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In any marketplace, the corporation or service must be seen as desirable to thrive. The marketing techniques used in corporate arenas have similar focuses as city marketing. Place marketing process starts with analyzing market opportunities, developing marketing strategies and implementing them. The main elements of the place marketing process, also known as the framework and elements, are divided into three components: producers, the market and the consumers. It is the responsibility of place marketing to transfer an identity of the city Into something desirable to the residents, visitors and Investors.
For example, Barcelona used the 1 992 Olympic games as a branding opportunity. Landmarks, such as the Grades Familial, were referred to during the games and a new brand Image started being re-created across the world. Just having an event as important as the Olympics is a type of branding because it gives of the image of Barcelona being able to sustain such a large event and have support of the residents. It gave Barcelona the opportunity to show different aspects of what it had to offer including the culture, history, food, language and blossoming areas within the city.
The successful development of a place can be one through improving the quality of living, increasing investments, and attracting individuals and business, which can be done by looking at a place in four ways: place as character, as a fixed environment, a service provider and as entertainment and recreation. The aesthetics of the place creates an Image of what the place has to offer. The development of place based on Infrastructure and design require the availability of goods and services, thus Inviting those Industries to locate In the city. This in turn is another way of city marketing.
If word spreads that a specific place aeries a product or service, simply that will attract people to invest their time and money there. Convention centers, restaurants and both public and private investors attract more people to enjoy the city by providing entertainment and recreation with modernized parks and providing things for the community to do. Place branding is one of the most important components of place marketing. Reputation is the most important thing in both business and personal relations. A bad reputation, or brand, can ruin a person or place’s future.
Places can be branded based on a product or service offered. When you think of cheese steaks, one associates Philadelphia. This Is a branding Image. Place branding focuses on Increasing the attractiveness of a place as well. Geographical locations are often branded Like a product or service. The name of the place Is then associated with that specific brand. For example, the clothing company Mango has “Barcelona” written on the bottom of its signs and bags. Corporation and place are branding each other. When one sees a Mango outfit, the association is to Barcelona and vise versa.
In doing this, both reputations are working with each other. Developing a strong brand needs a clear brand identity and brand position. Successful place branding requires an understanding of how to develop the brand identity of the place through understanding the people, history and future goals. Brand identity refers to the image the place has in the marketplace. Brand identity can develop strong relationships between customer and product. With this comes brand loyalty. When people agree with a belief, they stand by and support it.
Portraying a consistent image that would attract different types of people and industries is the key, Just like in corporate marketing. Focusing in on the positive elements and what amenities a place can offer will help establish a desirable image that both residents and tourists will want to be a part of. In the Industrial Revolution, the marketing focus was on living the American Dream. With mass production and the manufacturing industry, the city was desirable on its own. Marketers sold want people wanted, not what was needed because there was so much product.
The city didn’t care about the people, it cared more about the product and profit. The products and services the industrial areas offered made the cities more desirable. This is why people kept coming into the cities willingly. It was a time of revolution until the supply exceeded demand. Cities became dark and quiet and the suburbs became more desirable to live. Crime, poverty and violence became a consistent theme in industrial cities. Because cities like Barcelona were known as industrial cities, there was no reason to visit or live there after the Industrial Revolution ended. The cities were dirty and abandoned.
The factory cities needed to rebound themselves like an phone upgrading its applications. Like a product, cities began hanging what people didn’t respond well to and adopting what they did. Cities started paying attention to the residents and what visitors need in order to have a good time. Post-Industrial Cities During the Industrial Revolution, industrial cities were booming with production and profit. After the industrial revolution, cities that were once rich in profit were then mainly filled with empty factories and abandoned houses because no one could afford them any longer.
The bad taste the cities left in the mouths of many who frequented them during the industrial revolution stuck around for some time. Cities received terrible reputations and lacked desirability to live there. Shantytowns formed and the once positive city brands declined. Something had to be done and that was a rebinding. Places like Barcelona had to find new and exciting attractions and reasons for people to come back into the city. City brands aren’t built in a day; image takes years to develop and stay.
Because there was no reason for people to go into the cities and no tax revenue coming in because no one was buying and selling, they needed to find different industries to bring back revenue. Instead of manufacturing industry, cities began focusing more on rebuilding quality of life, transportation, entertainment, knowledge based corporations, businesses and tourism. Finding other ways to make money was the post-industrial idea. Quality of Residents of the cities were not happy with the amount of tourists and visitors in their city that they would leave.
In turn this would take away from the originally desired brand that was created. Barcelona is an example of being a victim to its own success. Places in Barcelona like Lass Rambles became so popular that it is now tourism ridden and residents avoid it. Four As of Marketing There are universal rules that apply to all successful marketing in the product and service industries. These are represented by characteristics affecting buyer behavior. This includes product, price, positioning, and placement of what is being sold. This is known as the four up’s of marketing.
Product is the goods or service you are providing. When determining a product, one would ask how beneficial the product will be, what it will solve and is it unique. Pricing depends on what the initial costs are to create the product and what the location and competitor prices are. Promotion is deciding what kind of advertising the product will need, if it needs any at all. It is important to advertise appropriately and direct it at the appropriate audience. Lastly, placement determines where the product will be available for purchase.
Marketers have to figure out what locations demand the product or service and where it will profit most. Cities can also use the four up’s to market itself to people. From an economic point of view, a city can be seen as a product that is being sold to individuals seeking a new place to live and to businesses looking to relocate or branch out. Attributes such as industry specialties, educated workforce, arts and entertainment, and natural resources all become points of differentiation between cities. ” What the place has to offer becomes apart of the places brand.
This is why computer companies are mostly found in Simi Valley, country music performers are more often than not seen or found in Nashville and actors and actresses in LA. These cities offer resources that those individuals and businesses want and need to succeed. For IT companies, it’s access to the best entrepreneurs and universities. In Nashville, country music artists eve venues to practice and perform along with the comfort of being close to home. In LA, actors work in the studios that are located downtown LA and in Hollywood. If there weren’t resources in these areas, there would be no reason to be there.
Governments, through taxes, usually set pricing for cities. Subsidies and loans are given to new businesses to encourage them to locate to the city. Financing and cheaper rent is offered to increase development in specific areas of a city. On the individual side, private investors give money to support the growth of business in specific areas as well. Cost of living is a factor in pricing. If the residents can’t afford to live in an area, there is no use in moving. Cities have to find a balance in pricing and image. All of these factors shape where individuals, businesses and potential employees choose to go.
Place is the most difficult part of the four up’s to compare between corporate marketing and place marketing because re-placement of cities is not possible. One cannot cut out LA and move it to the Bahamas. However, cities have the ability to affect traffic. Cities can be changed into a desirable town with the addition of an airport and train station. When people see how many flights are available during a day to a specific city, they might become curious and be more cities as well. Building of a train station or metro station can increase the accessibility for people to get to and from a city.
These are the closest things a city has to moving itself throughout the world. The placement of a city is usually immovable but Just because you can’t move a place doesn’t mean you can’t influence people to move there. City promotion is similar to product promotion and city branding. Some cities use commercials and paid advertising; others focus on rankings in magazines or websites like Yelp. Com. Some cities let the people who have visited do the adverting for them. This usually includes personal and professional blobs, Faceable post and washrag groups on Twitter, thus spreading news like rapid fire.
Cities also send press releases and other PR materials on special events happening, such as, conventions and big concerts that could welcome people from other parts of the world. Cities host trade fairs where other cities and states can present what their place has to offer to corporations and individuals looking to broaden their network. Barcelona is a prime example of city that uses the four up’s of marketing to market itself. Barcelona not only sells itself as a city where people can come enjoy entertainment and fun night life, but a place where businesses can flourish and students can learn at some of the top ranked universities.
Whether it is the desired brand image or not, Barcelona is known for relaxing beaches, great food and fun nightlife. Students from all over the world chose Barcelona as a destination because they are aware of the products and services it has to offer. The vast historical sights, clean beaches with restaurants and shops alongside and clubs open all night attract a younger demographic. Working tit the image it has now, Barcelona is trying to shift from a party destination to a place where business can start and prosper.
Boston in the best example of a city that used pricing as a marketing tool. Boston is a large city with over 90 colleges in the area. Predominantly college students, the city has a plethora of bars and cheap eats. The Red Sox games used to be one of the most popular places to go on a week night or weekend. The area of Landowner Street would be packed with students and tourists. Slowly people drifted away from that area because the drinks became too expensive when tourists took over. This in turn scared residents away; like Barcelona, it was a victim to its own success.
To solve this problem and get people interested in Landowner Street, Fenny Park lowered the price of beer. By lowering the cost of beers and cleaning up the streets, Landowner Street grew in popularity. California is a state that utilizes promotion in its marketing strategy. Specifically, Southern California uses television commercials broadcasted across the world showing off what great opportunities and amenities it has to offer. People know Southern California as the main part of the “golden state,” where the beaches are always the reflect temperature and the people beautiful.
What they don’t know are the drastically different climates one can experience driving through Southern California; the different cities that offer different industries; the different outdoor activities available; and attractions people have forgotten about. In these commercials, 30 seconds is dedicated to promoting the positive aspects of region in hopes of receiving more visitors turned residents. Place branding is significantly important today because the global marketplace of instant communication and democracy require the opinions of the people to count as much as the opinions of powers in ore important than before.