Who is Who
Olga Rauhut Kompaniets
Olga Rauhut Kompaniets is a researcher and educator in place marketing and branding, destination marketing, and wine marketing, based in Sweden. She holds a PhD in marketing-management and is Senior Lecturer in Business Administration at the School of Business, Innovation and Sustainability at Halmstad University, Sweden, where she specialises in marketing and branding strategies.
At Halmstad University, Olga directs the master’s program in Responsible Global Marketing and the undergraduate International Marketing program. She is also actively involved in internationalisation and in strengthening collaboration between academia and society.
Her research focuses on place marketing and branding, circular and smart cities, place attractiveness, and stakeholder engagement. She also explores food and wine marketing and digital marketing. Olga has authored several peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, including recent work on branding circular cities. Her work combines academic rigor with applied insights to support places in becoming more attractive, sustainable, and resilient.
Research & Teaching
Olga's research focuses on topics such as:
Much of her work is centred on Halland, a region in southern Sweden. Olga is a member of the reference group for Hello Halland, a strategic project with a focus on talent attraction to the region, positioning Halland as an attractive place to live and work. She has also contributed to FramHall project – Future Places in Halland, applying foresight methods to support place attractiveness and development of two cities – Halmstad and Varberg; and to food tourism projects in partnership with Hallands Matgille.
Her research and teaching are also internationally connected. She has been invited as a guest lecturer at, among others, University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Italy, Middlesex University London, UK, and Burgundy School of Wine and Spirits Business, France, Fontys University of applied sciences, The Netherlands, and Thomas More University, Belgium.
Olga is an active member of the International Place Branding Association (IPBA) and co-organised the 7th Annual IPBA Conference, held in Helsingborg, Sweden, in October 2023.
In 2023 she was recognised as a Meeting Ambassador by Destination Halmstad AB for her role in strengthening city of Halmstad’s profile as a meeting and conference destination. Motivation: "Thank you, Olga Rauhut Kompaniets, for making Halmstad a more attractive meeting destination through your engagement in the 7th Annual Conference of the International Place Branding Association."
She is a reviewer for several academic journals, including Place Branding and Public Diplomacy and Journal of Place Management and Development, International Journal of Strategic Communication, Journal of Strategic Marketing, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, and for international publishers such as Edward Elgar Publishing, Pearson, Sage, and Elsevier.
Q&A with Olga
Back in 2023, we spoke with Olga about place branding and sustainability in the Nordics. A familiar face at conferences and one of TPBO’s most engaged followers, she now supports our mission to bridge research and practice as Associate Editor.
In this conversation, she shares more of her thinking and work.
Connect with Olga
Connect with Olga Rauhut Kompaniets on LinkedIn.