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The research approach adopted in this article intends to validate ‘place awareness’ as a fundamental element, together and beyond the consideration of classic economic factors, in assessing the endogenous potential of tourism development of a territory. ‘Place awareness’ emerges as a determining factor in the processes of tourist development since it decides the type of relationship that is established with local resources, influencing their use and therefore the forms and modalities of their enhancement. Without the emergence of a ‘place awareness’ capable of recognizing and mobilizing the resources of the territory, the implementation of tourism development policies lead to growth dynamics which are poorly territorialized and predictably not lasting. In order for there to be development of a place, it is necessary that the place is preliminarily renown: the ‘place awareness’ manifests precisely the extent and intensity of this recognition.

To affirm the centrality of ‘place awareness’ in local tourism development processes, Sambuca di Sicilia, located in the Province of Agrigento, was chosen as a case study. The village, following the surprising victory in 2016 of the national competition ‘The most beautiful village in Italy’, is engaged in a promising transition phase with a strong evolutionary potential centred on redefining its identity in terms of a tourist village that focuses on the rich and wide range of local resources available.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the marketing literature by developing and testing a conceptual model to examine the effects of product placement across a country low in assertiveness and performance orientation (the UK) and a country high in assertiveness and performance orientation (Hong Kong (HK)).

A content analysis of brand appearances in high grossing films within the UK and HK was conducted followed by a 2×2 between-subjects experiment (n=572).

The results indicate participants exposed to prominent placements have a less positive brand attitude and lower purchase intention toward the placed brand. Likewise, respondents exposed to a less well-known placed brand tend to have a less positive brand attitude and lower purchase intention toward the placed brand. There is evidence of interaction effects with cultural dimensions such as assertiveness and performance orientation within the UK and HK.

The results suggest that product placements can be optimized through tailored campaigns targeted at markets with known cultural characteristics. With advances in digital technology, such practices are becoming more frequent and more feasible.

This is one of the first studies to explore the effect of culture on perceptions of product placement and the first study to empirically examine the role of prominence and brand awareness, and their interactions with GLOBE values on the effectiveness of product placement.

The rediscovery of the medieval routes of Norman origin in Sicily readvocates a system of interconnection between small villages, towns and cities which can be compared to the circulation system: ancient paths and roads are like veins and arteries which are ready to reanimate a body in need of resilience and exciting experiences. The slow tourism of historical routes in a new ecology of tourism currently contributes with increasing significance to the creation of green sustainable tourism, compatible with the territory and respectful of local identities.

This chapter aims to highlight the potential of the slow tourism of the historical routes in order to revive the internal areas from an economic and social point of view. The analysis is focused in particular on the Magna Via Francigena: this route links Palermo and Agrigento through the rural heart of Sicily touching 18 small towns inland. The creation of this route has rewoven broken territorial wefts, restoring dialogue and collaboration between the towns involved. It has revitalized the place consciousness of the territories. It has also encouraged place-based production chains and micro-economies, boosting new income. This route makes a definite contribution to placing marginalized area, towns and territories on the geographical map again.

Therefore the historical routes outline new ways of endogenous development based on the recovery and enhancement of identity assets and local resources.

Places in competition for inward investment increasingly apply place brands to address their target groups, often being unable to adequately establish the effectiveness of this approach. Based on theoretically derived components and structures an empirically validated model – the investor‐based place brand equity model (IPE) – is presented. Using the example of North European creative industries investments in Germany, the purpose of this paper is to illustrate the application of the model in establishing the effectiveness of place brands. This is preformed with the German place brand “Lübeck” as the illustrative case.

Theoretically derived model components and structures to establish the effectiveness of place brands from an investor perspective are tested empirically. This empirical test encompasses primary data from 101 North European creative industries investors in Germany (31 percent of total population).

The effectiveness of place brands in influencing the behaviour of inward investors can be established by identifying and applying suitable place brand attributes and place brand benefits. While place brand attributes assist the operational place brand management, place brand benefits support strategic decisions to be taken by place brand managers.

The model is limited to establish the effectiveness of place brands from the investor's point of view. If this approach can be related to the costs of implementation, the model can be extended to assess the efficiency. Within the context of this research, establishing the effectiveness is considered to be the only reliable approach for the time being since the costs of the place branding activities can usually not be delimited from economic development budgets. The model has not yet been considered for other target groups (e.g. tourists, residents).

So far this area of research has been approached by case studies. Considering this limited research basis, this paper aims at developing a generic approach to identify and validate those components and structures which can increase the effectiveness of place brands from an investor's perspective.

This paper aims to develop a framework that links the concepts of place branding, place image and place reputation. Focusing on the antecedents and outcomes of place branding in the context of an emerging country, namely, Iran, the model further examines critical moderation variables.

A qualitative approach was undertaken, comprising face-to-face in-depth interviews with 15 respondents, involved in communicating about their country for various purposes such as encouraging tourism, promoting exports and attracting investments. Based on analysis of the qualitative data, a comprehensive framework for place branding was formulated.

Findings indicate that the key indicators of identifying a place brand come under two headings, namely, national culture (country’s name, country’s brand, country attributes, social changes, geography and environment, people, culture (history, language, etc.) and infrastructure (security, economic condition, technological advancement, tourism development goals, place marketing and promotional strategy), which influences on the favorability of place branding. In addition, five main moderators of the outcomes of place branding were identified, namely, political perception, social media and news, place awareness, place association and tourism experience.

Effective place branding could help a country attract tourists, visitors, traders and investors. Place branding should be considered a constructive tool that can be successfully applied to managing a country’s image.

Place branding has received little attention in the context of emerging markets. This is the first known study undertaken with a view to understand and develop a place branding model that links with place image and place reputation in an emerging country. The study identifies 12 antecedents of place branding and five important moderators. Findings will help policymakers, country brand managers and communication professionals more generally who deal with a country’s image and reputation and those involved in improving the tourism industry in Iran.

The branding concept has been applied to cities, destinations, regions and even nations to attract tourism, investments and residents. The Republic of Turkey with its rich historical heritage has been home to many applications of such diverse branding campaigns. While some of these campaigns have been criticised for their lack of efficacy, especially at the national level, several city-based or regional campaigns have proven more successful.

In this chapter, we review and examine place branding campaigns in Turkey. We provide examples of the increasing role of social media, cultural and historical heritage, role of movies and TV series, health- and faith-based tourism, mega-sports events, sustainable communications, the Slow City concept and public–private partnerships in contemporary place branding campaigns.

The purpose of this paper is to systematically review and evaluate critically what is known about the attempts made to quantify the influence of place branding from a geographic perspective. In particular, this study reviews how scholars have conceptualized and measured place branding influence and provides directions for future research.

Through a systematic review of seven databases using an a priori defined search string, 39 articles attempting to quantify place branding influence were identified. These studies were reviewed and the paper information was used to explore how place branding research has thus far quantified branding’s influence.

There is a clear compatibility between place branding and human geography research domains, with a potential for place branding influence to be conceptualized through the sense-of-place, which has implications for place equity and consumer decision-making. Much of the existing studies have conceptualized influence through place equity, revealing potential performance indicators for its quantification.

This study is based on research papers that attempt to quantify the effectiveness of place branding of urban areas. Limitations include the exclusion of qualitative studies which may provide alternative approaches to determine place branding outcomes.

As a systematic review, the main contribution of this paper is a contemporary overview of how place branding influence has been quantified. It also provides valuable insights into the policy formulation and its implementation.

Information overload, and the importance/or information users of staying abreast of relevant information, has led to the development of current awareness services. Not only have advances in information technology and telecommunications led to an increased volume of information but they have also made it easier for agencies to produce competing electronic current awareness services. This paper will briefly define an effective electronic current awareness service and highlight some available products and services. It is important that the best products be selected for use by individuals and information services. Evaluation criteria for current awareness products will be identified in the light of specific user needs and requirements for a successful electronic current awareness service.

This study aims to investigate the reverse effect of the country of origin’s reputation on the notion of place brand.

Using a case study methodology, cases of Lagos (Nigeria) and Dubai (UAE) are examined to generate a model of place brand/branding.

Three pathways of the flow of causality between nation brand and city brand were emphasised, and problematic themes of interest to focus are recommended as a way forward for aspiring cities to create and improve their global reputation to generate increased footfalls of visitors and investors.

It is possible for cities to create effective brands irrespective of the reputation (strong or weak) of their countries of origin. The implication of the reverse relationship between nation and city brand has the potential to expand the theoretical framework of a place brand.

The study’s uniqueness is in highlighting the different relations between nation branding and city branding that could guide practitioners in actualising a successful city brand project.