Branding Metropolitan Place in Global Space
Funding source: Swedish Research Council - Vetenskapsrådet (VR)
Period: 1/1/10 - 12/31/12
Funding: 3900000 SEK
Description:
In order to get a better understanding of processes and principles behind the production and appropriation of competitive city brands, the project will study branding strategies in metropolitan cities competing and collaborating with each other globally. Based on visibility and access, the project will most likely use Stockholm as a "node city", and select around 10 other metropolitan cities according to the strategic contexts in which Stockholm attempts to position itself. The study will combine ethnographic field studies of metropolitan cities with online (netography) research methods in order to grasp the way in which city brands are produced and appropriated. While research in the area of building and managing city brands is abundant today, our knowledge of how metropolitan city brands are related to each other in global ?brand-scapes? is less developed. We also lack knowledge of how city brands are appropriated, not only by audiences within the cities, but also by cities with which they compare themselves, compete and collaborate. Thus, the overall purpose of the study is to increase our understanding of the processes and principles behind the production and appropriation of competitive metropolitan city brands. The study is expected to make a contribution to our understanding of brand appropriation processes within the realm of consumer culture theory, as well as to furthering the concept of invocative strategizing within the framework of expressive strategies.
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