The Influence of Stakeholder Involvement on the Effectiveness of Place Branding

The assumption in the governance literature is that stakeholder involvement enhances the chances of success of governance processes. Place branding has a strong governance character in that it involves many different actors and the government is one of the parties in the branding process. This article draws on survey data acquired from professionals involved in city marketing and branding in the Netherlands to analyse whether stakeholder involvement leads to a clearer brand concept and increased effectiveness of city brands in terms of attracting target groups. The analysis shows that involving stakeholders does make a difference and has positive effects on the clarity of the brand concept.