Drivers and inhibitors of national stakeholder engagement with place brand identity

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the factors that drive and inhibit national stakeholder organisations’ engagement with an established an umbrella place brand identity (PBI) in the context of country branding, during the PBI implementation stage. 

Design/methodology/approach: This study adopted a case study approach to examine Australia’s current country brand identity initiative: Australia Unlimited, as an example of PBI. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with senior executives (n = 39) representing 30 Australian national organisation stakeholders across a range of sectors (i.e. government agencies, public and private organisations and industry associations).

Findings: The tension between the PBI and the brand identity of the stakeholders’ own organisation was an emergent finding at the heart of potential disengagement. Moreover, stakeholders’ perception of the leadership of the organisation managing the place brand plays a key role in influencing their engagement with PBI.

Research limitations/implications: The findings contribute to place marketing theory by identifying drivers and inhibitors of stakeholders’ engagement that originated from the PBI itself (PBI-centred factors) and from the stakeholder organisations (stakeholder-centred factors).

Practical implications: The findings provide a practical framework for place brand managing organisations to foster stakeholders’ engagement during the implementation stage of a PBI initiative. 

Originality/value: Place branding research to date has focussed primarily on resident stakeholders’ engagement in the development of PBI initiatives. This paper contributes to knowledge by proposing a framework that encompasses the drivers and inhibitors of national stakeholder organisations’ engagement with PBI during its implementation phase.