Download Proceedings of 5th Annual American Business Research Conference

Proceedings of 5th Annual American Business Research Conference
6 - 7 June, 2013, Sheraton LaGuardia East Hotel, NY, USA, ISBN: 978-1-922069-24-5
Place Branding and Investment Attraction: A Critical
Analysis of City, State, Region, and Nation Advertisements
David Gertner and Rosane K. Gertner
Advertising spending is expected to surpass half a trillion US dollars in 2013. A
significant share of these investments have been used to promote cities, states,
regions and nations to potential investors, visitors, residents, and others. Place
branding and public diplomacy have become important disciplines attracting the
attention of an increasing number of scholars and practitioners. While myriad
places, from tiny remote locations to leading nations, have arguably developed
a “place brand” and adopted strategic marketing concepts, many of them seem
to be merely investing in advertising. This study analyzed 223 print
advertisements promoting 47 places that appeared in two business magazines,
BusinessWeek and The Economist, between 2009 and 2013. The objective was
to assess whether these advertisements’ sponsors had a marketing strategy in
place with a well-defined target market, clear positioning, and a distinctive
selling proposition. The analysis suggests that many places may be wasting
considerable funds advertising without strategic thinking.
Field: Marketing
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David Gertner, Associate Professor of Marketing, Pace University, USA.
Rosane K. Gertner, Associate Professor of Marketing, College of Staten Island, CUNY, United States.