A synopsis
HANKINSON, G., 2004. Relational network brands: Towards a conceptual model
of place brands, Journal of Vacation Marketing, 10(2), pp. 109 - 121
Much in place branding can be seen from two main perspectives
1. Urban planning
2. Tourism and vacation marketing
Urban planning
Firstly there is a focus on the nature of place product, historical developments
and marketing implications of its distinctiveness
 For example Sleipen sees places as dualistic
 Nuclear – where a holistic view is taken
 A contribution of elements at the destination
o Services
o Activities
o Features
 Van den Bergh & Braun see it a 3 levels
 Individual good or service
 Clusters of related services (e.g. urban tourism)
 Urban agglomeration (collections of goods and services)
 Ashworth & Voot see different spatial elements operating (simultaneously)
 Consumers ‘assemble’ their own products
 Different groups different products/purposes supplied by
different suppliers
Thus ‘inherent product complexities make the marketing and branding of places
a difficult task’. There are important factors that a destination must accept
 The product experience cannot be controlled (visitor choice is important
here)
 The political element enters where the legal geographic boundary of the
places that is being marketed.
This means:
 The product marketed is not necessarily the product consumed
 Product is management by a complex organisation of public and private
sector stakeholders making it difficult to present a consistent brand
proposition
 Place brands, therefore, become a co-ordinated process rather than a
managed activity (where the local authorities which often take this role on,
have limited budgets).
Tourism and vacation marketing perspective: this area has attracted a
significant number of publications which Hankinson groups under heading form
his more general literature review
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Destination marketing as perceptual entities – this is to do with traveller
destination choice: for example Echtner and Ritchie consider the
components of destination image as based on three categories of brand
association
o Individual attributes vs. holistic impressions
o Functional versus psychological characteristics
o Common versus unique characteristics
Destination brands as communicators: Gnoth sees destination branding
as a process which leads to a strategic plan1 to build (an) identity based
on uniqueness and desired identity. Other authors also stress the need
for communicating some form of uniqueness. Morgan et al set out a
brand architecture which includes the development of a personality, as
focus for consumer relationships with the brand
Destination brands as relationships – sees the need of a match between a
destination image and the tourist’s self concept (e.g. Sirgy and Su)
Destination Brands as value enhancers: not much done here and none in
relation to cities – has been developed to provide a broader, multidimensional perspective. “The success of cities such as Manchester,
Sydney and Barcelona in building successful brands through key sporting
events was based on the development of strong relationships between
stakeholders who would benefit from that success….” This model takes
into account
1. The service-orientated and service-related nature of products such
as places.
2. It is clearly linked to the experiential nature of the place product and
emphasises the importance of the service encounter as a service
encounter as a central activity in the development of place brands
3. It recognises the role of a range of stakeholders in the development
of a successful place brand
4. It more accurately reflects the reality of place brand management.
5. It utilises a network marketing approach
The notion of relational brand networks
Because the nature of place brands they are much less controllable ....”Thus the
extension of the brand from the core to include primary services, the brand
infrastructure, media and communications and consumers is best described as a
ripple effect in that brand relationships are gradually extended through a process
of progressive interaction between the network and the stakeholders. The brand
core represents a place’s identity, the blueprint for developing and
communicating the place brand” (p115)
 Personality
o Functional attributes – tangible: utilitarian and environmental
attributes
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Does this imply a level of rationality that always happens in the world? Well,
Kotler takes the same approach DL
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o Symbolic attributes – intangible: linked to meeting needs for
societal approval, personal expression and self-esteem
o Holistic links between functions and symbols as above
Positioning - attributes of the place making it similar and different to other
places
Reality – this is importance because success is not governed by creating
neither a unique image nor a special sales pitch. Success comes from a
marriage between imaginative marketing supported by investment in the
key services and facilities required to deliver the experience on offer.
“ the ultimate success of a place branding strategy relies on the effective
extension of the core brand through effective relationships with stakeholders,
each of which extends and reinforces the reality of the core brand through
consistent communication and delivery of services’ (p 116).
Primary services may include retailers, hotels, hotel associations, event and
leisure organisations etc etc. Customer-contact personnel are crucial here within
the context of producer-consumer relationships (e.g. how are brand values
communicated?; how are enquiries and complaints dealt with?)
Brand infrastructure has 3 elements
1. Access: transport to and within a destination
2. Hygiene facilities: e.g. car parks, toilets, baby-changing facilities, street
cleaning.
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3. Brandscape: related to destinations this refers to the built environment in
which the core services operate. It may enhance or detract from the
overall place ambiance. It may be inherited (ancient heritage) or the result
of more recent interventions – e.g. Bradford’s linking ‘corridors through the
city’
Media and communications: ‘The role of effective public relations is crucial to the
portrayal of a positive organic image’ (p 117) where organic refers other
stakeholders (e.g. arts organisations) developing their own communications
strategies
The final category of relationships is consumer groups, which include residents
and employees of local organisations (who are producers as well as consumers
of the services at the destination) as well as the targeted visitors.
Directions for future research
In relation to supplier relationships consider in particular
 A strong network of stakeholder relationships which all share a common
relationship of the core brand
 A service-orientated approach to the delivery of quality
Look at the exact nature of the relationships between stakeholders: “there is a
general paucity of research relating to the role of stakeholder relationships and
networking in the development of destination brands.” (p118)
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