Abstract
In the province of Ontario, Canada, tremendous attention is being paid to place branding at a community level, with communities adopting it as a policy tool to promote economic development. In fact, the bulk of the communities have developed or are in the process of developing some form of brand that is communicated to the outside world. A strongly emphasized component of branding in the province is visual identity, represented through logos. This study examines the extent of branding in the province of Ontario, Canada, through a comprehensive content analysis of community brand images, presented visually through logos. This analysis affirms that place branding is occurring in Ontario in all types of communities, but the size and type of community affect the imagery typically utilized. While there is a tendency among all communities to rely on tourism as their main place brand, cities are more likely to incorporate industry into their visual identity, while townships incorporate agriculture. A key finding in this research is that the visual identities represented in Ontario’s communities do not necessarily align with the economic realities of the province. Thus, the results of this study suggest that Ontario’s communities may not be reaping the expected benefits in their place branding efforts. The article recommends that communities need to consider re-examining their branding strategy to maximize the opportunity for future economic development while demonstrating fiscal responsibility and sound public governance.
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Acknowledgements
This research was conducted with financial assistance of the University of Western Ontario’s SSHRC 4A Reapplication Grant. The authors would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions.
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Cleave, E., Arku, G. Community branding and brand images in Ontario, Canada. Place Brand Public Dipl 11, 65–82 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1057/pb.2014.5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/pb.2014.5