Skip to main content
Log in

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

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Place Branding and Public Diplomacy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aaker, D.A. (1996) Building Strong Brands. New York: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, J.R. (1983) The Architecture of Cognition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biel, A.L. (1993) Converting image into equity. In: D.A. Aaker and A.L. Biel (eds.) Brand Equity and Advertising: Advertising’s Role in Building Strong Brands. Hillsdale, MI: Lawrence Erlbaum Associations, pp. 67–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Braun, E. (2012) Putting city branding into practice. Journal of Brand Management 19 (4): 257–267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faircloth, J.B., Capella, L.M. and Alford, B.L. (2001) The effect of brand attitude and brand image on brand equity. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice 9 (3): 61–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Federal Statistical Office (FSO) of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. (2012) Statistisches Jahrbuch Hamburg 2011/2012. Hamburg, Germany: Federal Statistical Office of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein.

  • Fishbein, M. and Ajzen, I. (1975) Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Florek, M. (2012) Measuring of city brand equity. Actual Problems of Economics 2 (7): 130–139.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gertner, D. and Kotler, P. (2004) How can a place correct a negative image? Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 1 (1): 50–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herstein, R. and Jaffe, E. (2008) The children’s city – The transition from a negative to a positive city image. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 4 (1): 76–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hui, S.K., Huangy, Y. and George, E.I. (2008) Model-based analysis of concept maps. Bayesian Analysis 3 (3): 479–512.

    Google Scholar 

  • Insch, A. and Florek, M. (2008) A great place to live, work and play – Conceptualizing place satisfaction in the case of a city’s residents. Journal of Place Management and Development 1 (2): 138–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobsen, B.P. (2009) Investor-based place brand equity: A theoretical framework. Journal of Place Management and Development 2 (1): 70–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobsen, B.P. (2012) Place brand equity: A model for establishing the effectiveness of place brands. Journal of Place Management and Development 5 (3): 253–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • John, D.R., Loken, B., Kim, K. and Monga, A.B. (2006) Brand concept maps: A methodology for identifying brand association networks. Journal of Marketing Research 43 (4): 549–563.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kavaratzis, M. (2004) From city marketing to city branding: Towards a theoretical framework for developing city brands. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 1 (1): 58–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keller, K.L. (1993) Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing 57 (January): 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotler, P., Haider, D.H. and Rein, I. (1993) Marketing Places: Attracting Investment, Industry, and Tourism to Cities, States, and Nations. New York: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucarelli, A. (2012) Unraveling the complexity of ‘city brand equity’: A three-dimensional framework. Journal of Place Management and Development 5 (3): 231–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osgood, C.E., Suci, G.J. and Tannenbaum, P.H. (1957) The Measurement Of Meaning. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Papadopoulos, N. and Heslop, L. (2002) Country equity and country branding: Problems and prospects. Journal of Brand Management 9 (4–5): 294–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Rekom, J., Verlegh, P.W.J. and Slokkers, R. (2009) The owner‘s edge: Brand ownership influences causal maps. Journal of Business Research 62 (3): 339–344.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rust, R.T., Lemon, K.N. and Zeithaml, V.A. (2004) Return on marketing: Using customer equity to focus marketing strategy. Journal of Marketing 68 (1): 109–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schnittka, O., Sattler, H. and Zenker, S. (2012) Advanced brand concept maps: A new approach for evaluating the favorability of brand association networks. International Journal of Research in Marketing 29 (3): 265–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wansink, B. (2003) Using laddering to understand and leverage a brand’s equity. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal 6 (2): 111–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoo, B., Donthu, N. and Lee, S. (2000) An examination of selected marketing mix elements and brand equity. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 28 (2): 195–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zenker, S. and Beckmann, S.C. (2013a) Measuring brand image effects of flagship projects for place brands: The vase of Hamburg. Journal of Brand Management 20 (8): 642–655.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zenker, S. and Beckmann, S.C. (2013b) My place is not your place – Different place brand knowledge by different target groups. Journal of Place Management and Development 6 (1): 6–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zenker, S. and Martin, N. (2011) Measuring success in place marketing and branding. Journal of Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 7 (1): 32–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zenker, S., Eggers, F. and Farsky, M. (2013a) Putting a price tag on cities: Insights into the competitive environment of places. Cities 30 (February): 133–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zenker, S., Petersen, S. and Aholt, A. (2013b) The Citizen Satisfaction Index (CSI): Evidence for a four basic factor model in a German sample. Cities 31 (April): 156–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zenker, S. and Rütter, N. (2014) Is satisfaction the key? The role of citizen satisfaction, place attachment and place brand attitude on positive citizen behavior. Cities 38 (June): 11–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sebastian Zenker.

Additional information

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.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

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

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

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

Keywords

Navigation