Branding Innsbruck: the Capital of the Alps

Places have sought to distinguish themselves from one another since very early times in order to claim their distinctiveness and traits to achieve various economic, political, and sociopsychological purposes. The decline of Fordism, which happened in the 1970s and 1980s and had a significant impact on Western economies and cultures, changed the way people perceived the urban image. Since then, many cities started to think about their image and how they wanted to be projected and perceived. Today's world is globalized and always connected, so each nation must compete with the others to attract more visitors, investors, students, international events, fairs, and at the same time, gain media attention and the respect of other nations and populations. In this context, the concepts of place branding and brand image are developed, and are these concepts that this dissertation aims to analyse. The term place branding refers to the use of branding tactics and other marketing strategies for the economic and cultural development of cities, by creating strong and successful brand images, consumers’ perceptions of a brand. Therefore, this thesis wants to analyse these concepts and apply them to a concrete case study: the city of Innsbruck, where I did my Erasmus last year. In this regard, the research questions are the following: what strategies does the city of Innsbruck use to promote and identify itself in an increasingly competitive and globalised environment? How has the perception of the city changed in the minds of consumers over the years? To answer the research questions, this dissertation describes the city profile, its strengths and weaknesses, focusing particularly on sports, which at first made it globally famous by identifying it as a tourist destination. Indeed, its strategic location and the natural environment in which it is situated have helped the city achieve the title of "Capital of the Alps," making it the ideal destination for sports enthusiasts. However, consumers' perceptions of a city are bound to change and evolve continuously, due in part to increased competition. Thus, this thesis also aims to highlight how Innsbruck has evolved over time, especially to be able to attract and include different segments of the population, identifying itself more and more as vibrant, young, cosmopolitan, and giving more attention to cultural and ecological aspects as well.