Why Brand the Future with the Past? The Roles of Heritage in the Construction and Promotion of Place Brand Reputations

In the late 1980s, when academic attention regarding the application of marketing approaches to the selling of places was in its infancy, a number of exploratory studies of deliberately promoted place images was undertaken in The Netherlands. The starting point was Burgess’s (1982) seminal study on the content of local authority promoted images in the UK, where she identified the four main elements as being centrality, dynamism, identity and quality of life. An investigation of the content of the text and illustration of all 16 medium-sized cities in The Netherlands (Voogd and van de Wijk 1989) revealed the unanticipated conclusion that historical elements were being used widely in campaigns designed principally to attract exogenous investment. Official brochures and printed advertising material (in a pre-website era) stressed historical events and personalities associated with the place, and even lengthy descriptions of armorial bearings and local monumental buildings. It seemed strange that city councils and their consultants should so emphasize historical elements over contemporary attributes, which would seem of more immediate relevance to a commercial enterprise such as accessibility, shopping, retailing, recreation or other facilities.