Why Brand the Future with the Past? The Roles of Heritage in the Construction and Promotion of Place Brand Reputations

Gregory J. Ashworth and Mihalis Kavaratzis

Chapter Chapter 3 in International Place Branding Yearbook 2011, 2011, pp 25-38 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract In the late 1980s, when academic attention regarding the application of marketing approaches to the selling of places was in its infancy, a number of exploratory studies of deliberately promoted place images was undertaken in The Netherlands. The starting point was Burgess’s (1982) seminal study on the content of local authority promoted images in the UK, where she identified the four main elements as being centrality, dynamism, identity and quality of life. An investigation of the content of the text and illustration of all 16 medium-sized cities in The Netherlands (Voogd and van de Wijk 1989) revealed the unanticipated conclusion that historical elements were being used widely in campaigns designed principally to attract exogenous investment. Official brochures and printed advertising material (in a pre-website era) stressed historical events and personalities associated with the place, and even lengthy descriptions of armorial bearings and local monumental buildings. It seemed strange that city councils and their consultants should so emphasize historical elements over contemporary attributes, which would seem of more immediate relevance to a commercial enterprise such as accessibility, shopping, retailing, recreation or other facilities.

Keywords: Place Identity; Personality Association; Historical Character; Heritage Management; Celebrity Endorsement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-34332-0_3

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.palgrave.com/9780230343320

DOI: 10.1057/9780230343320_3

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().