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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.

This paper has two purposes in mind: to present the model of destination brand equity as well as its managerial implications for city brand management.

Based on a model developed by the author in 2011 which adopts a consumer-based approach to assessing place/destination brand equity, brand equities for two Polish cities were calculated. The research was conducted in two stages on a sample of 800 Poles. Its detailed results served as a basis for a comparison of the two cities’ brand equities.

The general results show the strength of the cities’ brand equities while the detailed results show the strengths and weaknesses of the specific city brands broken down to the types of respondents and according to the brand equity dimensions.

The discussion and results are based on two cities only, in one country.

The results of the city brand equity survey provide place marketers with information about the existing structure of brand equity and the elements of brand equity which may reinforce a city brand in the consumers’ (potential and current tourists’) eyes. Such an assessment also enables to track destination brand changes over time and in relation to other city destinations. The results offer therefore city managers the knowledge of brand areas which require attention and intervention.

The model presents provides place managers with information related to the necessary social support of the residents of destination.

The paper presents comprehensive and original research results of a research into city destination brand equity conducted on a representative national sample. A strong theoretical concept is combined with practical results.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors underlying residents’ lack of involvement and engagement with their city brand. This paper addresses the gap in understanding residents’ disengagement from their city brand.

In-depth interviews with 14 residents of Dunedin City, New Zealand, were conducted to identify and understand the factors that underlie residents’ disengagement from their city brand. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis.

Four major themes or factors that influence residents’ disengagement were identified: lack of brand awareness/knowledge; lack of brand identification; disapproval of local government actions; and cynical attitudes towards involvement.

This paper focuses on one city brand, with its unique history and institutional context, and the thoughts and experiences of a limited group of residents, thus limiting the applicability of the findings. A longitudinal study would be helpful to identify if residents’ engagement with their place brand change over time and the underlying reasons for such changes.

Extant research highlights the importance of a participatory, co-creative process between citizens and local governments for building city brands. Despite this, this study’s findings demonstrate that there might be several formidable barriers to resident participation in their city’s branding process.

This paper represents a first step in understanding what might trigger or contribute to residents becoming disengaged from their city’s brand. Therefore, this paper considers the “hidden voices” of residents who have become largely disconnected from the city brand.

The purpose of this paper is to present the opportunities for and challenges of the trademark protection of country brands.

Insights into the challenges and possibilities of country brand trademark protection are identified using New Zealand as a case study. This evaluation is divided into four sections. In the first section, the relations and differences between brands and trademarks are discussed in the context of the country trademark. Then, possible sources of country trademarks are identified. Next, the benefits and challenges of creating and managing country trademarks are discussed based on the case of the New Zealand Fern Mark. The final section addresses the determiners of country trademark implementation and offers recommendations for country brand managers.

This study makes the case that a nation's heritage is a rich source of country trademarks. The selection of country trademarks must ensure that the chosen symbol conveys meaning and associations that serve a country's often broad range of offerings and resonate with a diversity of stakeholder audiences.

Governance structures need to be established to manage a country trademark to ensure the country brand's integrity. This includes a licensing system and protocols to prevent successive governments from altering the brand's essence which would destroy its equity built up over time.

This paper extends the concept of trademarks, once the domain of products and service brands, to the emerging field of place brand management.

A city's resident population is strategically the most valuable segment among those targeted by place marketing practitioners. Residents' quality of life and their satisfaction with their city of residence should be the ultimate aim of place management. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to develop a conceptualisation of place satisfaction for city residents that can be applied by place managers.

By reviewing prior definitions and conceptualisations of the related concepts of quality of life and satisfaction, a model of city resident place satisfaction is presented.

From a broad survey of the literature, three main fields were identified that have dealt with satisfaction – psychology, sociology and human ecology, and marketing. Drawing on, and integrating insights from, these separate, yet interrelated fields, the concept of resident place satisfaction is established and then the identified components of the working model of resident place satisfaction are presented.

The tensions facing place managers in satisfying internal targets' interests are outlined, followed by examples of performance measures and indicators designed to support place managers' complex task of positively shaping the lifestyles of their city inhabitants, workers and pleasure seekers.

The sub‐field of place management and marketing has emerged in the last decade and recognises satisfaction with a place as important, but, as yet, this concept remains theoretically undeveloped. This paper draws on concepts from other, related disciplines to establish the concept of resident place satisfaction as a contribution to the theory and practice of place management.

The purpose of this paper is to deal with the widely acknowledged gap between place branding theory and practice. It makes a direct attempt to address fundamental questions regarding the relationship between place branding scholars and practitioners. The article reports on the special session “Theory meets Practice” that was organised at the Institute of Place Management Conference in Poznan, Poland, in May 2015.

The article raises and attempts to answer questions such as whether the two groups of place branding scholars and practitioners engage with each other’s work, whether they share an understanding of place branding and whether they set the same set of priorities for the advancement of the field. Both academic views and practitioners’ approaches are elaborated upon. Furthermore, the example of a project where both academics and practitioners worked together is used to illustrate the discussion.

The article provides a series of answers regarding the current relationship between place branding theoreticians and practitioners. It also provides an assessment of the motivations and benefits of working more closely together. In this way, the article initiates a discussion that might help place branding theory and practice come closer together.

Despite the importance of the issue raised in the article for the development of place branding as a discipline, this is one of the first attempts to directly handle this topic. Another novelty of the article is that it is written in cooperation with both academics and practitioners, thus being a direct result of the relationship discussed.

This paper aims to develop a methodological approach to place product analysis that aims to identify the distinctive ideas of places.

The methodology included two stages: first, classifiers of place product uses and technologies were constructed on the basis of the product concept abstraction (Study 1) and then they were used as tools to systematize data about the attributes of city districts and the everyday activities of their residents to further identify product concepts (Study 2).

Product concepts of five Moscow districts were formulated as sets of benefits or district uses (needs satisfied and activities encouraged) offered to residents. The concepts are expressed in terms of typical constructions but reflect the distinctive features and specificities of the districts.

Defining places as product concepts pushes the place product analysis, benefit and lifestyle segmentation forward. Additional place product dimensions and investigated places are advised to improve the reliability of the used classifiers as a tool for documentary research.

The developed analytical procedure is a much-needed supplement to existing techniques used to shape the product strategies of places. Identifying contradictory uses helps make product decisions that are appropriate in concurrently supporting all these uses, including providing spatial differentiation of the place product. The study results are thus useful for the development of city master plans characterized by long planning horizons and a high degree of conceptualization.

The paper proposes a new method for place product analysis that combines the advantages of both standardized and narrative approaches, introducing a convenient way to address the issue of clarity when transforming a variety of place attributes into core place values and eventual place brands.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the prevalence and types of country associations on product labels and packages across a range of grocery product categories.

An audit of New Zealand and Australian country associations as they appeared on products in 26 categories was conducted in a major New Zealand supermarket outlet.

The results of the content analysis of 788 brands revealed that the majority featured at least one country of origin (COO) association and indicated that they were either “made in” New Zealand or Australia.

Even though the findings are potentially restricted to the New Zealand context, this paper provides evidence of the prevalence of common and distinctive country associations across a diverse range of product categories. This suggests that these associations are still relevant to grocery manufacturers and supermarket retailers as a way of positioning their branded products.

The findings offer supermarket retailer buyers and regulatory agencies insight into the use of COO associations from the perspective of FMCG manufacturers. In addition, the findings provide FMCG manufacturers with an indication of the prevalence of different country associations in the categories that they compete.

In spite of debate about the costs and benefits of COO labelling and place references on grocery product packaging, little is known about how these associations are actually used by FMCG manufacturers. This paper addresses this question by auditing brands on the supermarket shelf.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework to explain the development of sustainable culinary places and restaurant clusters.

The theoretical approach is based on a multi-level and multi-perspective case study approach toward studying the organization and governance of clusters of culinary activities and firms.

The main part of findings is based on the comparison of two case studies of the development of restaurant clusters, representing two different forms of knowledge management and governance.

The findings underscore the importance of local entrepreneurs, cluster organization and governance, knowledge exchange and learning and dependence on a local catchment area. The findings also show that several forms of cluster organization can coexist in the same area and support each other, adding to increased sustainability and connectedness in an urban area.

The findings indicate that there is a need for a more realistic approach to the development of culinary places and destinations, and not solely rely on place branding, standard marketing procedures and support from local authorities. To develop a sustainable and connected place, we need an appropriate form of organization and governance. The findings indicate that different types of restaurant clusters require different forms of governance of knowledge management processes to be effective.

The paper directs attention to the fact that the food sector constitutes an important sector for employment of immigrants, females and part-time workers, which together constitute the largest group with regard to unemployment in many cities. The paper also shows how the evolution of a culinary culture in Oslo has contributed to solidarity within and between ethnic groups, which is sorely needed today.

This paper shows that sustainable, liveable and connected places can be developed without reliance on standard branding and marketing procedures, and despite opposition from the retail industry and lack of support from local authorities.