The economic liberalism, globalization and
more recently the economic crisis are general
phenomena leading to changes of territorial management practices. Within these practices, place
marketing and branding are of crucial importance
in promoting an image of the city and bringing some added value to a place. Although an
emerging challenging problem for local authorities, few scholars are currently addressing the
subject, in terms of delivering a branding modus operandi for the practitioners, be they local authorities or private agencies. The present
paper conducts an in-depth analysis of the most
recent writings showing how product marketing
techniques apply to place marketing, with an
emphasis on city branding, presenting the manner in which the place branding process was
improved in two of the most representative cities of Transylvania: Sibiu and Cluj-Napoca. The
paper’s main objective is to highlight the role of
territorial marketing which can become, through
one of its components, namely place branding,
an important trigger for the local communities
development by the means of strategic planning. In this respect, the present work displays
an overview of some of the most illustrative theoretical models regarding city branding, an insight
on the Romanian city branding process within
the two aforementioned cities and, finally, some
brief recommendations regarding the place and
the role of branding process for local authorities.
The paper assumes that although place branding is an efficient tool for promoting a territory’s
identity (already proven in several European cities), Romania is at the beginning of this process.
The few significant achievements (the ones from
Sibiu and Cluj-Napoca being the most notable)
still cannot make the most of their urban identities and values, neither at national, nor at international level. Last but not least, this kind of
papers might raise some awareness among local
stakeholders on the importance of these somehow new techniques.