Constructing consensus and conflicts

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to discursive dynamics in place marketing collaboration, which has the potential to construct common ground between stakeholders or provoke discursive struggles emerging from competing accounts. Design/methodology/approach The paper applies a discursive perspective to collaboration and uses the discursive model of the collaboration to analyze dynamics between stakeholder representatives in two regional level place marketing projects carried out in Eastern Finland in 2011-2014. An analysis of 23 interviews focuses on how stakeholders construct shared understandings of project issues and interests, and discursive struggles that emerge from competing accounts and heterogeneous spaces. Findings Identified issues in the projects related to the competitiveness between regions, peer pressure to carry out place marketing and a lack of budget resources for marketing for gaining visibility. Broader discourses of competitiveness and promotion provided shared discursive resources for the collaborators. An analysis of the interests of specific organizations revealed discursive struggles that relate to the spatial content of place marketing activities and also the symbolic content of the image of the region. Research limitations/implications While the paper underlines the embeddedness of collaboration within broader discursive contexts and cultural sensitivity attached to communication, it does not cover how broader discourses constrain communicative processes or how cultural context influences them. Originality/value The paper presents an original perspective on stakeholder collaboration in place marketing projects by highlighting the discursive aspects of communication, and especially the construction of shared understandings as a central element in collaboration. This is useful for facilitating and coordinating stakeholders’ communication, which has been considered important for the success of place marketing and branding activity.

The role of social capital in the institutionalization of regional place marketing activity

“…Secondly, while the place marketing literature has advanced the knowledge on the performance variables of place marketing and branding activity, the research on the social outcomes of the collaborative processes is still lacking. By underlining the importance of social capital for the institutionalization of the place marketing activity, the study contributes to interactive and communicative approaches that have emerged in the recent place marketing and branding literature (Stubbs and Warnaby 2015;Ripoll Gonzalez and Lester 2018;Halme 2020). Additionally, it contributes to the discussion on the impact of the (especially project-based) place marketing activity, by arguing that the development of structures and social relations which can sustain the activity after the projects have finished should be taken as a key variable when evaluating the impact of the place marketing activity.…”

“…Literature has covered extensively the impact of the place marketing and branding activities on the places and target groups, from the marketing performance perspective (Witte and Braun 2015;Zenker and Braun 2015;Foroudi et al 2016;Rauhut and Rauhut Kompaniets 2020). However, outcomes of the collaborative processes between participants have not received enough attention, although recently the interactive and communicative dimensions have gained more traction (Stubbs and Warnaby 2015;Ripoll Gonzalez and Lester 2018;Halme 2020). Regarding such outcomes, in a recent study, Donner et al (2017) mentioned that cooperation and network efficiency can be considered as a key success in the context of regional branding.…”

Sectoral brand management: a social constructionist approach in the business-to-business market

“…In this context, the social constructionist approach might help mitigate branding challenges by encouraging dynamic brand management and the stakeholders’ jointly constructed understandings throughout the brand management process (Dinnie, 2018; Halme, 2020; Hunter, 2016).…”