Branding Knowledge-intensive Regions: A Comparative Study of Pisa and Oulu High-Tech Brands

Abstract

Place marketing and branding have drawn much attention both in the literature and in practice especially in the 1990s and 2000s. However, the research literature of place branding related to the dynamic evolution of knowledge-intensive regions is limited. This article aims at providing an analysis of place branding processes in knowledge-intensive regions in relation to the evolution of their high-tech clusters, in an attempt to identify the relation between brand development and cluster performance from a longitudinal perspective. The article discusses the results of a multiple case study, including Pisa, Italy and Oulu, Finland. The findings suggest that, in these two cases, branding consisted more in labelling an existing economic phenomenon rather than in fostering or having a bet on it in a visionary way. This is related to the political nature of branding which may provoke a mismatch between the timing of the high-tech cluster dynamics and the timing of branding initiatives, a mismatch which is likely to affect branding effectiveness and which should be considered when evaluating branding impacts.

Influence of country and city images on students’ perception of host universities and their satisfaction with the assigned destination for their exchange programmes

“…However, place brands are also built on the basis of the actions and reputation of the institutions (for example universities) and other stakeholders in a territory (Kavaratzis and Hatch, 2013;Pasquinelli and Teräs, 2013). This fact is evident in some cities with universities in the top positions of international rankings (for example http://www.shanghairanking.com/), such as Oxford and Cambridge in the United Kingdom, or Massachusetts in the USA, with Harvard University or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.…”

“…Therefore, as far as it is adequately communicated and it is known by the relevant targets, the city's image will allow the rapid identification and evaluation of any element (for example organisations, products or services) located or produced in that place (Zhang and Zhao, 2009;Pasquinelli and Teräs, 2013). In other words, the city brand acts as a signal, as an umbrella that helps to identify and evaluate the specific organisations or services located in that region by a process of transferring values and associations (Kavaratzis, 2004;Boland, 2008;Zenker et al, 2013).…”

“…In particular, despite the discrepancies regarding its conceptualisation (Anholt, 2010;Kavaratzis and Hatch, 2013), there is consensus that place branding enhances the capability of the country or city to attract valuable inputs and resources (Zhang and Zhao, 2009;Pasquinelli and Teräs, 2013), and specifically talent (Darchen and Tremblay, 2010;Zenker et al, 2013). In this sense, Zenker (2009) emphasises the need to develop specific place branding actions targeted at talented people (called the 'creative class' by Florida, 2002Florida, , 2005, such as students, high-qualification professionals or human resources in general.…”

From Tar City to Smart City

“…In Oulu's case, the triple-helix collaboration constructs the smart city as both: The city is developed through policies based on smart city ideology. Instead of examining the smart city through branding (Pasquinelli & Teräs 2013), imaginaries (Vanolo 2013) or storytelling (Söderström et al 2014), I study it as an ideology that produces specific socio-material realities, which in turn affect and are embodied in people's mundane practices, possibilities and sense of belonging to their city. This ideology is constructed in and produces power relations, and on everyday level, it enables certain practices and restricts others (Grossi & Pianezzi 2017).…”

City Branding and Local SMEs: A Smart Specialisation Perspective

“…This was evident in the analysis of innovation brands, aimed at fostering the reputation of the place where innovation is produced and consumed. Three following waves of city branding, respectively based on the models of the 'Silicon' place, the 'Creative' place and the 'Authentic' place, showed how city representation tends to fit with predefined scripts telling what an innovation hotspot is universally supposed to be and offer (Pasquinelli, Teräs 2011;Pasquinelli, Teräs 2013). The proliferation of 'clone cities' (Landry 2006;Hospers 2008) shows that a 'formula has emerged around the idea of differentiation' (Turok 2009); instead of triggering distinctive positioning, competition is likely to provoke 'recursive or serial monotony' according to which places' imageries tend to converge (Bramwell, Rawding 1996).…”