Place branding through public management lenses: supplementing the participatory agenda

Local participation and support are integral to any successful place branding exercise. However, this is easier said than done. The tools for cultivating support from local players in place branding are quite limited. To expand on participation as a conceptual framework, this paper explores the application of public management lenses to place branding. The public management domain offers insights and a toolbox for place branding scholarship and practice. By examining Tasmania’s “Go Behind the Scenery” branding strategy, this study explores the various and complex processes of mobilizing local support for the brand. Our main findings concern the complex processes of brand knowledge dissemination, negotiation, persuasion (and, at times, coercion) in the branding exercise, to align perimeters of value creation, stakeholder interests, and operational capacity. We eventually draw three lessons.