Place Marketing, Branding and Communications

Session Details

(Limited number of spaces)

Date	14th May 2025
Time	11:00 - 15:00
Delivery Method	Online (Via Teams)
Cost	£100 or £300 for non-members
	Enrol here

Place marketing and branding are key elements of successful place management

Place marketing and communications are key elements of successful place management, especially at these times of recovery and ‘building back better’. Town centres, cities, regions, tourism destinations need to win back the trust of their populations and re-gain confidence in their reputation. Inspiring reputation-building activities, collaborative communication measures, co-ordinated marketing and branding tactics in the physical and digital sphere are vital components of place management and leadership. Place marketing, branding and communications are often misunderstood as simple commercial tactics, despite their potential to help transform places and their communities. That is why the Institute of Place Management is running this one-day Masterclass defining what successful place communication means in the #buildbackbetter era. This masterclass helps local leaders from local authorities, BIDs, business and the wider community gain the necessary skills and knowledge in order to contribute to building and maintaining stronger, sustainable reputation for their places.

Why join the Masterclass?

The aim of this one-day masterclass is to strengthen the knowledge and capacity of participants to become more effective place leaders who can stimulate recovery and initiate transformation.

The masterclass will define place marketing and communication, share ideas and practices of effective place branding and explore their contribution to successful place leadership and transformation. You will join peers to examine different aspects of place communication in the physical and digital context, and hear from experts on effective practices and examples from across the sector.

The Masterclass will cover key questions, such as:

What is place communication and place marketing?
What is the role of place branding and communications in building stronger place reputation?
How does place branding build effective identity?
What are the challenges and opportunities of place communication in the digital world?
What does effective contemporary place branding practice look like?

Agenda

Timings	Agenda	Speaker
11:00 – 11:15	Welcome to the Masterclass	Prof Mihalis Kavaratzis Professor of Place Marketing MMU Manchester, UK
11:15 – 11:30	Introduction to place communications	Prof Mihalis Kavaratzis Professor of Place Marketing MMU Manchester, UK
11:30 – 12:10	Branding Tasmania with the help of the 'Little Tasmanian'	Marisa McArthur Project Manager Brand Tasmania Hobart, Australia
12:10 – 12:50	Place branding in Ghent: The Ghent state-of-mind	Eveline Vincke Brand Manager Ghent, Belgium
12:50 - 13:30	Lunch Break
13:30 - 14:10	How do you stand out when you are often overlooked?	Mark Mobbs Place Brand and Marketing Lead Sheffield, UK
14:10 - 14:50	From oldest city to boldest city – the story of branding Turku city centre	Kirsi Eronen Town Centre Manager Turku, Finland
14:50 - 15:00	Closing remarks	Prof Mihalis Kavaratzis Professor of Place Marketing MMU Manchester, UK

Speakers:

Mihalis Kavaratzis is Professor of Place Marketing (Manchester Metropolitan University) and holds a PhD on City Marketing. Mihalis is Senior Fellow of the Institute of Place Management and has co-founded the International Place Branding Association. His publications include some of the most-cited work in the field of place branding and he has co-edited (amongst others) ‘Inclusive Place Branding’ (with M. Giovanardi and M. Lichrou, 2017) and ‘Rethinking Place Branding’ (with G.Warnaby and G.J. Ashworth, 2015).

Kirsi Eronen is the Executive Director of the Turku Center Association. Kirsi holds Master’s degrees in both Social Sciences and in Business Administration. Kirsi is a member of Institute of Place Management and a co-founder of Syke ry , a national association for Finnish downtown professionals. Kirsi has played a key role in advancing city centre development and facilities management as part of her work within the city administration, and combined with her current role, has given her broad and diverse perspective to urban centre development. In recent years, she has been actively involved in shaping the brand of the centre of Turku City, taking on a variety of roles to drive the project forward.

Mark Mobbs is the place brand & marketing lead for Sheffield, the 4^th largest city in England, and the 2^nd greenest city in the world. Over the last 8 years and counting, he has worked in partnership with anchor institutions to embed, roll out, and continually develop the city’s brand. His focus, across trade, tourism, and talent, is simple: increase awareness and improve perception to drive willingness and grow economic value.

Mark’s career in brand and communications has included some of the world’s most renowned agencies on award winning work across all sectors – from re-branding Legal & General to overhauling Warburtons. He has a BA in Philosophy, an MA in Film Studies, and has worked on everything from film scripts to vineyards - even as a Ranger for the Department of Conservation in New Zealand.

Enrol here