• demonstrate understanding of the socio-political and market-related context of the selected problem
• demonstrate ability to analyse a selected problem within one of the main thematic areas of the course
• demonstrate ability to base the assignment on relevant sources
• demonstrate ability to choose and apply relevant concepts and methods to the selected problem
• demonstrate ability to present the problem in a logical and organised manner in accordance with the academic genre and language

Seemingly everything needs to be branded these days and what does not have a competitive identity does not have a future! This course will take a closer look at the phenomenon of place branding, i.e. how notions of branding and image management are increasingly applied to nations, regions and cities and even to supranational entities as e.g. the European Union. These entities all compete for tourists, trade, investments and talent, and for that purpose they rely on having an attractive brand to be competitive in a globalized world. A lot of resources are spent on branding efforts - from tourist campaigns to public diplomacy efforts of governments - and indexes and rankings are produced; but are the rankings reliable and are the resources well-spent? The course will have a double focus on case studies of different countries, cities and regions on the one hand, and on more theoretically focused sessions on the other, where we will critically consider if and how nation brands can be measured and whether branding campaigns are likely to be good value for money. We will also consider how mega-events such as the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup may be used in a nation branding context.

Anholt, Simon (2010). Places: Identity, Image and Reputation.Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Black, David (2008). Dreaming big: The pursuit of ‘second order’ games as a strategic response to globalization. Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics, vol. 11(4), 467-480.

Cull, Nicholas, J. (2012). Pearl Harbor and public diplomacy: 70 years on. Editorial. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, vol. 8(1), 1-5.

Cull, Nicholas J. (2010). Public diplomacy: Seven lessons for its future from its past. Place Branding and public diplomacy, vol. 6(1), 11-17.

Dinnie, Keith (ed.)(2011). City Branding: Theory and Cases. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Dinnie, Keith (2008). Nation Branding: Concepts, Issues, Practice. London and New York: Routledge.

Fan, Ying (2010, March). Branding the nation: Towards a better understanding. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy vol. 6(2), 97-103.

Fan, Ying (2008, May). Soft power: Power of attraction or confusion? Place Branding and public diplomacy, vol. 4(2), 147-158.

Quelch, John & Jocz, Katherine (2005). Positioning the nation-state. Place Branding, vol. 1(3), 229-237.

Rasmussen, Rasmus Kjærgaard & Henrik Merkelsen (2012). The new PR of states: How nation branding practicies affect the security function of public diplomacy. Public Relations Review, vol. 38 ,810-818.

van Ham, Peter (2008, March). Place Branding: The State of the Art. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 616, 126-149.

van Ham, Peter (2005). Branding European power. Place Branding vol. 1(2), 122-126.