Skip to main content
Log in

Crossroads between city diplomacy and city branding towards the future: case study on the film cities at UNESCO Creative Cities Network

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Place Branding and Public Diplomacy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The paper holds twofold purpose. First, the study seeks to find potential synergies between public diplomacy and place branding at city level. Second, from that standpoint, it pursues to identify potential contributions of the city of film title for developments on branding and diplomacy of cities. The research is designed to answer the questions: (1) what is the common ground of city branding and city diplomacy? and (2) how can cities’ titles potentially contribute to the future from the intersection of city diplomacy and city branding? Thus, the literature review investigates city diplomacy in the public diplomacy perspective, outlined by the multilayered diplomacy approach, while city branding is analyzed through place branding. Then, a case study is performed on the film cities at UNESCO Creative Cities Network, specifically Galway, Bradford, Busan, and Sydney. The analytical frame named ‘CBCD crossroads matrix’ is an outcome of this research consisting of the intersection between Cull’s components of city diplomacy and Kavaratzis’ components of city branding. Data were collected from reports and interviews, then examined by content analysis and soft systems methodology. Findings indicate potential opportunities for improvements and bring evidence that the crossroads of city diplomacy and city branding flows towards a joint future avenue.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acuto, Michele. 2016. City diplomacy. In The Sage handbook of diplomacy, ed. Costas Constantinou, Pauline Kerr, and Paul Sharp, 510–520. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Acuto, Michele, Hugo Decramer, Juliana Kerr, Ian Klaus, and Sam Tabory. 2018. Toward city diplomacy: Assessing capacity in select global cities. Chicago: The Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Acuto, Michele, Mika Morissette, and Agis Tsouros. 2017. City diplomacy: Towards more strategic networking? Learning with WHO healthy cities. Global Policy 8 (1): 14–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anholt, Simon. 2002. Foreword. Journal of Brand Management 9 (4–5): 229–239.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anholt, Simon. 2004. Editor’s foreword to the first issue. Place Branding Public Diplomacy 1 (1): 4–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anholt, Simon. 2006a. Public diplomacy and place branding: Where’s the link? Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 2 (4): 271–275.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anholt, Simon. 2006b. The Anholt-GMI city brand index: How the world sees the world’s cities. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 2 (1): 18–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anholt, Simon. 2007. Competitive identity: The new brand management for nations, cities and regions. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arceneaux, Phillip, and Shawn Powers. 2020. International broadcasting. In Routledge handbook of public diplomacy, 2nd ed., ed. Nancy Snow and Nicholas J. Cull, 50–63. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashworth, Gregory J., and Jan Hendrik Voogd. 1990. Selling the city: Marketing approaches in public sector urban planning. London: Belhaven.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashworth, Gregory J., and Jan Hendrik Voogd. 1994a. Marketing and place promotion. In Place promotion: The use of publicity and marketing to sell towns and regions, ed. John R. Gold and Stephen V. Ward. Chichester: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashworth, Gregory J., and Jan Hendrik Voogd. 1994b. Marketing of tourism places: What are we doing? Journal of International Consumer Marketing 6 (3–4): 5–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashworth, Gregory J., Mihalis Kavaratzis, and Gary Warnaby. 2015. The need to rethink place branding. In Rethinking place branding: Comprehensive brand development for cities and regions, ed. Mihalis Kavaratzis, Gary Warnaby, and Gregory J. Ashworth, 1–11. London: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell, Niall, and João R. Freire. 2004. The differences between branding a country, a region and a city: Applying the brand box model. Brand Management 12 (1): 50–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Checkland, Peter. 2003. Systems thinking. In Rethinking management information systems: An interdisciplinary perspective, ed. Wendy Currie and Bob Galliers, 45–56. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cull, Nicholas. 2017. Beyond the rot: cities and the future of public diplomacy. In The soft power 30: A global ranking of soft power 2017, ed. Jonathan Mcclory, 105–108. London: Portland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cull, Nicholas. 2019. Public diplomacy: foundations for global engagement in the digital age. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cull, Nicholas. 2020. The foundations and future of public diplomacy. Presentation at the CPD training workshops, Los Angeles, USA, 13 May 2020.

  • Curtis, Simon, and Michele Acuto. 2018. The foreign policy of cities. The RUSI Journal 163 (6): 8–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/03071847.2018.1562014.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denzin, Norman K., and Yvonna S. Lincoln. 2005. Preface. In The Sage handbook of qualitative research, ed. Norman K. Denzin and Yvonna S. Lincoln, IX–XIX. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • di Martino, Luigi. 2020. The spectrum of listening. In Routledge handbook of public diplomacy, 2nd ed., ed. Nancy Snow and Nicholas J. Cull, 21–29. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dick, Bob. 2002. Soft systems methodology. AREOL: Action research and evaluation online. https://www.aral.com.au/areol/areol-session13.html. Accessed 27 Apr 2020.

  • Dinnie, Keith. 2016. Nation branding: Concepts, issues and practice, 2nd ed. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dinnie, Keith, and Efe Sevin. 2020. The changing nature of nation branding: Implications for public diplomacy. In Routledge handbook of public diplomacy, 2nd ed., ed. Nancy Snow and Nicholas J. Cull, 137–144. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dobbs, Richard, Sven Smit, Jaana Remes, James Manyika, Charles Roxburgh, and Alejandra Restrepo. 2011. Urban world: Mapping the economic power of cities. https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Featured%2520Insights/Urbanization/Urban%2520world/MGI_urban_world_mapping_economic_power_of_cities_full_report.ashx. Accessed 31 Jan 2020.

  • Dudek-Mánkowska, Sylwia, and Miroslaw Grochowski. 2019. From creative industries to the creative place brand: Some reflections on city branding in Poland. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 15 (4): 274–287.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans, Graeme. 2003. Hard-branding the cultural city: From Prado to Prada. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 27 (2): 417–440.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fan, Hong. 2014. Foreword. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 10 (4): 53–254.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flick, Uwe. 2007. Managing quality in qualitative research. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Florek, Magdalena. 2011. Online city branding. In City branding: Theory and cases, ed. Keith Dinnie, 82–90. London: Palgrave MacMillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Florek, Magdalena, Andrea Insch, and Juergen Gnoth. 2006. City Council websites as a means of place brand identity communication. Place Branding Public Diplomacy 2 (4): 276–296.

    Google Scholar 

  • GFK. 2018. Paris continues its reign as highest-rated city. Press release. https://www.gfk.com/fileadmin/user_upload/dyna_content/Global/documents/Press_Releases/2018/20180130_PM_CBI_2017_efin.pdf. Accessed 20 Jan 2020.

  • Gilboa, Eytan. 2008. Searching for a theory of public diplomacy. Annals AAPSS 616: 55–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilboa, Eytan. 2015. Public diplomacy. In International encyclopedia of political communication, ed. Gianpietro Mazzoleni. Hoboken: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goff, Patricia M. 2020. Cultural diplomacy. In Routledge handbook of public diplomacy, 2nd ed., ed. Nancy Snow and Nicholas Cull, 30–37. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Govers, Robert, and Frank Go. 2009. Place branding: Glocal, virtual and physical identities, constructed, imagined and experienced. London: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, Miriam. 2000. Branding cities: A social history of the urban lifestyle magazine. Urban Affairs Review 36 (2): 228–263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hankinson, Graham. 2001. Location branding: A study of the branding practices of 12 English cities. Journal of Brand Management 9 (2): 127–142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hankinson, Graham. 2004. Relational network brands: Towards a conceptual model of place brands. Journal of Vacation Marketing 10 (2): 109–121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hankinson, Graham. 2007. The management of destination brands: Five guiding principles based on recent developments in corporate branding theory. Brand Management 14 (3): 240–254.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hankinson, Graham. 2010. Place branding theory: A cross-domain literature review from a marketing perspective. In Towards effective place brand management: Branding European cities and regions, ed. Gregory Ashworth and Mihalis Kavaratzis, 15–25. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanna, Sonya Azad, and Jennifer Rowley. 2011. Towards a strategic place brand-management model. Journal of Marketing Management 27 (5–6): 458–476.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanna, Sonya Azad, and Jennifer Rowley. 2013. A practitioner-led strategic place brand management model. Journal of Marketing Management 29 (15–16): 1782–1815.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanna, Sonya Azad, and Jennifer Rowley. 2015. Rethinking strategic place branding. In Rethinking place branding: Comprehensive brand development for cities and regions, ed. Mihalis Kavaratzis, Gary Warnaby, and Gregory Ashworth, 85–100. London: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartig, Falk. 2019. Public diplomacy: Internationale PR für Staaten eine Annäherung. Wiesbaden: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herstein, Ram. 2012. Thin line between country, city, and region branding. Journal of vacation Marketing 18 (2): 147–155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hocking, Brian. 1993. Localizing foreign policy: Non-central governments and multilayered diplomacy. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hocking, Brian, Jan Melissen, Shaun Riordan, and Paul Sharp. 2012. Futures for diplomacy: Integrative diplomacy in the 21st century. Hague: The Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hospers, Gert-Ja. 2020. A short reflection on city branding and its controversies. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie 111 (1): 18–23. https://doi.org/10.1111/tesg.12386.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Insch, Andrea. 2014. Positioning cities: Innovative and sustainable strategies for city development and transformation. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 10 (4): 249–252.

    Google Scholar 

  • Insch, Andrea, and Magdalena Florek. 2010. Place satisfaction of city residents: Findings and implications. In Towards effective place brand management: Branding European cities and regions, ed. Gregory Ashworth and Mihalis Kavaratzis, 191–204. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ipsos. 2019. Germany retains top “Nation Brand” ranking, France and Canada emerge to round out the top three. News Release, November 18. https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/Germany-Retains-Top. Accessed 20 Jan 2020.

  • Kavaratzis, Mihalis. 2004. From city marketing to city branding: Towards a theoretical framework for developing city brands. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 1 (1): 58–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kavaratzis, Mihalis. 2005. Place branding: A review of trends and conceptual models. The Marketing Review 5: 329–342.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kavaratzis, Mihalis. 2009. Cities and their brands: Lessons from corporate branding. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 5 (1): 26–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kavaratzis, Mihalis. 2010. Is corporate branding relevant to places? In Towards effective place brand management: Branding European cities and regions, ed. Gregory Ashworth and Mihalis Kavaratzis, 36–48. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kavaratzis, Mihalis. 2012. From ‘necessary evil’ to necessity: Stakeholders’ involvement in place branding. Journal of Place Management and Development 5 (1): 7–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kavaratzis, Mihalis. 2019. City branding. In The Wiley Blackwell encyclopedia of urban and regional studies, Ed. Anthony Orum. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118568446.eurs0046.

  • Kavaratzis, Mihalis. 2020. Is ‘city branding’ worth re-visiting? Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie 111 (1): 24–27. https://doi.org/10.1111/tesg.12403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kavaratzis, Mihalis, and Gregory J. Ashworth. 2006. City branding: An effective assertion of identity or a transitory marketing trick? Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 2 (3): 183–194.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kavaratzis, Mihalis, and Gregory J. Ashworth. 2010. Place brand: Where do we stand? In Towards effective place brand management: Branding European cities and regions, ed. Gregory Ashworth and Mihalis Kavaratzis, 1–14. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krippendorff, Klaus. 2003. Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology, 2nd ed. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leonard, Mark. 2002. Public diplomacy. London: Foreign Policy Centre.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucarelli, Andrea, and Per Olof Berg. 2011. City branding: A state-of-the art review of the research domain. Journal of Place Management and Development 14 (1): 9–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Melissen,. Jan. 2005. The new public diplomacy: Between theory and practice. In The new public diplomacy: Soft power in international relations, ed. Jan Melissen, 3–27. New York: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merrilees, Bill, Dale Miller, Wei Hao, and Carmel Herington. 2014. Linking city branding to social inclusiveness: A socioeconomic perspective. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 10 (4): 267–278.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moilanen, Teemu, and Seppo Rainisto. 2009. How to brand nations, cities and destinations: A planning book for place branding. London: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nye, Joseph Samuel, Jr. 2010. The pros and cons of citizen diplomacy. The NY Times, October 4. https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/opinion/05iht-ednye.html. Accessed 31 Jan 2020.

  • Nye Jr., Joseph Samuel. 2019. Soft power and public diplomacy revisited. The Hague Journal of Diplomacy 14: 7–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pamment, James. 2013. Articulating influence: Toward a research agenda for interpreting the evaluation of soft power, public diplomacy and nation brands. Public Relations Review 40: 50–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pamment, James, Alexandra Olofsson, and Rachel Hjrth-Jenssen. 2017. The response of Swedish and Norwegian public diplomacy and nation branding actors to the refugee crisis. Journal of Communication Management 21 (4): 326–341.

    Google Scholar 

  • Papadopoulos, Nicolas. 2004. Place branding: Evolution, meaning and implications. Place Branding Public Diplomacy 1 (1): 36–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parkerson, Brenda, and John Saunders. 2005. City branding: Can goods and services branding models are used to brand cities? Place Branding Public Diplomacy 1 (3): 242–264.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pisarska, Katarzyna. 2016. The domestic dimension of public diplomacy: Evaluating success through civil engagement. London: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rainisto, Seppo. 2003. Success factors of place marketing: A study of place marketing practices in northern Europe and the United States. Doctoral Dissertation, Helsinki University of Technology, Institute of Strategy and International Business.

  • Samuel-Azran, Tal, Betti Ilovici, Israel Zari, and Orly Geduild. 2019. The Hot Duddes and Hummus—Israel’s Yummiest’ campaign for Israel’s branding. Place Branding Public Diplomacy 15 (1): 38–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Santos, Niedja de Andrade e Silva Forte dos. 2019. Diplomacia da cidade e política pública externa municipal: as cidades criativas brasileiras na UNESCO. Cadernos do Observatório VII: 14–19. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GoeV2zMuEjcBTB3wVcRFH2zZZeOtvDb8/view. Accessed 31 Jan 2020.

  • Schindler, Caitlin E. 2018. The origins of public diplomacy in US statecraft: uncovering a forgotten tradition. Cham: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott-Smith, Giles. 2020. Exchange programs and public diplomacy. In Routledge handbook of public diplomacy, 2nd ed., ed. Nancy Snow and Nicholas J. Cull, 38–49. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharp, Paul. 2005. Revolutionary states, outlaw regimes and the techniques of public diplomacy. In The new public diplomacy: Soft power in international relations, ed. Jan Melissen, 106–123. New York: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Signitzer, Benno H., and Timothy Coombs. 1992. Public relations and public diplomacy: Conceptual convergences. Public Relations Review 18 (2): 137–147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snow, Nancy, and Nicholas J. Cull (eds.). 2020. Routledge handbook of public diplomacy, 2nd ed. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Szondi, Gyorgy. 2008. Public diplomacy and nation branding: Conceptual similarities and differences. Clingendael Discussion Papers in Diplomacy. https://www.clingendael.org/publication/public-diplomacy-and-nation-branding-conceptual-similarities-and-differences. Accessed 25 Jan 2020.

  • Thomas, Gary. 2016. How to do your case study, 2nd ed. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trueman, Myfanwy, and Nelarine Cornelius. 2006. Hanging baskets or baskets cases? Managing the complexity of city brands and regeneration. Working paper 06/13, Bradford University School of Management, Bradford, UK. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.135.7741. Accessed 30 Apr 2020.

  • UNESCO. 2019. Reporting and monitoring. Creative cities network.https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/content/reporting-monitoring. Accessed 1 July 2019.

  • UNESCO. 2020a. About us: What is the creative cities network. Creative cities network.https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/content/about-us. Accessed 1 Feb 2020.

  • UNESCO. 2020b. Mission statement. Creative Cities Network. https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/sites/creativecities/files/Mission_Statement_UNESCO_Creative_Cities_Network.pdf. Accessed 4 June 2020.

  • van der Pluijm, Rogier, and Jan Melissen. 2007. City diplomacy: The expanding role of cities in international politics. Hague: The Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael.

    Google Scholar 

  • Velikaya, Anna A., and Greg Simons. 2020. Russia’s public diplomacy: Evolution and practice. Cham: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Villanova, Carlos Luis Duarte. 2017. Diplomacia pública e imagem do Brasil no século XXI. Brasília: Funag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Jian. 2006. Localising public diplomacy: The role of sub-national actors in nation branding. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 2 (1): 32–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Jian. 2020. Opening remarks to the lecture of governor Eleni Kounalakis. Presentation at the CPD training workshops, Los Angeles, USA, 2 June 2020.

  • Ward, Stephen V. 1998. Selling places: The marketing and promotion of towns and cities 1850–2000. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. 2015. Competitive cities for jobs and growth: What, who, and how. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/ 10986/23227. Accessed 28 Jan 2020.

  • World Bank. 2020. GDP: Current US$. The World Bank Data. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?most_recent_value_desc=true. Accessed 28 Jan 2020.

  • Yin, Robert. 2002. Case study research: Design and methods, 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, London, New Delhi: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Shixin Ivy, Yi Wang, Nancy X. Liu, and Yat-Ming Loo. 2020. Ningbo city branding and public diplomacy under the belt and road initiative in China. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41254-020-00161-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Reports

Interviews

  • Carew-Reid, Amelia. 2020. Interview by Niedja de A. e S. F. dos Santos. Personal interview with manager of Screen Industry Development at Create NSW, deputy focal point of Sydney to UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Sydney/Santos [whatsapp], 23 Feb 2020.

  • Duggan, Alan. 2020. Interview by Niedja de A. e S. F. dos Santos. Personal interview with manager of Galway Film Centre, focal point of Galway to UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Galway/Santos [whatsapp], 21 Feb 2020.

  • Wilson, David. 2020. Interview by Niedja de A. e S. F dos Santos. Personal interview with director of Bradford City of Film, focal point of Bradford to UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Bradford/Santos [whatsapp], 13 Feb 2020.

  • Kim, Anika. 2020. Interview by Niedja de A. e S. F dos Santos. Personal interview with Coordinator for UNESCO Creative City of Film Task at Busan Cinema Center, designated focal point of Busan to UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Busan/Santos [whatsapp], 27 Feb 2020.

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author thanks the anonymous reviewers for their careful reading, insightful and generous comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Niedja de Andrade e Silva Forte dos Santos.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

dos Santos, N.A.S. Crossroads between city diplomacy and city branding towards the future: case study on the film cities at UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Place Brand Public Dipl 17, 105–125 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41254-020-00174-3

Download citation

  • Revised:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41254-020-00174-3

Keywords

Navigation