, city branding was confirmed to be comprised of three underlying factors including place and facilities, opportunities, and residents and culture. Finally, according to the findings from Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) method of assessment branding in shiraz it was found that medical tourism affects directly on city branding.

The purpose of this research is to investigate how branding theories can be applied to place branding. It aims to examine how internal stakeholders, specifically a city's residents, are fundamental in the brand‐building process.

A conceptual model with a theoretical basis in the branding literature is developed to illuminate the antecedents of self‐brand connection and brand advocacy in the context of city branding. The model is then tested using structural equation analysis on a sample of residents from an American city that has taken a cultural/entertainment approach to its branding efforts.

Findings indicate that brand associations, including attitude toward the branding efforts of the city, perceived quality of the brand and the uniqueness of the brand, are crucial in the branding and positioning efforts of a city to its residents. When strong brand associations exist, residents may develop such a connection to the brand that it becomes reflective of their self‐concepts. When this occurs, a self‐brand connection is formed and residents may become advocates of the brand.

This research has special implications for places and municipalities that are in the process of developing branding strategies for their locales as well as those interested in achieving a competitive advantage with existing brand management systems.

This research provides further insight into the application of branding theory to places and destinations. Implications for developing effective brand management systems that appeal to local residents are enumerated.