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Activities: Use the 6 slide sheet and double sided handout given out in class to                   answer the following Qs. All resources also on the following slides.

1. What is the difference between  Re­branding, Re­imaging and regeneration?

2. Why are re­imaging AND regeneration often both necessary for successful     rebranding to occur?

3. What does rebranding often rely upon?

4. Why is good infrastructure key to successful rebranding?

5. Why is rebranding necessary in a post industrial city? Refer to several     reasons in your answer.

6. Give three aims of rebranding.

7. Suggest 3 benefits of rebranding.

8. Why can rebranding sometimes be contested? Refer to different stakeholders     in your answer and explain fully. 

Extension

9. Give 4 different ways (tools that can be used) places can be rebranded.     Use named examples.

10. For a place to successfully rebrand, it must be 'liveable'. Why is this the case?       ­ Think about what you have learnt about Plymouth so far.

Homework 14: Re­Branding Theory

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Rebranding attempts to represent areas as being more attractive for potential investors, visitors and locals. This is done through regeneration schemes (physical changes such as new shopping centres) and re‐imaging (changing public perception of places through marketing).

It involves creating a new look or reputation for an area, often relying on an area's industrial or literary fame, altering the feel and attitude people have towards it and ultimately (hopefully) attracting national and international tourists, workers and investors. Having the right infrastructure and fabric in place is essential in urban areas for encourgaging personal and business investment. In an increasingly globalised, competitive and consumer‐orientated world, post‐industrial cities (such as Plymouth) have been forced to think more creatively in order to continue attracting visitors, workers and investment. Many have turned to marketing strategies to rebrand their image and reputation. Often this includes slogans to change the image of the city e.g. Plymouth ‐ 'Britain's Ocean City'.

There are two elements to a successful rebranding project:

• Regeneration ‐ the process of physically improving an urban or rural place to make positive changes. This involves investment in an area, perhaps in the form of infrastructure or other elements of physical fabric. This could include knocking down derelict buildings and building new ones (redevelopment) or improving the existing buildings in an area (renewal). Hopefully this triggers a process of cumulative causation (or the positive multiplier effect) via employment opportunities whether that be in sports arenas, cultural centres, heritage sites, and shopping and leisure facilities. The overall change is sometimes known as urban renewal.

• Re‐imaging ‐ Changing the image of a place through redesign and publicity. The area is 'sold' or 'advertised' with new packaging to change the impression investors have of the area and attracting people to it. Often a slogan is used.

Handout Part 1: What is rebranding?

The British nostaligic emotional attachment to the past can be a powerful way to make sure regeneration strategies are successful. They often hinge on industrial heritage of one form or another. In the case of Plymouth this is its maritime history from a fishing port, to Francis Drake and the Spanish Armada, to the Pilgrim fathers setting out to Newfoundland on the Mayflower to it's strategic centre as a naval base.

Various players benefit from regeneration as outlined in the table below, though not always at the same time or by the same scheme. This can lead to varying attitudes towards change and even conflict. The rebranding of Plymouth certainly benefits some of these 'players' more than others.

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• environmental rebranding ‐ to improve building quality and reduce dereliction • social rebranding ‐ to reduce poverty • economic rebranding ‐ to increase job opportunities • political rebranding ‐ successful bids for grants e.g. EU, National Lottery

Why rebrand?There are social, economic and environmental problems in many urban places.• Social ‐ high crime rate, antisocial behaviour, low‐achieving schools• Economic ‐ high unemployment rate, few job opportunities• Environmental ‐ disrepair and neglectIn recent years, one response to the problems faced by urban settlements has been to set up flagship projects which aim to change local people's perceptions and to bring job opportunities and further investment to the area. A particular focus for many projects has been CBDs and 'problem estates'. This section looks at rebranding in the CBD in more detail.

Benefits of rebrandingThe aim of rebranding strategies is to reduce the problems faced by urban areas.(i) Economic benefits of rebranding • new jobs (e.g. tourism, technology development, local management) to replace jobs lost in manufacturing • Increases in the average wage • more disposable income for locals, so they can spend more on local shops and services ‐ multiplier effect(ii) Social benefits of rebranding • increased access to shops and services • improvements to local skill levels(iii) Environmental benefits of rebranding • new uses of derelict buildings; improves landscape and appearance • higher wages fund home and garden improvements by local residents

Handout Pt 2 ‐ The process of rebrandingRebranding is making changes to a place to alter people's ideas of it as a place. A brand image generates a unique set of ideas, feelings and attitudes in people. To remain competitive, large companies sometimes overhaul or completely replace their images and relaunch themselves as fresh corporate brands. Similarly, competition between urban places to attract new investment, services, tourists and residents has led many urban areas to establish completely new brand identities. Rebranding an area can help people become aware of the existence of new place products and recognize that they possess real benefits, style and culture. It can help differentiate an area from other places and hence greatly assist its promotion as a product. Any rebranding process includes one or more of the following:

The Process of rebrandingThe main steps in rebranding comprise name creation and registration, the design of a logo and associated visual image, market research, and advertising. More fundamentally, rebranding might be seen either as a tactical issue whereby the new brand is operationally attached to the place product, or as an important strategic matter in which all the processes of the urban development authority revolve around the construction and development of the new brand.

The Problems InvolvedUrban regeneration typically involves the rebranding of the area concerned and can fundamentally change the character of a district. This may be highly controversial because the changes involved might result in the importation of financially well off residents, business infrastructures, and  cultural and leisure facilities more suited to better off people than to poorer pre­existing inhabitants (who might be driven out by rising property prices and rents).

A brand image suitable for one group of stakeholders (business investors for instance) may be inappropriate for others (e.g. pre­existing residents). Ideally, the brand assigned to a place will reflect its attributes, characteristics and core identity. In many cases, however, the area that is to be rebranded will have a history of social and economic problems and may be extremely diverse in terms of local residents' ethnicity, social class, culture, lifestyle, income levels and types of employment. There need be no unity of purpose among resident groups, each of which may perceive the 'city product' differently. Consequently it might be difficult to develop a brand that convinces everyone, from local citizens to potential foreign investors.

Pre­existing residents of a community may want its brand image to project the district’s local distinctiveness and the aspirations and cultures of current inhabitants. Urban development agencies, conversely, may seek to establish place brands grounded purely on commercial advantages, e.g. the availability of cheap labour, government incentives, low costs, ancillary business services, technology infrastructures, and an area’s international links and orientation. Such messages may have little meaning for local residents.

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marketing

e.g. 'Britain's Ocean City' ‐ Plymouth Science Park

‐ New Plymouth Uni buildings

‐ Drake Circus shopping centre

‐ Royal William Yard

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Which of the aims below relate to Plymouth?Dodgy dock town to tourist, business and coastal living destination

Reviving Maritime Past

A tourist/yachting/business/research destination rather than navy/ship building

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Plymouth

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Don't you just love it when theory and a case study dovetail.

Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth

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Multiplier Effect or Cumulative CausationThe introduction of a new industry or the expansion of an existing industry in an area also encourages growth in other industrial sectors. This is known as the multiplier effect which in its simplest form is how many times money spent circulates through a country's economy.Money invested in an industry helps to create jobs directly in the industry, but it also creates jobs indirectly elsewhere in the economy. New industrial development, for example, requires construction workers who themselves require housing, and services such as schools and shops. An increased demand for food will benefit local farmers who may increase their spending on fertiliser.Workers employed directly in the new industry increase the local supply of skilled labour, attracting other companies who benefit from sharing this labour pool. Other companies who supply components or use the new industry's products are attracted to the area to benefit from reduced transport costs.Spin­off effects include new inventions or innovations that may lead to further industrial development and new linkages.Through this multiplier effect, an area can develop as a growth pole, as illustrated in the diagram below.