Upcoming Conference.

The Seventh #IPBA2023 Annual Conference
of the International Place Branding Association (IPBA)

took place in Helsingborg, Sweden on 18-20 October 2023. It was hosted by Lund University (Helsingborg Campus) with support from Halmstad University, and Kristianstad University. The conference co-chairs were Cecilia Cassinger, Lund University; Olga Rauhut Kompaniets, Halmstad University; Lisa Källström, Kristianstad University; and Ola Thufvesson, Lund University. The venue was the University of Lund’s Helsingborg campus. The following keynote speeches were delivered: H.E. Ziv Nevo Kulman, Israel’s Ambassador to Sweden, spoke about Public and cultural diplomacy in times of crisis – how does it work?; Nadia Kaneva, Professor at University of Denver spoke about The brand state goes to war: Critical reflections on brand Ukraine and the limits of market(ing) logics; and Adam Arvidsson, Professor at University of Naples, Federico II spoke about The question of place in the Anthroposcene. Nine doctoral students presented their work in the doctoral colloquium and 94 contributions (including 12 artworks) were presented in parallel sessions. For the first time in the history of the IPBA conferences the Swedish organisers were able to pull together three panel discussions on: The global image of Sweden in times of crisis; How to communicate during an illegitimate influence campaign?; and Collaboration between research and practice to advance place branding knowledge. This attracted quite a few practitioners. The Swedes also thought about climate impact, by making this a completely vegan conference. The Palgrave Springer best conference paper award was won by Kirsten Mogensen (Roskilde University, Denmark / University of Southern California, USA) for her paper entitled “Branding a small state as an innovation business partner”. The conference opened and closed with some beautiful musical performances.

Helsingborg, Lund University, October 2023

The Sixth #IPBA2022 Annual Conference
of the International Place Branding Association (IPBA)

took place in Aix-en-Provence on 12-14 October 2022. It was hosted by the Institut de Management Public et Gouvernance Territoriale (IMPGT), Aix-Marseille University with Professor Christophe Alaux as conference chair. The venue was the beautiful historic IMPGT campus in downtown Aix. The following keynote speeches were delivered: Natacha Destelle, General Manager Provence Tourisme spoke about the regional branding initiatives and collaboration required. Gary Warnaby, Professor at Manchester Metropolitan University spoke about the various visualisations of place brands (logos, flags, maps, icons, and other manifestations); and Hubert Calmettes, Consultant and former CEO of Toulouse attractiveness agency elaborated on his experiences, successes and challenges at Toulouse attractiveness agency. Ten doctoral students presented their work in the doctoral colloquium and 62 contributions (including 11 artworks) were presented in parallel sessions. The Palgrave Springer best conference paper award was won by Abdulrhman Alsayel for his paper (co-authored with Jan Fransen and Martin de Jong) about “City branding in a multi-level governance context – Five types of Urban Development approaches in Saudi Arabia and their branding performance”. The conference closed with some fantastic musical performances by our own conference delegates.

Aix-en-Provence, IMPGT Aix-Marseille University, October 2022

The Fifth #IPBA2021 Annual Conference
of the International Place Branding Association (IPBA)

took place in Barcelona, Spain on 8-10 December 2021 (planned originally for Barcelona in December 2020, but postponed for a year due to the Coronavirus Pandemic). It was hosted by the Pompeu Fabra University with Professor José Fernández Cavia as conference chair. The venue was the Poble Nou campus. The following keynote speeches were delivered: Cecilia Pasquinelli, lecturer in Brand Management and Destination Management at the Department of Management and Quantitative Studies, University of Naples Parthenope, Italy, on “Place Branding and the Challenge of Temporariness”; Daniel Valverde Bagnarello, the “essential COSTA RICA” nation brand director, on “Place Brands and Corporate Brands: Essential COSTA RICA’s symbiotic approach”, and; Juan Carlos Belloso, renowned international expert with more than 20 years of relevant experience in the fields of development, branding and promotion of places and destinations, on “The Image of Places: Stories from a Place Brand Consultant”. The conference also included a Panel of European cities on “Covid19 as a Change Accelerator in City Brand Strategies” with representatives from Ghent, Porto and Barcelona, and chaired by Mario Rubert, City Promotion Director of the Barcelona City Council. In addition, “Barcelona’s City Brand Strategy”, was presented by Pau Solanilla Franco, Commissioner for City Promotion, Barcelona City Council. Four doctoral students presented their work in the doctoral colloquium and 65 contributions (including artworks) were presented in parallel sessions. 4 out of the 13 parallel sessions, which included 21 of the 65 contributions, took place online, to facilitate delegates impacted by pandemic-induced travel restrictions. The Palgrave Springer best conference paper award was won by Anna Matwiejczyk for her paper on “Polish Functional Urban Areas: fundamental barriers to place branding”.

Barcelona, Pompeu Fabra University, December 2021

The Fourth #IPBA2019 Annual Conference
of the International Place Branding Association (IPBA)

took place in Volos, Greece on 27-29 November 2019. It was hosted by the University of Thessaly Department of Planning and Regional Development with Professor Alex Deffner as conference chair. The venue was the department’s university campus building. Nick Cull, Professor of public diplomacy at University of Southern California, Thomas Doxiadis, Architect and Principal at doxiadis+ and Roberto Vegnuti, Marketing and R&D consultant for Cinque Terre Consorzio Turistico Italy, delivered the keynote speeches. Eleven doctoral students presented their work in the doctoral colloquium and 80 contributions (including artworks) were presented in parallel sessions. The Palgrave best conference paper award was won by Ioulia Elmatzoglou for her paper on “EU Branding. Efforts to improve the EU image”.

Volos, University of Thessaly Department of Planning
and Regional Development, November 2019

The Third #IPBA2018 Annual Conference
of the International Place Branding Association (IPBA)

took place in Macao on 5‐7 December 2018. It was hosted by the Destination Branding & Marketing Group (DBM-VI) at the Institute for Tourism Studies, Macao S.A.R., China, with Professor Don Dioko as conference chair. The venue was the Institute for Tourism Studies. Helena de Senna Fernandes, Director of the Macao Government Tourism Office, Brett Free, Deputy Director of the Information Services Department of the Hong Kong S.A.R. Government China, Grant R. Bowie, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of MGM China Holdings Ltd. and Andrea Insch, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Marketing at the University of Otago, delivered the keynote speeches. Six doctoral students presented their work in the doctoral colloquium and 50 contributions (including artworks) were presented in parallel sessions. The Palgrave best confe-rence paper award was won by Stephen Poon for his paper on “Experiencing critical regionalism as cultural heritage expressions in tropical urbanism: Reimagining the place and placelessness in hospitality design”.

Macao, Institute for Tourism Studies, December 2018

The Second #IPBA2017 Annual Conference
of the International Place Branding Association (IPBA)

took place in Swansea, Wales on 5‐7 December 2017. It was hosted by Swansea University with Professor Nigel Morgan as conference chair. The venue was the Marriot Hotel. Mari Stevens, Director of Marketing for the Welsh Government, Geerte Udo, Associate Director of Marketing at Amsterdam Marketing, Manolis Psarros, CEO at TOPOSOPHY and Don Dioko, Professor and Director of the International Tourism Research Centre of Macau at the Institute for Tourism Studies Macau, delivered the keynote speeches. Six doctoral students presented their work in the doctoral colloquium and over 40 contributions (including artworks) were presented in parallel sessions. The Palgrave best conference paper award was won by Laura Carmouze, Léa Boutard, Sarah Serval and Christophe Alaux for their paper on “What’s in a place name: Reputation components and drivers”.

Swansea, Swansea University, December 2017

The Inaugural #IPBA2016 Annual Conference
of the International Place Branding Association (IPBA)

took place in London on 7‐9 December 2016. It was hosted by Middlesex University with Professor T.C. Melewar as conference chair. The venue was the Hendon Hall Hotel. Per Olof Berg, Emeritus Professor of Stockholm University, Marit Høvik Hartmann, Director of Communications and Marketing for Oslo Business Region and Bill Baker, independent consultant and Author of Place Branding for Small Cities, Regions & Downtowns delivered the keynote speeches. Five doctoral students presented their work in the doctoral colloquium and 95 contributions were presented in parallel sessions. The Palgrave best conference paper award was won by Eli Avraham for his paper on “Branding and marketing strategies for combatting stereotypes and negative perceptions towards countries”.

London, Middlesex University, December 2016