| Learning objectives |
This course aims to introduce to the students the
complexity of branding cities and destinations to residents,
companies and tourists. To achieve the grade 12, students should
meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor
mistakes:
- Describe and to discuss the assumptions that underlie the
various marketing concepts from marketing, branding, communication,
as well as from the presented consumer behaviour studies.
- Identify and analyze the relationship between relevant models,
concepts and theories from the curriculum.
- Analyse and explain the differences between the profit,
non-profit and non-traditional marketing sectors (i.e., city and
destination branding).
- Evaluate different place branding strategies and place brand
management approaches for their usability in the area – especially
for meausuring place brands and success.
- Apply these models and concepts, singly or combined to fit a
concrete case situation under study and critically assess the value
and relevance of models, concepts and theories presented throughout
the course in relation to their practical application in a relevant
case.
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| Course prerequisites |
| Please note: since this is a postgraduate course,
an undergraduate-level knowledge of the basic principles of
marketing is expected of all students. |
| Examination |
|
City and
Destination Branding:
|
| Exam
ECTS |
7,5 |
| Examination form |
Home assignment - written product |
| Individual or group exam |
Individual exam |
| Size of written product |
Max. 15 pages |
| Assignment type |
Case based assignment |
| Release of assignment |
The Assignment is released in Digital Exam (DE)
at exam start |
| Duration |
2 weeks to prepare |
| Grading scale |
7-point grading scale |
| Examiner(s) |
One internal examiner |
| Exam period |
Autumn |
| Make-up exam/re-exam |
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
If the student fails the ordinary
exam they have to do the re-exam with the same case, but new
questions regarding the case.
|
Description of the exam
procedure
The exam is an individual, home written assignment (written
product; take-home exam) with a maximum of 15 pages. The
student will receive a specific case and detailed questions
regarding the case. In a 2 weeks’ time the students should analyse
the case and apply knowledge gained through the course to answer
these questions as written in the learning
objectives.
|
|
| Course content, structure and pedagogical
approach |
|
Today cities and destinations are in strong competition for
talents (residents), companies and investments, as well as
tourists. Therefore, places are more and more run like ‘businesses’
and for ‘businesses’. In order to differentiate one place from
another, city marketers increasingly focus on establishing the city
as a brand and adopt other marketing techniques in order to better
promote and ‘sell’ their place to its existing and potential target
groups. Unfortunately, city marketers and consultants often
underestimate the complexity and potential ethical dilemmas –
due to the fact that places are complex products themselves and
that the needs and wants of the different customer groups regarding
a place vary widely.
City marketing therefore needs a more holistic and complex
approach. It must include the understanding of all target groups
and stakeholders needs. It deals with all types of place
communication (not only advertisement), but even the physical
communication of city planning and architecture – and it must
follow a more democratic and participatory approach then ‘normal’
marketing activities.
In the course we will explore the impact of city marketing
activities for companies – talking in particular about talent
attraction and tourism – and on other business fields. At the same
time we will also discuss the social problems we create by making a
place ‘too much’ of a business. By this means, students should
not only be able understand and use strategies from city and
destination branding, but also see the benefits for companies and
citizens in using marketing for places.
This master course is a cross-disciplinary and research-based
course, integrating findings from marketing, branding, urban
planning and management, public administration and the field of
tourism. The aim is to introduce the service-dominant logic of
marketing to cities and translate carefully different marketing and
branding concepts. Furthermore, the differences between city
branding (general marketing activities for all place target groups)
and destination branding (tourism oriented city marketing) will be
elaborated and the idea of an integrated approach will be
presented.
|
|
| Description of the teaching methods |
Most teaching is online through asynchronous
learning (learn on students’ own schedule), through teaching
videos, podcasts, and knowledge tasks. Additionally, some lectures
will be synchronous online teaching (online lectures) for
discussions and feedback (who will be recorded for those students
who cannot attend).
Finally, the concept will be accompanied by one offline in class
case workshop for exam preparation.
Even though large parts are asynchronous learning, the course
builds upon the principles of active learning: students are
expected to comment on readings, do group exercises, and to
participate on the case workshop. |
| Feedback during the teaching period |
| Students will receive feedback in various forms
during the course: For instance, through discussions in (online)
classes, collegial-feedback from a voluntary home-written
assignment (test-exam), and written feedback after the
exam. |
| Student workload |
| Preperation |
123 hours |
| Teaching |
33 hours |
| Exam |
50 hours |
|
| Expected literature |
|
The exam-relevant reading will be provided via
CANVAS during the course. Examples are:
- Boisen, M., Terlouw, K., and van Gorp, B. (2011). The selective
nature of place branding and the layering of spatial identities.
Journal of Place Management and Development, 4(2),
135-147.
- Braun, E., Eshuis, J., & Klijn, E.-H. (2014). The
effectiveness of place brand communication. Cities, 41(1),
64-70.
- Braun, E., Eshuis, J., Klijn, E. H., & Zenker, S. (2018).
Improving place reputation: Do an open place brand process and an
identity-image match pay off?. Cities, 80, 22-28.
- Connell, J. (2012). Film tourism – evolution, progress and
prospects. Tourism Management, 33(5), 1007-1029.
- Hanna, S. and Rowley, J. (2015). Towards a model of the Place
Brand Web. Tourism Management, 48, 100-112.
- Jokela, S. (2020). Transformative city branding and the
evolution of the entrepreneurial city: The case of ‘Brand New
Helsinki.’ Urban Studies, 57(10), 2031–2046.
- Vallaster, C., Von Wallpach, S., & Zenker, S. (2018). The
interplay between urban policies and grassroots city brand
co-creation and co-destruction during the refugee crisis: Insights
from the city brand Munich (Germany). Cities, 80,
53-60.
- Zenker, S., & Braun, E. (2017). Questioning a “one size
fits all” city brand: Developing a branded house strategy for place
brand management. Journal of Place Management and
Development, 10(3), 270-287.
- Zenker, S., Braun, E., & Petersen, S. (2017). Branding the
destination versus the place: The effects of brand complexity and
identification for residents and visitors. Tourism
Management, 58, 15-27.
- Zenker, S. and Erfgen, C. (2014). Let them do the work: a
participatory place branding approach. Journal of Place
Management and Development, 7(3),
225-234.
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