Can you close your eyes for a while and reflect on the the city where you are staying? What exactly flashes on the mind's eye? Whatever comes is all about the image of the city in your mind. Paris is known for Romance, Milan for Style, New York for Energy, Washington for Power, Tokyo for Modernity, Barcelona for Culture, and Rio for Fun. These are some of the well- known and successful city brands. In the marketing context, Brand can be defined as "the symbolic embodiment of all the information connected with a product or service". A brand typically includes a name, logo and other visual elements such as images or symbols.
It also encompasses the set of expectations associated with a product or services which typically arises in the minds of the people. City brands project a unique identity and icon of the city to the world. There are certainly some strong and cognizant motives as to why people love to live in a particular city. We are living in the era of globalization where competition becomes an inevitable part of our life. Not only products and services, even cities are competing with each other to attract residents and investors. Nowadays, city planners are spending millions of dollars to create an effective brand image of the city to acquire the attention of existing and potential residents and investors. Cities are competing for luring people for a lavish lifestyle and in order to achieve this objective, there is a need to build and maintain a strong city brand. |
