How to capture place brand equity? The case of Sud de France

Within a globalized and highly competitive economy, the development of place brands has become important for cities, regions and countries. However, there is still little evidence about the conceptualization and measurement of their performance. In order to contribute to the current discussion of place brand equity, we analyse the effects of a branding initiative in the South of France. According to the collective aspects of the place brand concept, we propose a multidimensional approach through qualitative interviews with various stakeholders and review of secondary, mainly statistical data. Findings indicate that several factors are crucial for capturing equity of place brands. First, their collective character, involving different stakeholders; second, the fact that they generate economic and non-economic outcomes; third, their dependence on a socio-political and macro-economic context; and fourth, the time they need to establish. All these constituents require a more holistic approach to capture place brand equity than usual brand equity definitions for companies. Results also suggest that if place brands aim at long-term development of places, estimating their overall value can be based on evaluation logics for public development interventions, which are easily feasible, time and cost saving and fulfil the need for accountability for governmental institutions.