Some important distinctions in place branding

Abstract

‘Brand’ is a difficult word. The problem of defining it has spawned thousands of papers and articles in the marketing field, and it is still widely misunderstood. ‘Brand’ is one of those jargon words like ‘trauma’ and ‘phobia’ which serve for years, performing a humble descriptive role within their own specialist sector. Then, for some reason, the specialist sector suddenly becomes the focus of public attention, and there is a mad rush for the jargon. Words get appropriated, first by journalists, then by the population at large and finally by politicians, and used for all the wrong purposes in all the wrong places. The words quickly lose their edge and are eventually discarded because they do not seem to work properly any more.