The topic of place branding is moving from infancy to adolescence. Many cities, and nations have already established their place brand and this well documented new book brings the fundamentals of place branding together in an academic format but is at the same time useful for practice.

This primer demystifies branding, demonstrates how to reveal a destination brand, and provides real world examples, as well as affordable, proven tools, templates and checklists to help breathe life into a small city brand.

Usually, a country brand is not focused, resulting in unsuccessful place branding. It is possible to successfully raise your national identity to the level of an attractive brand. Building a country brand is an investment, with strong positive returns. This book will guide you along the path to building a successful brand.

This professional guidebook highlights brand development and management for cities, regions, countries, and destinations. It presents a unique collection of expert interviews, combined with latest research insights and thoughts on the most relevant topics and trends linked to the reputation, brand development and management of cities, regions, countries and destinations. This is a book which offers inspiring personal stories and reflections, and at the same time serves as essential know how guide for busy place managers, marketers and developers who care about the reputation and well-being of their community.

Place branding as a field of research is still in a state of infancy. This book seeks to address this, offering a theory of place branding based on the tourist experience, keeping in mind the roles of stakeholders, both public and private organisations and DMOs in managing the place brand. Place Branding: Connecting Tourist Experiences to Places seeks to build a customer-based view of place branding through focusing on the individual as a tourist who travels to undertake a memorable experience. The place is the key creator of this experience, which begins well before the travel-to and ends well after the travel-back. Individuals choose the places where to go, collect information on them, ask for advice and suggestions from fellow travellers, give feedback when they come back and talk a lot about their experience, spreading word-of-mouth. The book enables readers to understand how the tourist experience can be managed as a brand. Readers are exposed to a variety of problems, methodological approaches, and geographical areas, which allows them to adapt frames to different contexts and situations. This book is recommended reading for students and scholars of business, marketing, tourism, urban studies and public diplomacy, as well as practitioners, business consultants and people working in public administration and politics.

Place branding is often a response to inter-place competition and discussed as if it operated in a vacuum, ignoring the needs of local communities. It has developed a set of methods – catchy slogans, colourful logos, ‘star-chitects’, bidding for City of Culture status etc. – that are applied as quick-fix solutions regardless of geographical and socio-political contexts. Critical views of place branding are emerging which focus on its unexplored consequences on the physical and social fabric of places. These more critical approaches reveal place branding as an essentially political activity, serving hidden agendas and marginalizing social groups. Scholars and practitioners can no longer ignore the need for more responsible and socially sensitive approaches to cater for a wider range of stakeholders, and which fully acknowledge the importance of resident participation in decision-making. The contributions in this innovative book set out to introduce new critical ways of thinking around place branding and practices that encourage it to be more inclusive and participatory. It will be of interest to researchers and advanced students of branding, critical marketing, and destination marketing as well as critical tourism and environmental design.

Boost tourism, economic development, and community pride by understanding and mastering the art and science of place branding. "Baker's previous books were instant hits and considered classics. In this one, he takes place branding to the next level." - Dr. Florian Kaefer, The Place Brand Observer In this NEW, UPDATED, and EXPANDED edition Bill Baker presents proven techniques and real-world examples for transforming tourism, economic development, placemaking and wayfinding. He is straight to the point and gives you the nuts and bolts to reveal and manage a sustainable destination brand. PLACE BRANDING SIMPLIFIED "This book tackles the confusion, challenges, limitations, misconceptions, and the scope of place branding." - Robert Govers, Chair, International Place Branding Association 'Place Branding' explores the scope and dynamics of place branding, and provides step-by-step processes to research, define and deploy a winning brand strategy. Each chapter demystifies what can sometimes seem like complex concepts and practices required to establish and manage a competitive identity. PLACE BRANDING BEYOND LOGOS "Bill Baker does a great job of distilling the nuance of not just brand building, but the equal necessity of place building." - Maura Allen Gast, Executive Director, VisitIrving (TX) Baker explains why community partnerships are needed to bring a destination brand to life and create a beloved sense of place. He joins the dots to pinpoint issues related to the organization, staff, partnerships, regulations, experience delivery, placemaking, wayfinding, government policies, and personnel to make the point that success takes more than marketing communications and logos. NEW FRONTIERS AND TRENDS "This book is packed with killer insights. In his latest book, Bill Baker continues to redefine the art and science of community brands." - Bill Geist, Chief Instigator, DMOproz 'Place Branding' spotlights the trends reshaping the practice, scope and dynamics of place branding. It illustrates how place branding must embrace changes, as diverse as technology, consumer behavior, placemaking, urban design, organization roles, sustainability, an experiential focus, more engaged communities, and more. At the same time, he shows how small places must fit into a louder and more crowded world. WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK? "Bill Baker's words always entice and engage audiences at every level of expertise. Here, he targets newcomers to place branding, but his words are a good refresher for old-timers alike." - Erik Wolf, CEO, World Food Travel Association Whether you are new to place marketing and branding or you're seeking fresh inspiration, this is essential reading for destination marketers, DMOs, Boards and Committees, Chambers of Commerce, Downtown Associations, economic development managers, urban design teams, government leaders, as well as students and academics. WHAT'S INCLUDED? Reading 'Place Branding', you will: Discover the latest place branding trends and new applications Understand why many place branding efforts are doomed before they start Discover effective ways to bring your community's brand to life Access dozens of helpful tips and useful checklists Understand why branding is even more important in the Digital Age Gain valuable insights from some of the world's leading place branding consultants, academics and practitioners