A community or regional brand is an outcome of the various economic development processes that are undertaken within the strategic planning process – including a community competitive analysis. Evaluation of strengths, weaknesses and competitive advantages will assist in determining an effective branding strategy.

Today we see the emergence of ‘place branding’: Place Branding is “the process of discovering, creating, developing and realizing ideas and concepts for (re)constructing place identities, their defining traits and ‘genius loci’ and subsequently building the sense of place” (placebrandobserver.com). Have a look at this short overivew of place branding versus place marketing courtesy of the PlaceObserver.com .