Effects of Local Dynamics on City Branding: The Case of Gaziantep Province

*Ali Acet*

#### **Abstract**

 Cities, with globalization, broke their local crust and attempted to prove themselves on international ground and to exist. In order to remain in a strong competition environment, they need sustainable branding policies with various strategies. The main objectives in the process of competition with other cities are to become a center of attraction in tourism and culture with the help of city branding, to increase its growth and development, to be revived economically, and to market the city in general. To achieve these goals, cities need to create an identity and image of the city by using their own values in the process of branding. In the process of creating city identity and city image, local dynamics have a critical role. When the local dynamics covering the history, culture, and economic activities of the city are used with the right strategies, it is expected to make significant contributions to the city branding. In this study, the branding process of Gaziantep Province was examined, and the examples of how the local dynamics are used in this process are shown with sample applications.

**Keywords:** city branding, city identity and city image, local dynamics, Gaziantep City branding

#### **1. Introduction**

City branding, in its simplest definition, is the application of product branding strategies on cities. However, the city branding process is a more comprehensive and complex process than the process of marketing a product. Before looking at the process of city branding, it is necessary to look at the concept of globalization, which contributes to this process. Globalization describes a process that precedes both in local and universal directions, pointing to an extremely dynamic and changing concept rather than a static structure. Globalization continues to influence the different areas of the world with each passing day, and in this way, it continuously adapts its existing structure with its new initiatives and movements.

On the basis of the globalization process and the concept of inter-city competition, the desire is to increase its power in the global environment by attracting national and international capital and investors. City branding aims not only to provide a competitive advantage among the cities but also to provide advanced investment, to develop tourism, and to achieve social development. Also, any national and international capital that leads to the city is not only in the economic sense of the city; social, cultural, political, managerial in many dimensions both on a global scale and at the national and local scale.

Lovering states that the process of reconstruction of cities requires ideological and cultural manipulations [1]. At this point, to enable cities to show their presence in a competitive environment and to increase the performances and competitiveness of cities, one of the concepts taken from business jargon to planning agenda was "branding of cities." In order to exist in a global market, such as any product consumed, cities should become a brand by developing strategies that stand out in terms of differentiation of the city.

Cities cannot suddenly become a brand with the marketing strategies they have developed to explore their original values. At this point, city identity and city image concepts should be analyzed in order to create a city brand. When determining the identity and image of the city, the local dynamics of the city should be used. A city's economy, industry, culture, and tourism item, covering all kinds of local dynamics, should be considered separately. After analyzing how each local dynamic element will contribute to the process, the elements deemed appropriate should be included in the process. In this study, the use of local dynamic elements in the process of branding in the province of Gaziantep has been shown through sample practices, and their contribution to urban branding has been examined.

#### **2. City branding**

#### **2.1 The concept of city branding**

City branding is a multidisciplinary field that includes local actors, tourism sector, marketers, and investors. Due to its multidisciplinary nature, different approaches have emerged within the framework of specific values. Based on these approaches, some studies have been conducted on city marketing including cities, regions, and similar geographical formations.

In the competitive environment brought by globalization, cities have become an object of consumption, and the idea that cities can be marketed as a commercial product or service has emerged. With the emergence of the idea that the marketing concept used for businesses can also be used for cities, the concept of city marketing has been widely accepted throughout the world. In this sense, city marketing is thought to be a commercial product or service, but the city marketing concept is much more than that: the potentials of the city and the effective use of these potentials.

The potential of a city to become a brand has become the most effective tool in determining the competitiveness of that city in the global market. Today, more than half of the world's population lives in cities. UN Habitat projects that the city population in 2030 will grow up to 61% and the number of people living in city areas estimated as 5 billion people will increase [2]. For this reason, a significant number of cities, towns, or even small towns have attempted to renew their existing brand or create a new brand.

According to Lucarelli and Berg, city branding is a symbolic way of shaping all information about a city for a purpose [3]. Balakrishnan mentioned that city branding can be used as a political, economic, and cultural strategic tool [4]. Also, Björner argued that this concept was a tool to explain the city's competitiveness, spatial quality, history, lifestyle, and culture [5].

Professional-level city branding requires a combination of planning and marketing disciplines with expertise (**Figure 1**) [6]. The process of creating a city brand is a process that is considered together with the specific characteristics of the city, the structure of the city administration and the marketing strategies it provides, and the city development strategies that constitute the spatial planning process of the city.

*Effects of Local Dynamics on City Branding: The Case of Gaziantep Province DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.87836* 

**Figure 1.**  *City branding [6].* 

The process of implementation of the branding strategy is also seen as an important tool in defining an identity and image of the city. All the applications of the city branding are part of the city marketing process to create a strong image for the city. Image of the city transforms into a tool that is to be considered as a product of the city itself and to be more prominent than other products.

#### **2.2 Determining strategies in city branding**

 The activities of cities in the process of being a brand city include the long-term development strategy of that city. In the process of city branding, a road map of the cities in the future refers to the vision of the cities. The vision of the city at the stage of marketing is based on predicting and understanding the position of the city in the long term in the global market. At this stage, the mission is defined as the definition of the highest level that the place can reach. In the process of city branding, it is possible to determine the policies for the development of the city and to be able to focus on the future to carry out these policies by having a city vision [7]. The strategic analysis of the process can be defined as a detailed evaluation of the strategic information used in the fulfillment of the main tasks defined by the organization.

In order to determine which characteristics of the cities can be used for branding, it is important to know what the elements of the city branding first are. Besides the knowledge that city branding elements will benefit the city at the point of branding, the current situation analysis of the city should be done well.

In the process of city branding, strategic situation analysis of the city should be done first. It is necessary to determine which characteristics of the city are strong or weak in terms of branding and what might be the opportunity or threat to the city for branding in the external environment. This analysis is also a tool for the city to develop strategies for the future. Although there are many methods used for strategic situation analysis in the process of organizational strategy formation, the most commonly used method is strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat (SWOT) analysis method. However, in analyzing the role of local dynamics in city branding process, mostly its strengths and opportunities should be highlighted.

In order to examine the status of the strategic management process in cities, it would be beneficial to look at the city management stakeholders. These stakeholders can be listed as central government, local government, private sector organizations, nongovernmental organizations, professional chambers, universities, development agencies, local associations, and media. Local administrations have undertaken a great task like city infrastructure and superstructure,

environmental and environmental health, cleaning of solid waste, afforestation and green areas, culture and art, tourism and publicity, youth and sports, social services, and help areas.

 Even though local governments have the highest responsibility among stakeholders, city management stakeholders should not be perceived only as local governments. The strategic planning process works with the joint responsibility and contribution of all stakeholders in the city. It is of vital importance that stakeholders, who come together for the purpose of branding the cities, work together for a common purpose and act together. It should be known by all actors who will contribute to city branding that branding is not a process that has only economic benefits. Therefore, this process should be adopted as a cultural phenomenon by all the stakeholders of the city, and it should be felt that the branding of the city is more than a final target.

#### **2.3 The significance of city identity and city image in the process of branding**

The concepts of city identity and city image have a strategic importance in the process of city branding. The city branding process has three stages as understanding the identity of the city, transforming the identity of the city into the image, and applying the publication of the city image. These processes, which are in a continuous and continuous interaction, cannot be separated by definite lines [6]. City identity refers to the definition of how the city's stakeholders should be perceived by the city brand. In other words, city identity can be expressed as the face of the city. City identity can be composed of sociocultural, demographic, geographic, climatic, and folkloric features of the city as well as the city's history, monumental structures, city squares, streets, and even human behaviors.

 The local dynamics that make up the source of city identity should be considered as a whole and synthesized accordingly. After identifying the city identity, only the city image can be mentioned. In order to create a successful city brand, the local dynamics of the city should be selected among the easily revived elements in the minds of the city users (**Figure 2**). Place images represent a simplification of a large number of associations related to the earth and parts of place-related information. The construction, communication, and management of the city image constitute a large part of the city's branding process. The reason for this is that the interaction between the city and the users of the city takes place through perceptions and images [8].

**Figure 2.**  *City identity, city image, and branding relationship.* 

*Effects of Local Dynamics on City Branding: The Case of Gaziantep Province DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.87836* 


#### **Table 1.**

*Local dynamics in city branding.* 

#### **2.4 The effects of local dynamics on city branding**

A city has major dynamics that contribute to the process of branding. These dynamics, which contribute both materially and spiritually, do not separate from each other with sharp lines and even interact with each other. Some elements in the city branding can be directly mentioned in the name of the city or with any activity of that city (**Table 1**). However, the most common elements of city branding can be listed as tourism, congresses, fairs, festivals, natural beauties, climate, flora and topography, historical and cultural heritage, city architecture and symbol structures, infrastructure, transportation and distance, education and sports, culture and art, investment and business areas, human, and gastronomy.

#### **3. City branding in Gaziantep Province**

#### **3.1 History of Gaziantep Province and general features**

Gaziantep, one of Turkey's southern provinces, is located as Turkey's sixth largest city and also the biggest city in the Southeastern Anatolia Region. Gaziantep is a metropolitan city with its population, economic potential, cultural richness, historical texture, and metropolitan status. Located at the intersection of the Mesopotamia, one of the first settlements of Anatolia and the Mediterranean Region, the city has hosted many civilizations and has maintained its importance throughout the history. The diversity of historical artifacts found in Gaziantep is an indicator of the city's cultural richness. Gaziantep, selected as one of the seven most competitive cities in the world within the scope of the World Bank Competitive Cities Knowledge Base Project (CCKB), seems to be considered a successful and interesting city in economic terms [9]. Gaziantep, modeled on the developing world cities, is an important province that provides economic integration between the Middle East and the west, which also includes the dynamics of economic and social development in our country's sustainable development process and also serves as a cultural bridge.

#### **3.2 Branding process of Gaziantep Province**

 The Gaziantep City branding project has been implemented in order to make the city a center of attraction in the country and abroad by highlighting some of the selfbranding values of the province of Gaziantep and to invite investors to Gaziantep. Gaziantep has a promising future potential due to its strategic location, young and dynamic population, strong economic structure, and high tourism potential. Gaziantep is a very important bridge that has connected the Mediterranean Basin and Mesopotamia throughout the history and has been the main production and trade center on the Silk Road for centuries. With Yesemek, Tilmen, unique historical heritage as Rumkale and Zeugma, world famous rich kitchen culture, a sample for the Anatolia industrialization showing industrialization model, and most importantly entrepreneur human profile, Gaziantep has become a brand in Turkey. With the brand city Gaziantep Project, first of all, it was asked to start an integrated branding process, by highlighting the values that differentiate Gaziantep from other cities. In the next step, it is planned to place brand awareness in the city and to implement a planned development process in this direction [10]:


According to the World Bank, Gaziantep is the seventh most competitive city in the world [9], has a very rich food culture, hosts the most spectacular museums and historical sites of the Mesopotamia, and has prepared the ground for the process as

the main theme. Therefore, three goals were determined for Gaziantep branding project. These objectives are determined as follows:


#### **3.3 Use of local dynamics**

 Throughout history, the people of Gaziantep have always stood out with their mastery. For example, the most important masters of Middle Eastern cuisine came from Gaziantep. In addition, the world's best baklava is undoubtedly made in Gaziantep. The city was notorious for its coppersmiths. The city has always been one of the centers of weaving in the world. The most beautiful mosaic examples of human history are found in Gaziantep, because Gaziantep is not just a city; it was a masterly state of mind. Based on these ideas, Gaziantep's unique spirit was branded a tagline as "Turkey's Masterly People" (**Figure 3**) [11]. This logo is designed with inspiration from geometric patterns. This design is considered as a metaphor representing the productivity, the harmony, and the culture of living and working together.

 This "G" logo is also designed to be used in different strategic categories of the brand as well as in various template themes. The pictograms applied in the Gaziantep City Corporate Identity Guide symbolize the values of the city of Gaziantep in the international language. It can be used as an auxiliary element in the printed works of Gaziantep City and its promotional materials. It is also possible to use these icons with different color transitions. The use of local dynamics in different categories with pictograms is shown in **Table 2**.

The fact that brand cities are able to market themselves in every field depends on the strategies made in this process. Therefore, the continuation of the city branding in a sustainable structure is possible with the local dynamics of the city. The choice of local dynamics, each with a distinctive advertising face, is very important in terms of being sustainable both nationally and internationally. For example, it is seen that each local dynamic element chosen for Gaziantep Province in **Table 2**  has a sustainable contribution to the city in different areas. However, different local dynamic elements may emerge in the course of time, which are thought to have contributed more or less. For this reason, national brand cities such as Izmir, Eskişehir, or international brand cities such as Madrid, Paris, and New York should be examined in order to include new elements in the process, and the values specific

**Figure 3.**  *Gaziantep Province "G Gaziantep" logo [11].* 


*Effects of Local Dynamics on City Branding: The Case of Gaziantep Province DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.87836* 


#### **Table 2.**

*Local dynamics in the city of Gaziantep on branding.* 

to these cities should be analyzed. Based on the local dynamics of other brand cities, appropriate elements should be selected, and the sustainability of city branding should be ensured by making necessary updates.

#### **4. Conclusions and recommendations**

With the effect of globalization, cities have entered into a process of change/ transformation and have started to compete with each other at the level of both local and international cities. As a natural consequence of competition, cities have developed various strategies to differentiate from others. At the beginning of these strategies, the idea is that the cities can be marketed as commercial products.

 It is inevitable for cities to need a vehicle to be marketed globally, like all kinds of consumer goods. Therefore, the promotion and marketing of the city have become possible only with a strong brand. Today, since city branding is an important goal for cities, city administrations have started to implement various action plans that will bring cities to the forefront. Branding strategies using a number of features of the city have enabled individuals to position the city as a brand in their minds. These strategies are also based on values that make up the identity of the city and transform this identity into a city image. City-specific values are the local dynamic elements that make the city self-brand. Local dynamics, an important tool for city identity and image, cover the history, cultural structure, socioeconomic structure, industrial and commercial activities, and tourism activities of the city.

At this point, Gaziantep Province has been selected as an example, and the effects of local dynamics on branding process have been examined. Looking at the process of branding in Gaziantep, the reason why the city needs to be branded is explained as follows: "Bringing the city into an attraction by emphasizing the selfbranding values of the city." The fact that Gaziantep was included in the Creative Cities Network of UNESCO's gastronomy branch and was selected by the World Bank as one of the seven most competitive cities in the world was due to the local dynamics of the city.

The richness of local flavors (antep cuisine, baklava, pistachio, etc.), handicraft (kutnu fabric, copper processing, mother of pearl embroidery, rug and carpet weaving, etc.) diversity, and being an expert in all areas of the business people of the city have contributed separately to the branding process. As a result of using these features of the city, Gaziantep is a brand city with the slogan "Turkey's Masterly People." The "G" logo, inspired by the initials of the province of Gaziantep, has also been put into use in the areas of different versions that address all the local dynamic elements.

As a result, local dynamics which play an important role in introducing the city and becoming a center of attraction should be dealt with separately in the process of branding. The contribution of each element to this process must be revealed. In addition, the elements that are thought to contribute should be monitored in terms of sustainable positive effect. City branding should not only design a logo for the city; the sustainability of the city branding project in social, cultural, and socioeconomic terms should be ensured. The city's management of these process stakeholders as local administrations, non-civil society organizations, members of the city council, the relevant professional associations, and business people has important duties. For sustainable city branding, positive and negative feedback about the process should be taken into account, and new policies should be defined by reviewing existing policies when necessary.

*Effects of Local Dynamics on City Branding: The Case of Gaziantep Province DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.87836* 


### **Author details**

Ali Acet Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality, Gaziantep, Turkey

\*Address all correspondence to: aliacet@gantep.bel.tr

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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#### **Chapter 44**
