On Measuring Place Brand Effectiveness – between Theoretical Developments and Empirical Findings

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to provide an analysis of effectiveness indicators of city brand strategies drawing from the practices of 66 Polish district cities. The authors attempt to categorize the existing indicators and approaches to the evaluation of place brand effectiveness and identify potential gaps in measurement systems. Content analysis of strategic documents was performed in order to determine the perspectives applied to the practice of effectiveness measurement. The results were subsequently juxtaposed with selected theoretical constructs relevant for brand strategy effectiveness measurement, including a place brand equity model and logic framework. The measurement of place brand performance as such is often neglected by public authorities and brand consultancies alike. In the meantime, a wide range of indicators needs to be developed in order to mirror the breadth and depth of the impact of place brands on the realities of places. Following an up-to-date analysis of the literature and practices of Polish district cities, the authors conclude that the currently employed measurements of the effectiveness of city branding are not sufficient to evaluate the outputs, outcomes, and impacts of city brand strategies. Furthermore, they propose their own approach to how the indicators should be structured to perform a sound verification function over the branding practices of territorial entities.

Full text

Marta Hereźniak, Magdalena Florek,
Anna Augustyn
ISSN 2071-789X
RECENT ISSUES IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Economics & Sociology, Vol. 11, No. 2, 2018
36
ON MEASURING PLACE BRAND
EFFECTIVENESS – BETWEEN
THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENTS
AND EMPIRICAL FINDINGS
Marta Hereźniak,
University of Lodz,
Lódź, Poland,
E-mail:
martaherezniak@uni.lodz.pl
Magdalena Florek,
Poznan University of Economics
and Business,
Poznań, Poland,
E-mail: m.florek@ue.poznan.pl
Anna Augustyn,
University of Białystok,
Białystok, Poland,
E-mail: a.augustyn@uwb.edu.pl
Received: December, 2017
1st Revision: February, 2018
Accepted: May, 2018
DOI: 10.14254/2071-
789X.2018/11-2/3
ABSTRACT. The aim of the paper is to provide an
analysis of effectiveness indicators of city brand strategies
drawing from the practices of 66 Polish district cities.
The authors attempt to categorize the existing indicators
and approaches to the evaluation of place brand
effectiveness and identify potential gaps in measurement
systems. Content analysis of strategic documents was
performed in order to determine the perspectives applied
to the practice of effectiveness measurement. The results
were subsequently juxtaposed with selected theoretical
constructs relevant for brand strategy effectiveness
measurement, including a place brand equity model and
logic framework. The measurement of place brand
performance as such is often neglected by public
authorities and brand consultancies alike. In the
meantime, a wide range of indicators needs to be
developed in order to mirror the breadth and depth of
the impact of place brands on the realities of places.
Following an up-to-date analysis of the literature and
practices of Polish district cities, the authors conclude
that the currently employed measurements of the
effectiveness of city branding are not sufficient to
evaluate the outputs, outcomes, and impacts of city
brand strategies. Furthermore, they propose their own
approach to how the indicators should be structured to
perform a sound verification function over the branding
practices of territorial entities.
JEL Classification
: M31
Keywords
: city branding; city brand effectiveness; city brand
performance measurement; Polish district cities.
Introduction
The evaluation of place brand-related activities has become a necessity, given the
public, political and social character of the place branding process. This necessity has been
recognized in academic literature (Florek, 2014; Jorgensen, 2015; Zenker & Martin, 2011;
Zenker, 2014; Jacobsen, 2012; Gartner, 2014; Hereźniak & Anders-Morawska, 2015; Braun
et al., 2014; Shafranskaya & Potapov, 2014), although the subject still appears underexplored
(Lucarelli, 2012). Meanwhile, public authorities are constantly pressured by public opinion to
Hereźniak, M., Florek, M., Augustyn, A. (2018). On Measuring Place Brand
Effectiveness – between Theoretical Developments and Empirical Findings.
Economics and Sociology, 11(2), 36-51. doi:10.14254/2071-789X.2018/11-2/3

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Anna Augustyn
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RECENT ISSUES IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
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37
deliver visible and measurable results of their efforts. The question that arises is thus more
about ‘how’ to measure than ‘whether’ to do it at all.
Therefore, the aim of the paper is to propose a categorization of place brand strategy
effectiveness indicators based on an analysis drawing from the practices of 66 Polish district
cities. The authors attempt to systematize the existing indicators on the basis of a review of
approaches to place brand effectiveness evaluation and, as a result, to identify potential gaps
in measurement systems. The authors of this study posit that the multitude of effects that
professionally managed brands have on places should be reflected in the measurement of their
effectiveness. Furthermore, the measurement system in question should be integrated into the
broader performance evaluation of a place and considered as an important theme in public
management practices. The study does not deal with efficiency, so it does not take into
account the budgets devoted to implementing brand strategies.
1. Literature review
1.1. Brand performance measurement
The review of academic literature and consulting practices allows for the juxtaposition
of the major approaches to brand performance measurement. The interdisciplinary origins of
the measurement process make it possible for city authorities to draw from a range of
domains, including marketing, branding, public management to financial management.
From the marketing/branding perspective, perception-oriented measures such as brand
associations, brand attributes or customer satisfaction were analyzed. Although they deliver
valuable information with the focus on the customer, they have some limitations to places, as
they are centered around image only and overlook other forms of brand impact on places.
Brand equity, and especially customer-brand equity models (Aaker, 1991; Kapferer,
1992; Keller, 1993, 1998) give another important insight from a branding perspective. Brand
equity as a concept attempts to combine perceptual and non-perceptual influences of brands
on places. It also has the potential to encompass the perspectives of various stakeholders (e.g.
tourists, investors, consumers, locals) on place brands. In the case of territorial entities, the
concept of customer-based brand equity appears to be most valuable (Florek, 2015) and it is
gradually being introduced into place brand equity models (Konecnik & Gartner, 2007;
Jacobsen, 2012; Boo et al., 2009; Pike et al., 2010).
From the financial management point of view, brand valuation or brand value methods
(developed mostly by agencies, e.g. Millward Brown Optimor, Brand Finance, Interbrand)
also might serve as a reference point, however they present important limitations due to
difficulties in adapting the methodologies from financial management (such as cost-based,
market-based, revenue-based methods) to places. Although already calculated (e.g. The
World’s Most Valuable Nation Brands by Brand Finance) the results of such approximations
have predominantly promotional or political meaning, with almost no significance for place
brand effectiveness and therefore management.
Among the most popular ones are also diverse place-specific indexes where, depending
on the context, particular measures are used to create the final ranking. These can be divided
into i) Reputational measures e.g.: Anholt-GfK Nation Brands Index, Anholt-GfK City Brands
Index, Country Brand Index, Good Country Index, Reputation Institute Country RepTrak,
Reputation Institute City RepTrak; ii) Strategy effectiveness measures, e.g.: Saffron’s European
City Brand Barometer, Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking, Resonance Place Equity
Index; iii) Place reality measures, e.g.: Global Competitiveness Measures, Human Development
Measures, Global City Index Report, Global Power City Index, PriceWaterhouseCooper Cities

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of Opportunity). The main limitation of reputational rankings and indexes is that they focus on
the outward results of the place branding process. Strategy effectiveness measures present a
managerial approach to brand management (categorization of place assets without the
evaluation of their impact on place brand). Place reality measures, in turn, tackle a wide
spectrum of issues and thus pose a difficulty in asserting which of them can be attributed to the
brand strategy. All rankings and indexes, by definition, provide a single measurement
methodology, without consideration for the place’s specificity.
A public management perspective, which is focused on managing an organization,
delivers useful solutions, but also not without limitations. For instance, Key Performance
Indicators (KPIs) can be flexibly applied according to a place’s requirements. Based on the
logic framework: outputs, outcomes and impacts (Bouckaert & Halligan, 2008) have the
capacity to embrace the issues and perspectives crucial for understanding place brand
performance (inward, outward, institutional, stakeholder-oriented etc.). The main difficulty,
however, lies in defining a reasonable number of KPIs that comply with SMARRTT
(specified, measurable, achievable, realistic, relevant, targeted, timed) criteria (Malinowska,
2015, p. 23). Among other traditional management-based performance measurement methods
(Arnaboldi et al., 2015) budgetary control, benchmarking and balanced scorecard naturally
correspond to effectiveness. However, budgetary control offers a rather simplistic approach to
performance measurement, where effectiveness is understood only from a monetary
perspective. Indispensable for managing an organization, this method should not be seen as
exhaustive for place brands. In the benchmarking method, places or managing organizations
are subject to comparison across different criteria. Although this approach can be relevant for
place brands, it has to be applied cautiously, due to the idiosyncrasies of places. There is
likelihood that the benchmarking criteria will be manipulated to achieve results favorable for
the managing organization or political authorities. Finally, a balanced scorecard offers a
broader focus than just finance, by also including internal processes, customers, and learning.
From the perspective of managing an organization, this approach can be useful, as it links
financial planning to strategy.
This brief summary of the analysis presented above suggests that these numerous
approaches illustrate the multidisciplinary background of measurement processes, and also
display some of the dilemmas that need to be addressed in defining the ‘how’ of brand
performance measurement. Firstly, there are several perspectives from which place brand
performance can and should be considered, like, for instance, the customer/stakeholder, brand
or organizational perspective. Secondly, there are different views on what is to be measured:
brand perception, reality or both. Thirdly, should the measurement system be directed more
internally (citizen satisfaction, attachment etc.) or externally (investors, tourists). Fourthly,
should the measurement be more general (e.g. overall brand perception) or sector-specific?
Finally, to what extent do we want to measure the performance of the managing organization
responsible for the place brand. Another point that appears from the aforementioned review
relates to the fact that no single general measure is being suggested to embrace the complexity
of place brand performance, but rather a set of indicators which refer to particular aspects of
branding or management.
1.2. Performance in the public sector
Since place branding refers predominantly to the activities undertaken by public
institutions, it appears only natural to address the issue of performance management from the
perspective of the public sector. In the face of changes in the public management paradigm,
along with the appearance of the concept of the New Public Management (Boyne et al., 2006;
de Bruijn, 2007; Buscher, 2013) and governance (Hvidman & Andersen, 2013; Kearney &

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Berman, 2009; Osborne et al., 2010), the obligation of management control was introduced to
the public sector, whose purpose is operating in line with the rules of effectiveness and
efficiency.
According to Matwiejczuk (2006), performance should be defined as the search for
savings with the simultaneous pursuit of maximizing the effects of the actions, with the latter
especially being emphasized. In the public sphere, the use/adaptation of this assumption in
relation to all areas of public activity is practically impossible. Therefore, as Szołno (2016,
p. 92) states, “efficiency concerns the pursuit of defined objectives while keeping the most
beneficial ratio of the incurred cost to the achieved results”.
Performance in public institutions is not and should not be measured only in a literal
manner, e.g. as the number of kindergartens or roads handed over for use. A more important
measure of performance is the extent to which the undertaken actions satisfy social needs,
such as, for example, increasing the comfort of inhabitants as a result of improving the quality
of the roads, or the placing of kindergartens in key locations (Modzelewski, 2014).
The measurement of effectiveness and efficiency is part of the performance
management process, which consists of four stages: planning, implementation, monitoring,
evaluation (Lin & Lee, 2011). Performance management plays various roles in public
management. Lin & Lee list seven ways of understanding “performance” in the public sector
(Table 1). They also describe the roles that result management plays in the functioning of public
entities. They are also evidence that the notions of performance, efficacy, efficiency have much
more complex meaning in the public sector compared to the profit-oriented private sector.
Table 1. Interpretation of the meaning of “performance” in the public sector
Interpretation
Definition
Performance accountability
Proof of a public institution’s willingness to improve, which makes it
accountable in the eyes of the stakeholders
Performance as user choice
Information on performance can be an important factor in deciding
the choice of a specific public unit, e.g. who to cooperate with as part
of various projects (for example an investor chooses a location based
on the perceived efficiency and effectiveness of the public
administration)
Performance as customer
services
People and organizations should be treated as customers of public
institutions, therefore good results are an essential part of the service
Performance as efficiency
The balance between expenses and outcomes
Performance as fitness,
‘what works’
Real problems that were solved as a result of actions taken, often
irrespective of the number of resources spent
Performance as resource
allocation
Information on performance is the key piece of information essential
to resource allocation
Performance as the creation
of public value
Performance not as a “generic product” of the budget, but as a
testimony of the public value generated
Source: adapted from Lin & Lee (2011), p. 87.
Taking the aforementioned interpretations into consideration, it should be concluded
that performance management in the public sector ought to be treated more broadly than only
control over public resources. Sun (2009) proposes for this process to be perceived as:
 Inspection programme: supervision and monitoring of the actions taken to eliminate
errors and weak links;
 Political communication: this is a method democratically chosen authorities can use to
increase their political control over public institutions, so as to increase the quality of

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public services. The users of public services can use the indicators and the results
obtained by the institutions to evaluate the political and management capabilities of
the authorities;
 Leadership function: today it is believed that public authorities should act as a
“navigator” whose role is to introduce a performance and customer needs oriented
culture (in place of rigid hierarchy and top-down management).
One of the most important, and also most commonly applied concepts in performance
measurement is the logic framework (Fig. 1) that describes the method of creating
effectiveness indicators in public sector entities based on the diverse timeframe of their
occurrence.
Input
Actions
Output
Outcome
Impact
Budgets of
individual projects
Project
implementation
Direct, immediate,
tangible action
effects
Mid-term effects for
the products'
beneficiaries
Long-term effects
for the stakeholders
of given strategy
Figure 1. Logic framework for the creation of effectiveness indicators in public sector
Source: Bouckaert and Halligan (2008).
This framework corresponds to key performance indicators approach which, as it was
noted earlier, are one of several promising possibilities for measuring the results of place
brand strategies. The application of the framework itself allows us to consider various time
perspectives of the brand strategy effects and include the perspectives of diverse stakeholders’
groups (Bouckaert & Halligan, 2008).
2. Research Methodology
The empirical material used in this article is part of the results of a 2-year research
grant whose aim is to identify the level of advancement of 66 Polish district cities in the area
of brand strategy effectiveness measurement, and consequently to develop a conceptual
framework for the effectiveness measurement system for the city brand strategy. The findings
presented in this paper are the result of the 1st stage of the study, which comprises the analysis
of the city brand strategy documents of all 66 district cities
1
in Poland, in relation to the
measurement of their effectiveness.
As previously noted, the research objective of the paper was to systematize the
existing indicators using various theoretical approaches to place brand effectiveness
evaluation and, as a result, to identify potential gaps in measurement systems. This should be
considered the first step towards the development of the aforementioned measurement system.
To achieve this goal, the research methodology needed to address both theoretical and
empirical issues. Initially, a review of theoretical approaches to effectiveness measurement
(branding, management, public management) was performed. As cities are the subject of
analysis, it also appeared necessary to grasp how performance is conceptualized in the public
management domain. The theoretical part of the analysis was completed by a review of
current systematizations of effectiveness indicators in place branding and public management
and their potential application to this work.
1
District cities (or poviats) according to Polish administrative division are cities with county rights.

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Empirically, a content analysis of the strategic documents of 66 Polish district cities
sourced from city websites was applied. This required a series of steps to be undertaken.
Primarily, based on the official city website search, publicly available documents were
downloaded. Next, a list of potential contacts in municipalities was prepared, including names
of persons responsible for the cities’ promotional activities, their phone numbers, and e-mail
addresses. To ensure a thorough analysis, telephone conversations were held with the
identified representatives of all cities to verify whether there are any, or any other documents
available and whether these found were current/in use.
During this phase of data collection (September – October 2017), a member of the
research team inquired about the following:
1. Does the city possess a strategic document related to promotion of the city that is
currently in use and approved by the city authorities? If no, was there such a document
in the past?
2. Does the city possess any document that indicates how promotional activities should
be evaluated?
3. Does the city possess any document that describes the city brand/ branding? If not,
was such a document prepared in the past?
4. Have there been any projects carried out in cooperation with the private sector or the
third sector that was related to city promotion or brand building? If so, are there any
documents resulting from these projects?
5. Other than the following (here, the researcher enlisted the names of the documents
identified during the prior search), are there any additional documents that should be
taken into account while analyzing promotional activities of the city?
Other city documents were browsed (such as development strategies) for the presence of
any brand-related effectiveness indicators (October 2017). Subsequently, the division of the
cities into three subsets was performed: (i) cities that have a brand/promotion/communication
strategy with effectiveness indicators (ii) cities that have a brand/promotion/communication
strategy with no effectiveness indicators (iii) cities that have neither.
Following this, a categorization of the existing indicators was performed according to
the selected theoretical frameworks, namely: Lucarelli’s (2012) Brand Impact Framework
and Buckhaert’s and Halligan’s Logic Framework. Choosing these conceptualizations
allowed us to juxtapose the brand-oriented and public management perspective, which is
critical for the research approach. The review of the indicators also made it possible to
examine its nature, the scope of areas it covers and potential gaps in measurement. Based on
this analysis, the aforementioned own approach to the structure of indicators was
subsequently further developed to cover the most important results of brand-related activities
which were missing in the analyzed documents.
During the process of accumulating and verifying the research material, the authors
encountered some difficulties. The most important of them was connected with the
insufficient accessibility of the strategic documents on public websites of the cities. In
contrast with the formal regulations, not all of them were made available publicly, therefore
repeated attempts to contact city representatives over the phone were made. This resulted in a
longer than expected period of time spent on data collection.
Another barrier referred to the position of indicators in strategic documents. As there
were no separate sections about monitoring and evaluation, nor were the indicators tied to
particular strategic and operational goals, it was particularly difficult to identify them. In
addition, some indicators that can be directly linked to city branding practices were scattered
across numerous documents, such as the cities’ development strategies, operational plans,
European project documents etc. The authors assume that a list of indicators can be drawn up

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only after individual interviews with city representatives planned in a subsequent phase of the
research project.
3. Brand effectiveness measurement in the strategic documents of Polish district cities
Public institutions in Poland are required to act both effectively and efficiently by the
regulations of the Public Finance Law (2009). Specifically, it states that the parties are
obliged to “spend public funds while complying with the rules of producing the best possible
results with the available resources, and selecting optimal methods and resources to
accomplish the intended goals” (Ustawa o finansach publicznych, 2009).
For about ten years, Polish local governments have produced brand strategy
documents for their territorial entities. It must be noted that these strategic documents bear
different names such as “brand strategy”, “promotion/ communication strategy”, “image-
building strategy” etc. with differences in the content (promotion v. holistic brand approach).
Compared to the rest of the world, it is cities that have been the most active in this area.
Frequently, however, brand strategy documents reduce brand building to the various
promotional undertakings that are discussed further in the article.
The important thing for this study is that the practice of measuring promotional
effectiveness in Poland has faced criticism from central governmental institutions. In 2004,
the Supreme Audit Chamber (NIK 2004) published a report titled “Promotional actions of
selected district cities”. In the document, the Chamber points to the insufficient attention of
city departments with regards to promotional activities. According to the authors of the report,
there is very little control over the expenditure from the cities’ promotional budgets and not
enough supervision over these promotion-related services. These problems are compounded
by overly general promotional strategies which leave plenty of room for interpretation of what
promotion really is, and lead to a lack (or poor quality) of performance indicators. This allows
spending public funds on issues that have very little to do with promotion as such, making it
impossible to determine how much money is really spent in this area.
The aforementioned report showcases a serious difficulty of Polish local government with
performance measurement of brand-related activities. The effectiveness of these activities and
their impact on the actual social and economic development of the city is not being verified,
which makes them essentially counterproductive. Consequently, the public resources that
comprise of not only domestic but also European Union funds are ineffectively spent in this area.
Although the report focuses solely on promotional activities, which are often mistaken for the
totality of brand-related undertakings, it can be treated as a solid point of departure for further
analyses of approaches to brand strategy effectiveness measurement in Polish district cities.
Taking into consideration the circumstances described above, the authors found it
necessary to (re)examine the current approach of Polish territorial entities (cities) to
measuring the effectiveness their brand strategies.
In case of the district cities which are the subject of analysis in this paper,
measurement of branding effectiveness is rare. Based on the officially available city
marketing strategies (brand or promotion strategies as the names of document vary), it was
found that out of 66 district cities, 30 (45 percent) are, or were recently (often these
documents have recently expired) in possession of a strategic document from that category.
Based on a content analysis of the documents, it was determined that only in ten cases were
strategic indicators referring to strategic goals defined, along with a proposal of
methods/sources of their measurement. Among the latter, the following sources of indicators
are listed in the documents:
i) Primary ones, such as Quantitative research (Computer-assisted telephone
interviewing CATI, public opinion surveys, surveys conducted during events, surveys

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concerning rental of commercial areas in the city and agglomerations directed to
property management agencies, surveys of universities); Qualitative research
(perception research in target groups, pre-tests); Media monitoring.
ii) Secondary ones (desk research): Urban statistics, data of the National Court
Register, Central Registration and Information on Business, City Hall reports, Central
Statistical Office and trade organizations (tourist, sports, cultural); Statistical data
from universities, Statistical data from event participants.
The indicators found in the ten documents were systematized in a matrix designed by
the authors (Table 2).
The categorization of indicators was performed according to the logic framework into
brand strategy output (direct, immediate, tangible action effects), outcome of brand strategy
(mid-term effects for the products' beneficiaries) and impact of brand strategy (long-term
effects for the stakeholders of a given strategy). Subsequently, the indicators in each category
were grouped into: visual, behavioral, institutional and infrastructural. It needs to be
mentioned that several of the indexes found in the documents were not used here due to not
being connected to the subject of the analysis (they referred to, for example, “the
effectiveness of teaching in urban universities”, analysis of conditions, trends, etc.).
Apart from applying the logic framework to the categorization, the authors put
forward a more descriptive set of criteria inspired by the brand impact framework (Lucarelli,
2012, p. 239) where it is proposed that brands have a threefold impact on places: identity-
image, socio-political and economic. For the purpose of this analysis, and considering the
nature of the performance indicators found in the strategic documents of Polish district cities,
the authors propose a categorization into economic, image-related (perceptual), behavioral,
infrastructural and institutional impact.
The authors posit that these categories allow for a more precise definition of
effectiveness indicators, and also include areas that are of value for the brand managing
organization. They especially imply that city brand effects cannot only be limited to
perception or image-related categories, but also need to include tangible, process-oriented
ones, like for instance the development of infrastructural projects, revitalization of selected
areas. Another important addition is institutional indicators, that cover an internal dimension
of measurement and suggest that a well-designed and executed brand strategy can also
translate into the rise of quality of operations in public institutions. These can take form of a
better intra-organizational cooperation, more satisfactory relationships between the institution
and its external stakeholders, or the increased ability to form partnerships for the benefit of
the city. Behavioral indicators, treated as a separate category, draw attention to the
importance of the actual behavior of various groups, as opposed to relying only on
perceptual/declarative opinions in the measurement process. Business indicators highlight the
fact that a well-managed brand has the actual capacity of bringing financial profits to a city,
instead of merely being a cherry-on-top of the city’s development.
Table 2. Strategic indicators of the measurement of the effectiveness of the brand strategy of
ten Polish district cities
Output
of brand strategy (1)
Outcome
of brand strategy (2)
Impact
of brand strategy (3)
Business
1. New office space, under
construction.
2. New office space
delivered and transferred
to rent per year.
1. Fluctuations in tourist
traffic, demand
changes, the
development of a
tourist base in the city.
1. The increase of the
attractiveness of
investment in the city.
2. GDP per capita.
3. Total GDP.

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3. The number of facilities
or group accommodation.
4. The number of
gastronomic
establishments in tourist
facilities of group
accommodation.
5. The percentage of use of
tourist facilities of group
accommodation.
6. The equipment/ quality
of facilities or group
accommodation.
2. The increase of income
in city’s budget comes
from income tax settled
in the city.
3. The increase of the
turnover of companies
trading within the city
and the agglomeration.
4. Percentage of citizens
working in the business
services sector, IT and
other.
5. The number of new
companies and
institutions in the
creative sectors
irrespective of the level
of their participation
and location in the city
during the year.
4. Investment expenditure
per capita.
5. City budget earnings
(the size of individual
sources of income).
6. Earnings of the local
tourist trade.
7. Wages index.
8. The share of services in
the GDP.
9. Increase in the quality
of life in the city.
10. The increase of the
number of companies
operating over 5 years
and changed their
residence address.
11. The increase of the
number of new
investments within the city
and the agglomeration.
12. The increase in
enterprise innovation.
13. The number of new
work places.
14. The number of new
enterprises.
15. The number of non-
governmental
organizations.
16. The number of patents
issued.
17. The number of new
investments.
18. The number of new
headquarters of
international companies
located in the city
within a year.
19. The number of companies
with foreign capital.
20. The increase in the
number of companies
operating in the city.
Image/
Identity -
related
1. The number of
produced brand
carriers.
2. The number of
implemented brand -
related initiatives.
3. The number and type of
promotional and social
campaigns carried out.
4. The number of
1. Opinions of the city on
internet forums.
2. Percentage of the
respondents perceiving
the move to the city as
an upgrade.
3. Overall visibility of the
brand during media
campaigns- rating of
the effect of the PR
1. Associations with a
city and individual
tourist products in
target groups, image
of a city.
2. The increase of
awareness and
recognition of a city.
3. The increase of the
attractiveness of a

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operational plans
prepared related to the
strategy.
5. The number of projects
prepared to be realized
in the next period.
6. The number of
promotional
programmes targeted at
specific groups.
work- quantity, quality
and compatibility with
the desired image in
media relations
regarding the topic of
the product of city
branding.
4. The level of media
interest in the events
organized in a city.
5. The increase of image
cohesion of a city.
6. Opinions about the city
brand expressed by the
representatives of target
groups who took part in
the flagship events of a
city
7. The number of
mentions of a city in
foreign media.
8. The number of city
website visits
9. The numbers of guides
and tourism portals,
which have posted the
information about the
city and its attractions.
10. The number and the
tone of media reports
about the tourist offer
of the city.
city from the
viewpoint of its
inhabitants.
4. The increase of the
importance of a city
in the region.
5. Percentage increase
in spontaneous and
assisted recognition
of tourist products of
a city.
6. Percentage of
respondents declaring
to visit a city at least
“from time to time”.
7. Percentage increase
of people from target
groups declaring the
intent of participation
in brand-related
events in a city
8. Perception of a city’s
attractiveness for the
inhabitants, tourists,
and business
9. Increase in tourist
traffic.
10. The increase of the
tourist attractiveness
of a city.
1. Dynamics of change
in the positive
perception of a city.
2. Percentage of
respondents
declaring familiarity
with city brand.
Behavioral
1. The number of brand-
related actions in
cooperation with
partners.
2. The number of people
participating in loyalty
campaigns.
3. The number of events
carried out for target
groups: citizens and
tourists vs. the number
of event participants.
1. Increase in the number
of partners cooperating
in strategy
implementation.
2. Changes in tourist
traffic translating into
the tourists’ inflow,
3. The quantity and the
length of stays provided.
4. Participation in local
elections.
5. Athletics, sports, and
recreation (attendance).
6. Culture and art
(attendance).
7. The number of citizens
taking part in social
1. Migration balance (for
metropolis/agglomerati
on, not for a city alone).
2. The number of foreign
students.
3. The number of tourists.
4. The number of foreign
tourists.
5. The number of
graduates, who
remained in a city
after graduation.
6. Increase in the number
of graduates of high
schools who decided
to study in a city in
relation to the overall

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Anna Augustyn
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46
events.
8. The number of people
(inhabitants and
visitors) taking part in
cultural, recreational
and sports events.
9. The number of
entrepreneurs taking
part in periodic
meetings with city’s
administrative staff.
10. The number of tourists
in specific (selected)
cultural and recreational
establishments, set
seasonally.
number of graduates
in a given year.
7. Increase in the number
of university graduates
in the overall number
of graduates who work
in a city.
8. Increase in the number
of employees at least
with a Ph.D.
9. The increase of Ph.D.
candidates and
teaching assistants in
third level education.
10. Engagement of the
inhabitants of the city
life
Institutional
1. The number of units
and institutions, which
apply the rules defined
in the Strategy.
2. Increase in the number
of entities who are
members of non-
government cluster
organizations.
1. Number of
entrepreneurs who
rate their relationship
with the city
administration as
positive
Infrastructural
1. The number of new
buildings connected to
the brand in the urban
space.
2. The number of citizen-
friendly improvements.
3. The number of
buildings of group
accommodation.
4. The number of food
establishments in
tourist group
accommodations
buildings.
5. Percentage of use of the
buildings of tourist
group accommodation.
6. Equipment of the
buildings of group
accommodation.
7. New office space,
under construction.
8. New office space
handed for rent within
one year.
1. The increase of
availability of public
transport in a city.
2. The increase of places
of recreation for the
inhabitants and visitors.
Source: own elaboration.

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4. Research results and discussion
Given the general overview of the indicators, a few important conclusions can be
drawn. First of all, many of the indicators are overly general, and not attributable (or
attributable with substantial difficulty) only to the brand strategy. Such indices as for instance
GDP growth or wages index can be partly linked to city branding, however, the number of
variables moderating them is too great to treat them as brand effectiveness indicators – unless
they are linked to a specific sector, considered a priority in the brand strategy.
Another issue seems to be the lack of differentiation between indicators and measures.
Defining the appropriate control values plays the key role in the measurement of strategy
effectiveness. In the analyzed strategies, the absence of the desired values (specific quantities,
percentages etc.) of the indicators related to strategic goals can be observed. Instead, we are
confronted with rather vague descriptions such as: “increase”, “number”, “percentage”,
without providing specific values. This appears to be connected with a broader problem,
namely the difficulty in defining strategic goals, which was visible in many of the documents.
There also seems to be no connection whatsoever between the output, outcome and
impact indicators as proposed by Buckhaert and Halligan (2008), which makes it more
difficult to trace the logic behind the proposed indicators. It can be assumed that in the cases
of the majority of the brand strategies, developed by marketing consultancies, the
output/outcome/impact division of indicators is not known, and therefore not proposed by
branding advisors.
The analysis of the indicators also points to the fact that very few of them (especially
in the image/identity category) refer to the citizens and their experience of the city. This
finding may suggest that in the analyzed cities, the brand is seen predominantly as an external
phenomenon with very little or no impact on the inhabitants. This statement, however, needs
additional verification in the subsequent phase of research – individual interviews with city
representatives.
Yet another observation from the analysis is such that there are almost no indicators in
the ‘institutional’ category. This may indicate that the realization of the brand strategy is not
perceived as an activity that has the capacity to influence the quality of functioning of public
institutions, neither that it should be treated as a public policy. This statement is yet to be
verified in further research.
Considering the areas of city brand effects, most of the indexes are related to
achieving economic goals (hence the separate ‘business’ category). The reason for this may
be twofold. Firstly, it may be the case that city authorities attempt to prove that the planned
expenditure of public funds is likely to bring tangible/economic results to the city and thus
defend themselves from (mostly political) opponents. Secondly, one of the analyzed city
brand strategies with the biggest number of indicators overall, had a brand concept focused
almost entirely on business-related issues, hence the overrepresentation of business indicators.
Even a cursory analysis of the brand strategies of selected cities allows us to conclude
that awareness of the necessity to measure the effects of brand strategies is low among the
Polish district cities. It can be observed primarily through the number of documents
containing any indicators at all. Such an observation casts a shadow over the condition of
place branding efforts in Polish cities. This becomes all the more worrying if we consider the
amount of financial resources allocated to the implementation of a brand strategy, or the
accompanying promotional strategy, as well as more and more frequent appeals from citizens
and local authorities alike for the rationalization and justification of any marketing/ brand
related activity.
Given the abovementioned shortcomings and issues that appeared during the initial
analysis of indicators, the authors propose their own approach to the structure of brand

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strategy effectiveness indicators with both brand impact framework and logic framework as
helpful in seeing brand strategy effectiveness beyond the conventional approach. It is the
authors’ view that this approach reflects the multitude of effects that professionally managed
brands have on places, and also shows the logic and the connection among the inputs and its
outputs, outcomes, and impact. Furthermore, this approach is sufficiently flexible to be
adjusted to any city brand strategy regardless of the specific brand concept and objectives.
The proposed structure of indicators with examples is summarized in Table 3.
Table 3. The proposed structure of city brand effectiveness indicators
The output of the brand
strategy
Direct, tangible effects
The outcome of the
brand strategy
Mid-term effects
Impact of the brand
strategy
Long-term effects
Image/
identity-related
The number of
produced brand
carriers/ campaigns,
development of the
brand-related website
Number of mentions of
the city in the media,
number of visitors/clicks/
likes on the websites
The increase in brand
awareness, in positive
associations with a city,
decrease in the image-
identity gap, increased
identification of the
citizens
Business-related
The number of
business
incentives/support
programmes developed
Percentage of businesses
applying for the support
or using incentives
Favorable evaluation of a
business climate in the
city; growing number of
new businesses in
strategic sectors
Behavioral
The number of
initiatives aimed to
induce desired
behaviors (attachment,
loyalty etc.)
The number of citizens,
tourists participating in
the initiatives (events,
projects) or initiating
grassroots projects
Increased attachment,
involvement, higher
loyalty levels
Institutional
Joint programs
developed by various
institutions,
development of new
procedures
More organizational
stakeholders ready to
join brand-related
projects and initiatives
Lower turnover of
employees involved in
brand strategy
implementation, the
creation of more friendly
and efficient policies,
higher stakeholder
satisfaction
Infrastructural
New developments,
revitalization plans,
and projects
Increase in availability of
public spaces for
recreation/events or
business
Greater citizen
satisfaction, increase in
the perceived quality of
life, attraction of new
citizens/talents
Source: own elaboration.
Conclusions
A key concern of any place branding activity is to legitimize it in the eyes of major
stakeholders by providing material relevant to the actual impact of branding on the place
itself. Such legitimization requires place brand managers to ensure that the objectives set out
in the brand strategy are measurable with indicators that document progress (Hereźniak &

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Anders-Morawska, 2015). However, the political nature and multifaceted characteristics of
the city branding process constitute a serious problem for those who develop effectiveness
measures. There is often a lack of correspondence between the measures used and the actual
effects of brand implementation. One of the reasons for this situation are mistakes in defining
strategic goals.
Following the analysis of the literature and the practices of Polish district cities, it can
be observed that the employed effectiveness indicators that relate to city branding are not
sufficient. Those that are applied, are fragmented and very often irrelevant to the objectives
articulated in strategic documents. The content analysis of the brand strategies of Polish
district cities revealed that they do not apply a systematic approach to the measurement of city
brand strategy effectiveness.
Although each city requires an individualized approach to effectiveness measurement,
it becomes evident that the measurement indicators need to be designed in a systematic
manner so that they could encompass multiple perspectives on city branding outcomes and
impacts. In this article, the authors proposed an initial division of such indicators. This
division could be considered as the first step in the search for a sound and holistic
measurement system for the effectiveness of city branding efforts. The final version of such
system should embrace areas of brand influence and diverse timeframes, with relevant
relations and hierarchy among them. Each time it should be also adjusted to the strategic goals
of a particular place and as such, it cannot be fully universal.
Undoubtedly, the influence of city branding goes beyond the sphere of
promotion/marketing communication. The multitude of effects that brands have/should have
on places need to be therefore integrated into the broader performance evaluation of a place,
and considered as an important theme in public management practices and academic debate.
Acknowledgment
This research was financed by the National Science Centre, Poland, research project
no. 2015/19/B/HS4/00380 Towards the conceptual framework for the measurement of city
brand strategy effectiveness. Theoretical developments and empirical insights from Polish
district citiess.
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