QUT BUSINESS SCHOOL SCHOOL OF ADVERTISING, MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

Semester 1, 2012 UNIT CODE: AMN404 UNIT NAME: Readings in Integrated Marketing Communication LECTURERS NAME: Dr. Lynda Andrews SUPERVISOR'S NAME: Dr. Constanza Bianchi STUDENTS NAME: Sean Sercan Tokdemir STUDENT NUMBER: N 8648549 DUE DATE: Friday 1th June ASSIGNMENT NUMBER & DESCRIPTION: 3 & The role of the stakeholder partnership in the nation branding

Literature Review: The role of the stakeholder partnership in the nation branding

Abstract

This literature review examines nation /destination branding area in the frame of stakeholder collaboration factor. Different definitions of nation branding have been researched. The importance of area for researchers, practitioners and decision makers has been explained. In addition multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary structures of field have been highlighted. Disagreements between academics and research gap have been identified. The managerial problem -the role the of stakeholder collaboration in the success of place branding- has been structured based on present studies and current situation in the real world practices. The literature review analysed recent case studies around the globe to find out how stakeholder collaboration played an effective role in the success of destination branding with empirical researches and concrete examples. Some researches revealed that stakeholder cooperation helped the destination succeed and others exposed the lack of cooperation results in failure. Based on the literature review more research questions and objectives have been proposed for future investigations.

1)Introduction Nation branding has become one of the most popular catchphrases of the last decade, bringing together scholars and practitioners not only from marketing, but also from a growing number of other fields. (Szondi, G.,2010). The concept of nation branding was introduced to literature by Anholt (1998). According to author nation branding is a method which enforce countrys reputation via political, commercial,cultural and social relations with other countries. Nation Branding an emerging and crucial concept for public and private decision makers. Some researchers imply that increased competition for tourists and investments makes it more important (Buhalis, 2000; Caldwell & Freire, 2004).

Nation/destination branding is a very broad and complex research area which embodies different disciplines. From a wider perspective nation branding may include export promotion, inward investment, tourism and public diplomacy (Dinnie, Melewar, Seidenfuss, & Musa, 2010). Nation branding is a process by which a nations images can be created or altered, monitored, evaluated and proactively managed in order to enhance the countrys reputation among a target international audience(Fan 2010). According to Blain, C., Levy, S. E., & Ritchie, J. (2005) destination branding is the set of marketing activities that: - Support the creation of a name, symbol, logo, word mark or other graphic that readily identifies and differentiates a destination. - Consistently convey the expectation of a memorable travel experience that is uniquely associated with the destination. - Serve to consolidate and reinforce the emotional connection between the visitor and the destination.

 Reduce consumer search costs and perceived risk.

It is seen that there is a lack of consensus between academics about terminology, whether to use an umbrella term like place branding which has wider coverage or separate nation branding as a different field. Some academics prefer to use Place branding to cover nation, region, city and destination branding terms (Lucarelli & Berg, 2011). On the other hand, Fan (2010) clearly distinguishes nation branding from place branding, in terms of complexity and the scope. He demonstrates that nation branding has a multifaceted and sophisticated structure which makes it harder to build and also research. Taking into account these circumstances this literature review examines articles which include following terms: Nation Branding, Destination Branding, City Branding, and Place Branding. As the scope of the area is quite large and covers multiple disciplines there are several common points especially, in terms of managing the image of a destination or a place.

1.1.Managerial Problem

Buhalis (2000) suggested that destination branding should not be treated like other products and service in the process of marketing. Nevertheless, every single place has unique geographical, environmental and socio-cultural features. Therefore, the involvement of multiple stakeholders makes it challenging in terms of capability to conduct complex process and obtain the organising power in the frame of public-private partnership and leadership for efficient place branding (Kavaratzis, 2009). Hankinson (2009) asserts that the place product is a unique combination of buildings, facilities and venues which represent production by a multiplicity of autonomous service business, both public and private. All the stakeholders involved like media, hotels and restaurant businesses, the cultural sector, retailers, travel and 4

transport share common interest and targets (Hankinson, 2009). As a senior industry practitioner Bennett (1999) interprets that destination marketing is particularly challenging due to its nature which is a combination of government, large and small business and the natural environment.

In many industries and governance, reputation and growth of both the organisations and the countries are heavily dependent on sustainable nation branding vision. Successful nation branding strategy requires consolidated coordination and collaboration between NGOs, government and companies. Balakrishnan (2009) indicates that one of the main components of destination branding process is the vision and stakeholder management. Prideaux and Cooper (2003) point out that the manner in which private and public sector stakeholder organisations work together through a recognised destination marketing organisation will influence the overall rate of growth of destinations, particularly when origin markets are located in another state or overseas. Failure to develop a collective approach to marketing will create problems for the destination as it attempts to promote itself in a competitive market-place, particularly as it increases in size.

Stakeholder partnership is one the main component in strategic management process. In a highly competitive and fast-paced global business environment, establishing a consolidated collaborative approach is essential for organisations. Svendsen (1998) points out the importance of corporate management strategies around the globe based on collaborative relationship which balances the interests of all stakeholders will bring success to companies in the future. An effective stakeholder strategy needs to be constructive, supportive and takes into account the goals of all the organisations involved (Savage et al., 2011). Bowen (2005) emphasises the significance of stakeholder partnership by stating: Collaboration is a means

to an end, allowing stakeholders to accomplish more together than they could, acting individually or alone. Instead of being hampered by bureaucratic norms and procedures, multi-organizational collaboration should be encouraged.

As results of the research conducted by Prideaux and Cooper (2003), the critical elements to successful destination marketing are: close cooperation, not competition, by local government authorities. a progressive employment of marketing strategies and tools over time according to geographically defined markets. adoption of a single brand for the destination.

Considering the current trends and circumstances in the industry and research practises the managerial problem is stated as: Does creation of a successful Nation Brand compel the partnership of various different stakeholders? Does successful nation branding strategy requires consolidated coordination and collaboration between NGOs, government and companies ?

1.2. Research Gap

Pike, Bianchi, Kerr and Patti (2010) state that even though some progress has been made in destination branding research, there are still significant gaps in the practise of professionals and organisations. Considering the fact that tourism is a highly competitive and growing sector, there is an evident need for an extensive literature review. Practical challenges faced by destination marketing organisations (DMOs) like national tourism offices (NTOs), state

tourism offices (STOs) and regional tourism organisations (RTOs) are some of the main gaps in the literature. Pike reports that there are nine major gaps in the literature:

In depth case studies of the politics of destination brand decision making. Destination brand umbrella strategies. Involvement and buy in of the host community. The extent to which destinations are able to generate different brand positioning strategies to suit the needs of different markets.

Involvement and buy-in of the tourism industry. The extent to which customer relationship marketing (CRM) is used to stimulate increased loyalty and repeat visitation.

The effectiveness of brand slogans and logos. Brand licensing revenue as an alternative funding source. Measurement of destination brand performance effectiveness over time. (Pike, 2009)

According to Lucarelli and Berg, (2011) many studies have taken a mono-disciplinary approach such as planning, marketing, urban, tourism, public policy and sociological, however the field has a multi and cross disciplinary structure.

2.Literature Review

Literature Review will analyse different case studies and articles from various discipline, considering stakeholder partnership plays an essential role in the process of place branding and marketing or not. Hankinson (2009) shows that stakeholder partnership is considered as critical factor in order to maintain successful destination branding management by top executives. Dinnie, Melewar, Seidenfuss, & Musa, (2010) confirm by their research the importance of collaboration between the private- public sectors, government, counterpart organisations in foreign countries to achieve of the countrys nation branding goals in terms of export promotion, inward investment, tourism promotion and public diplomacy. Prideaux and Cooper (2003) examined the destination marketing strategy of Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast (Two leading tourism destinations in Queensland, Australia). While both destinations have similar conditions, Gold Coast achieved significant growth by supporting single brand strategy. On the other hand, the evidence from the Sunshine Coast study demonstrates that lack of unity amongst the organisations will create weak brand image to tourists or investors and smaller revenue. However, in 2007, Queensland Reform Commission published a report which suggests the amalgamations of three local governments. This report states the interdependency of industries and business especially in tourism sector. (Queensland Local Government Reform Commission, 2007). In March 2008 three councils merged to form Sunshine Coast Regional Council. (S.C.C., 2012) Therefore, Queensland Government and local councils followed suggestions of authors in order to strength tourism industry development and effective management strategies in other areas.

Marzano and Scott (2009) argue that destination branding is influenced by the power struggles, interactions and value reflections of multiple stakeholders. However, the result of their case study shows no evidence of manipulation amongst the various forms of power. Nevertheless, it could be claimed that power struggles between different institutions is a major obstacle in the process of implementing coordinated Nation Branding campaigns and strategies. Hornskov (2007) points out that in the example of resund, there are significant level of disagreement between different organisations. Some studies reveal that effective stakeholder partnership create succesful outcomes for destinations or countries. In those cases, destinations benefits from positive image and reputation, also they receive higher revenu from tourism industry and foreign investment rates increases.

Bianchini and Ghilardi (2007) demonstrate that effective place marketing requires greater collaboration between private, public, voluntary sectors, administrators and other disciplines such as urban historians, sociologists, anthropologists, environmentalists, artists, political scientists and psychologists based on the research from Sweden and the UK.

Urban marketing strategy in Amsterdam based on private-public partnership is particularly important for sustaining the brands viability and making periodic changes when it is necessary to adapt to the dynamic reality. Authors suggested Amsterdam as a model for Bucharest. For successful branding, different departments of municipality, business sector, NGOs, consultancies and advertising agencies (Popescu & Corbos, 2010)

A research reveals that stakeholders role is crucial. Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) has been able to create a strong travel destination brand with stakeholder partnership, positioned as 9

attractive niche actor in the global tourism market. TNZ's revised business plan identified the importance of better communications with stakeholders. Its specified goal was to enhance relationships with the tourism industry and stakeholder by refining channels of communication and developing new media for the exchange of information specifically by: (Morgan, Pritchard, & Piggott, 2003) - developing and piloting an external communications plan to include road shows and presentations with industry sectors, including Maori; - developing a global corporate database to support TNZ's relationship management and communications activities, consistent with the IT and communications strategy; - expanding the scope and depth of the tourism trade website to present research, intelligence and corporate information better to the industry; developing an intranet for TNZ, housed within the trade website, to enhance internal communications.

Researching the success of the Pure NZ campaign, Bhat and Gaur (2012) show that its vital the adoption of the same approach by all stakeholders. Destinations success and future cooperation should based on mutual understanding of each others objectives and working together to achieve shared goals with the same action.

Tourism organisations in north-east Scotland are collaboration oriented at integrated regional level to ensure longevity in an increasingly interdependent industry. Also industry leaders are willing to embrace the creation of regional destination marketing organisations structure and function in order to remain viable (Atorough & Martin,2012).

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The success of Swissnex Boston (a Switzerland initiative to promote its science and technology, higher education and innovation environment) relies on reciprocal partnership with various stakeholders (academic, business, government).The use of two way symetrical communication approach gained the organisation distinguished position among other foreign representations in the area (Fetscherin & Marmier, 2010).

Niagara region is shared by USA and Canada and represent one of the succesful example of binational tourism initiave around the globe. American and Canadian authorities work in close partnership on their binational tourism strategy and binational positioning in order to remain competitive as a major global destination in the world. Numerous collaborative approach have been impleted like : - The establishment of the Binational Tourism Alliance; - The focus by all levels of government to resolve security issues without harming the economic partnerships in this region; - New investment in New York State tourism products and services and continued investment in Canadian offerings; - A binational transportation strategy developed by the province of Ontario and the state of New York; and - Ongoing government funding for various binational initiatives during this time period (Jayawardena, White, & Carmichael, 2008).

Mossberg and Getz (2006) assert that festivals and events can be managed as brands (incorporated with related city or geographical area) as long as stakeholders involved in the process. However co-branding with powerful stakeholders like local governments and key

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sponsor may create risks besides of benefits. That can lead conflict of objectives and threatens the main requirement of successful branding, which is the consistency.

On the other hand, where there is not effective collaboration between stakeholders, destinations may not reach their planned objectives or to change undesirable image.

In the example of the island of Santorini, Greece, the lack of adequate and/or appropriate government involvement and lack of trust towards to government created grievance in relation, undesirable negative image abroad. Such as Greek Mentality which is related to local and national authorities and it is the source of the negative association of Greeks in other countries. Therefore that undesirable image creates unfavourable effects on the tourism industry (Lichrou, O'Malley, & Patterson, 2010)

While there are concentrated efforts to improve Icelands brand image, Gudjonsson (2005)s findigns shows that many stakeholders do not participate actively in campaigns.It is suggested that all parties need to collaborate for a stronger country image and to reach desired outcomes. The author claims that the main challange for stakeholders is the nature and diversity of nation branding which is lack of ownership and controllability.

Thailand is experiencing problem from a negative image of sex tourism. This situation creates significant disadvantage for Thaliand in the competitive global market. Results of the research done by Krittinee (2007) show that in order to promote positive positioning of the nation, implementation of place branding strategies needs to be supported by local residents, government sectors and business organisations. Another example unwanted national image is Israel where country is experiencing long-lasting political crisis. Avraham (2009) demostrates 12

that Israel is still suffering from negative perception among international community despite numerous PR and marketing campaignes. The Author asserts that the lack of coordination between government PR officals and lack of overall PR strategy are main reasons.

In Eastern European countries, Szondi (2007) lists lack of strategic coordination and synergy between stakeholders and well established IMC campaigns. Some organisation or instutions which are engaged in country promotion may obstruct the process. For example, Croatia is avery popular tourism destination but ineffective in public diplomacy. It shows uncoordinated messages and strategies from different stakeholders involved.

Stakeholder collaboration may look difficult to realise in the countries where tourism experiences planning and management challenges, as well as fundamental problems of development. Lack of communication channels, political will, reconciliation of opinion differences between stakeholders concerned caused the failure of an income-generating scheme at Luang Prabang, Laos (Aas, Ladkin, & Fletcher, 2005). The same problem occurred in Malaysia between private and public sectors, especially in terms of tourism planning, development and how to better promote trade or passenger volume. According to representative of local authorities and tour operators there is a need and synergy creation between public and private sectors (Cheuk, Liew-Tsonis, Ing, & Razli, 2010).

A comparative case study between Cambodia and Taiwan reveals that, unlike Taiwan, Cambodian national tourism organisation are able to integrate destination policy, planning, development in to the countrys overall development plan and conduct coherent marketing and promotional activities despite limited financial sources (Lee & Chen, 2010). Another comparative study shows that in Guam, great community participation with strong and

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effective stakeholder coordination reinforced a positive image to satisfy tourists needs in comparison with Vietnam (Bui & Perez, 2010).

Conversely, Harish (2010) suggests by analysing Incredible India campaign, the unified approach is necessary only in the inital stage of the brand-building process. Once country reached the reputable destination image, further growth can be achieved by differentiating smaller geographical area brands independtely in order to attract more focused target groups. At the first stage, nation brand can support region or city brands. Once they achieve a strong and popular brand, they can be positioned indivually and independantly without any endorsment by nation brand.

3.Conclusion

Nation Branding is an emerging concept of the 21st century. Recently, it became a popular research area for many different disciplines from marketing to diplomacy and public administration. Especially, in the area of the tourism industry, nation branding gained considerable importance because of a highly competitive global market. There is lack of consensus in terms of terminology; following terms have been used to identify: Nation Branding, Destination Branding, City Branding, and Place Branding. Lucarelli and Berg (2011) proposed place branding as an umbrella term which covers the entire domain. Due to unique components and circumstances of the field, it is a challenge for researchers and decision makers.

As a result of the features of the destination branding, multiple stakeholders are naturally involved in the process of branding a place. Some authors stated the importance of

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stakeholders role in order to reach desired outcomes (Bennett, 1999; Prideaux and Cooper 2003; Kavaratzis, 2009; Hankinson 2009).The managerial problem at this literature review is : Does creation of a successful Nation Brand compel the partnership of various different stakeholders? Does successful nation branding strategy requires consolidated coordination and collaboration between NGOs, government and companies ?

It has been found that there are research gaps in the area, for instance, the practical problems of tourism organisations and lack of multi disciplinary approach. It has been demonstrated by various researchers mentioned in this review that stakeholder cooperation is crucial in successful place branding. On the other hand, lack of efficient collaboration amongst stakeholders results in failure of the desired outcomes. It is also observed that in many destination branding strategies require Integrated Marketing Communications approach which will provide consistent and harmonious messages towards the target audiences. A necessary area for further research should definitely investigate the various styles of collaboration and involvement between multiple stakeholders and also how could it be accommodated amongst a wide array of disciplines. It is also seen that some researched may have approached the subject from the standpoint relevant only to their geographical area. This may result a in a certain bias outlook of the subject (Avraham, 2009 ; Cheuk, et al., 2010; Lee & Chen, 2010).

Majority of the studies have concentrated on Western countries or destinations which already have very developed nation branding strategies, while only a limited research has been conducted to explore place branding practices in developing countries like Africa or Latin America.

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