In Search of Place Brand Identity: 'How We see Us'

Place branding relates both to brand identity (what the place is) and brand image (what the place is/should be in the eyes of external audiences). Brand identity can be perceived as the set of values and attributes that those responsible for marketing and development of a place wish to reinforce and market. However, a critical question to be addressed is how to define these core values and attributes in a place context and consequently, how to establish the ‘we’ that should be the basis, upon which to develop and market the destination. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges that arise when trying to establish destination brand identity by means of more inclusive, bottom-up approaches. Drawing on both literature studies and the authors’ active involvement in destination branding across more than 50 Danish destinations, particularly the paper discusses how to decide who to give voice to in this process, how to practically give these actors voice and how to obtain consensus on core values and attributes across these actors.