Purpose – This paper aims to develop a theoretical approach to place market analysis that aims to identify the ways in which specific places are used and to further enable the identification of distinct segments and products. Design/methodology/approach – Typology construction was chosen as the main study method. Eight polar place demand patterns were classified on the abstract level, using a set of binary variables of spatial behaviour (migration, natural growth and settling). Based on this typology, eight abstract places were deductively described. In conjunction with this deductive study, the authors conducted focus groups, and the results showed considerable similarity in the interpretation of the achieved types. Findings – This paper arrives at interdependent typologies of place demand, place product and place use patterns that allow the ways of using specific places to be identified and distinctive segments and products to be distinguished as particular, consistent combinations of the achieved types. Practical implications – The typologies obtained expand the scope of competitive analysis and planning in framing place marketing. Distinct uses of specific places unambiguously point to the features of certain segments and could thereby enable a lucid marketing strategy. Originality/value – Empirically driven place market research has not precisely defined the distinct ideas and concepts of investigated places, which might reflect the different segments of the population that have different intentions for the use of these places. This paper offers important insights into product differentiation and market segmentation in the frame of simultaneous product use.

Purpose – This paper aims to develop a methodological approach to place product analysis that aims to identify the distinctive ideas of places. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology included two stages: first, classifiers of place product uses and technologies were constructed on the basis of the product concept abstraction (Study 1) and then they were used as tools to systematize data about the attributes of city districts and the everyday activities of their residents to further identify product concepts (Study 2). Findings – Product concepts of five Moscow districts were formulated as sets of benefits or district uses (needs satisfied and activities encouraged) offered to residents. The concepts are expressed in terms of typical constructions but reflect the distinctive features and specificities of the districts. Research limitations/implications – Defining places as product concepts pushes the place product analysis, benefit and lifestyle segmentation forward. Additional place product dimensions and investigated places are advised to improve the reliability of the used classifiers as a tool for documentary research. Practical implications – The developed analytical procedure is a much-needed supplement to existing techniques used to shape the product strategies of places. Identifying contradictory uses helps make product decisions that are appropriate in concurrently supporting all these uses, including providing spatial differentiation of the place product. The study results are thus useful for the development of city master plans characterized by long planning horizons and a high degree of conceptualization. Originality/value – The paper proposes a new method for place product analysis that combines the advantages of both standardized and narrative approaches, introducing a convenient way to address the issue of clarity when transforming a variety of place attributes into core place values and eventual place brands.

Purpose This paper aims to present concepts and tools for developing place branding that protects places from overbranding, redundant promotion and excessive tourism. Design/methodology/approach The concept of a product-based place brand that reflects local ways of life and local identities was introduced. A combination of projective, typological and narrative methods was applied. Three focus groups composed of future place managers were held in three countries (N = 27) to develop place brand vocabularies and typologies of verbal characteristics of abstract places as products for internal users (residents). Findings In most cases, the place brand vocabularies were consistent and compatible within each abstract type and were unique (mutually exclusive) between the types. The vocabularies contained both detailed and more generalized elements. For each place, short formulations of the general concept were found. Each brand vocabulary reflected the institutional, socio-psychological, cultural, historical and geographic differences of the countries involved in the research. Originality/value A conceptual and methodological framework for creating place brand vocabularies is offered, and it describes the close relationship between multiple internal brand attributes and their concise expressions appropriate for communication and high differentiation among brand attributes that facilitate the recognition of branded places by target and non-target audiences. The framework is applicable for designing verbal attributes of place brands for specific places to avoid overbranding effects.

Thepapershowsrelationshipsbetweenthecharacteristicsofresidents andtheplaces,wheretheylive.Acombinationofthreecriteriaofplace attractiveness(retentionandattraction,conditionsfornaturalgrowth,and settling)waschosentoclassifyplaces,andprofilesoftheirbeneficiaries onthetheoreticallevel.Theresultsoftheempiricalstudypartiallyconfirmthedevelopedtheoreticaltypologies.Twomethodstosegmentplace marketareequalonlyifexpectationsofpopulationareconstant.Study resultsallowplacemarketerstoidentifyemergingshiftsinthestructure ofbeneficiariesofspecificplacesandpredicttheirfurtherevolution.

This paper demonstrates opportunities for the development of the place marketing theory given by pure model of local expenditures (Tiebout 1956) and concepts of the creative class (Florida 2004) and creative city (Bianchini and Landry 1995). Rethinking them in marketing terms, we then analyze their limitations and show why their re-examining can support competition analysis, targeting, and marketing policy of places. In the discussion section, main directions of theoretical research in place marketing are highlighted.