Marketing communication in the Czech Republic and Slovakian localities: Ten years of the international projectcommunicating town

Abstract

The main objective of the projectCommunicating Town is to assist in an improvement of mutual relationships and marketing communication between the council and the public. At this point, the use of opinion polls provide an opportunity for the silent majority of citizens to voice their views. The standardized interviews make it possible to get the respondents involved in marketing communication activities. Each questionnaire had two parts: the first seeking out opinions on questions asked by the council in the concrete town; the second common to all towns involved, allowing comparison and general conclusions.

The results were presented in the press. During 1995-2004 more than fifty towns in the Czech Republic and Slovakia participated in the projectCommunicating Town. The ten years of study within the framework of the project have demonstrated that it can provide valuable contributions to many aspects of council and town policies. Year by year, further towns have shown an interest in being involved in the project. The results from Brno, Loštice and Zlín i.e., towns where opinion surveys were repeated at intervals of between one and four years-indicate that the relationships between citizens and the council have improved.