Branding Cities and Nations Cross-culturally - Book Report/Review Example

9 May Because if the ceaseless and rather boundless transformationof marketing strategies as a result of the rapid changes in various political, economic, and cultural aspects, there always seems to be a new way of carrying out trades. Owing to this fact, cities around the world present themselves in a cross-cultural-based method, which is, manifesting uniqueness and distinction from any other city in the globe through images that draw a clear comparison of opportunities, which gives a particular city an edge to attract businesses through branding (Mihalis 5).

In this case, high culture and popular culture becomes critical sources for these images that are used to reinforce the branding representation of the city (Richards and Wilson 1932). The intensifying competition between cities in a congested ground of images is one of the most critical reasons that encourage cities to implement such branding methods, or even the so-called “hard branding” that pursues to alter or convert “fixed cultural capital” (1932) into reasonable and inexpensive edge by means of presenting the cultural activities or the creation of cultural benchmarks.

City branding is heavily associated with the former industrialism; although, today, the approach seems to appear like a tweaked version that uses cultural idiosyncrasies, and is also connected to improving the urban scenery with internationally labelled “arts and entertainment destinations” (1932), which is being summarized in something that can be called “dream city.”Works CitedMihalis, Kavaratzis. “Branding the City through Culture and Entertainment.” Urban and Regional Studies Institute, University of Groningen, n.d. Web.

9 May 2013. Richards, Greg, and Julie Wilson. “The Impact of Cultural Events on City Image: Rotterdam, Cultural Capital of Europe 2001.” Urban Studies 41.10 (2004): 1931-1951. Print.