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Measuring place brand equity with the advanced Brand Concept Map (aBCM) method

Place Branding and Public Diplomacy volume 10, pages 158–166 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

Places invest an extensive amount of taxpayers’ money into their branding activities. Consequently, there is an urgent need for a proper success measurement that can capture whether or not taxpayer money is being efficiently and effectively used to create place brand equity. Unfortunately, place brand equity (in general) and place brand image changes (in particular) are not easy to evaluate and even harder to quantify. This article demonstrates the utility of the advanced Brand Concept Map (aBCM) method for the aforementioned purpose. With the help of this particular method, practitioners can capture changes in image perception; and with the aid of the brand association network value (BANV) metric, they can also quantify the favorability of the brand image. Using an illustrative case involving the city of Hamburg, this article explores the relevance of the BANV metric and the aBCM method and then discusses practical implications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, PO Box 1738, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Sebastian Zenker

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  1. Sebastian Zenker
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Correspondence to Sebastian Zenker.

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1PhD, is a visiting assistant professor at the Department of Regional, Port and Transport Economics (RHV b.v.) at Erasmus University Rotterdam/IHS and a research associate at the Institute of Marketing and Media, University of Hamburg (Germany). Furthermore, he works as a consultant (www.placebrand.eu) for research projects on city and regional branding. His current research interests are mainly the measurement of place brands and place brand equity with the special target group of residents. His work was presented at various international conferences, book chapters, peer-reviewed journals, for example, the International Journal of Research in Marketing, Cities or the Journal of Business Ethics.

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Zenker, S. Measuring place brand equity with the advanced Brand Concept Map (aBCM) method. Place Brand Public Dipl 10, 158–166 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1057/pb.2014.2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/pb.2014.2

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