Who is Who

Dr. Robert Govers

Robert Govers is a senior partner at Anholt & Co, an independent international scholar, speaker and author on the reputation of cities, regions and countries.

He is chairman of the International Place Branding Association an Co-Editor of the academic journal Place Branding and Public Diplomacy.

Robert has been an adjunct or visiting scholar at Tsinghua University, Beijing; the University of Leuven, Belgium; Rotterdam School of Management, The Netherlands; Loughborough University London Campus; IULM University Milano, Italy; and several institutes in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He also teaches Place Branding on the UNESCO World Heritage at Work Master programme in Torino, Italy.

Member of the TPBO Panel of Place Brand Experts.

Interview

In conversation with Robert Govers on Place Branding Theory and Practice

Place reputation scholar and advisor Robert Govers in this interview offers exclusive insights into the past and future of place branding research and practice.
[First published 2015]

Robert, what was your view of place branding when you first started your professional career?

In simple terms I’ve always looked at the brand as the construct that bridges identity and perceived image/awareness (reputation being the average perception among informed publics). To me, as I wrote in my doctoral dissertation in 2005 and published in the book I co-authored for Palgrave with Frank Go in 2009, place branding is about strategies that aim to build brand equity for places by boosting awareness and enhancing positive image associations.

Has it changed since?

I guess that my view on place branding is still the same, but what I completely underestimated is that everybody – since we are all consumers – seems to think to know what branding is about, even though it is largely misunderstood, particularly among policy makers, whom, if I summarise, equate brand to ‘logo’. This limited view might not be dramatic for the effectiveness of commercial branding, but it is fatal for place branding, as I’ve tried to explain in this editorial for the quarterly journal of Place Branding and Public Diplomacy.

People just don’t think about other places very much and perceptions, which are largely based on clichés and stereotypes, don’t change very much over time. So to think that weak instruments, such as logos and advertising campaigns, can influence reputation is a mistake.

As a leading place branding “thinker” and “doer”, which have been the main insights for you personally and professionally?

For me personally, my research and consultancy over the last 15 years has led to frustration with the fact that globalisation has accelerated the challenges facing humanity, but even though we now have the technology and international media, globalisation has done little in terms of extending our patience with and understanding and appreciation of ‘the other’.

As a scholar and advisor I’ve become even more convinced that to change reputation is to contribute to humanity. This is why I got involved in Simon Anholt’s www.good.country project. The 70% correlation between the Anholt GfK Nation Brands Index and the Good Country Index shows that for places to be admired, they need to be admirable.

"It is high time we change the dominant narrative of competition and presence to one of collaboration and esteem (from jockeying for positions to respected reputation)."

What fascinates you about the place branding topic?

Its complexity and that it can certainly contribute to the quality and imagination of policy making to incorporate the international dimension and take account of reputational effects.

Where do you see the main challenges for place branding practitioners?

To make sure that the place branding baby is not going to be flushed with the bathing water. The often simplistic practice of place branding generally (excluding exceptions, of course, such as presented on this website) has resulted in a lot of criticism and rightfully so.

It is time to convince ‘the market’ that place branding is a proper discipline with many potential virtues, but is certainly not a quick fix. Fortunately, the specialised and committed community of people that have dedicated their careers specifically to this discipline is working on this, so there is hope.

The opportunity: Places starting to understand that they need to consider reputational effects of their decisions and hiring true experts to help them in the process.

Why did you decide to become editor of the academic journal Place Branding and Public Diplomacy?

It is the only journal that specializes in this field and I was honored to be asked by Simon Anholt, founding emeritus editor, and Nick Cull, co-editor, to join the team.

The journal is not in the Social Citation Index and not on any of the lists that universities and quality assessment agencies use to calculate their magic numbers to assess research impact, so we are equally challenged to claim our niche and establish this domain as the researchers themselves are, but we have to do it, because we believe there is a future in it.

We hope the community feels the same and continues to submit good quality papers so that we can gradually build recognition. The number and quality of the submission has indeed increased over the last few years, so the journal is doing well, celebrating 10 years of existence.

Why did you join Simon Anholt as managing researcher for the Good Country Index?

Simon Anholt is the founding father of this discipline and even though there are nuances in the way we interpret what it means to look at places as brands and how reputations can be managed, I have tremendous respect for his pioneering work and ideas. We have loosely collaborated since 2010 and when he came up with the Good Country concept and mentioned it to me, I soon realized its potential and timeliness.

The first edition of the Good Country Index, as we’ve launched it in July 2014, was obviously a first stab at trying to measure the concept. It is far from perfect, but we’re working hard on finding the funding and structure to build this into a serious global initiative. So far it’s all been voluntary work.

We’ve been saying for many years that for places to be admired, they have to be admirable, which means that only real policy changes and initiatives that make contributions to humanity will improve reputation. The Good Country project provides measurability and creative support for this idea.

Responsible marketing has become a very popular concept. How would you define responsible place branding?

In my conceptual understanding of place branding, it is about responsible governance, by definition. Not just because admiration by foreign publics can only be the result of governing bodies taking responsibility for humanity and the planet besides their own electorate and territory, but also because place branding reduces competition. If places are able to build reputations based on unique local identities and achievements, their positioning should allow them to break away from competition.

Strong city brands like Paris, London, Sydney, New York, Rome, Amsterdam or Barcelona, have such a unique positioning that they don’t actually compete. They are on everybody’s wish list and hence created a captive market. This means that all that they need to do is to create reasons for tourists to visit now or investors to invest now, which is the realm of ‘product marketing’. The latter illustrates that in my book, marketing and branding are two different things.

The unique positioning of these strong city brands actually provides them with room to manoeuvre and hence allows them to collaborate more closely in city networks, facilitating even more effective and efficient responsible governance.

Unfortunately, often the practice of place branding is irresponsible in as far as it wastes tax payers money on ineffective me-too advertising campaigns, which in fact increase competition as opposed to reducing it.

What should place branders never do in terms of communication?

Pay for it! I.e. they should refrain from advertising. Paying someone to tell the world how wonderful you are only offends people. One can advertise to sell a product to a target market, but that is marketing and not place branding (again, please refer to my editorial here).

As someone who works both in academia and place branding practice, what do you think are the main barriers between academics and practitioners?

The fact that place branding is not the same as commercial branding, while, in fact, many commercial branding agencies have jumped on the bandwagon saying the opposite, i.e. that place branding is nothing more than the application of commercial branding principles to places, which is, of course, in their own interest. In that sense, I completely understand Simon Anholt’s frustration with claims that he was the one who invented the term.

Needless to say, as this website shows, there are certainly practitioners out there that have a more informed view and that have dedicated their careers specifically to place branding. Unfortunately, they are a minority, but we’re all united in the struggle to compete with the many (often small and local) agencies that sell simple logos and slogans, while discrediting the discipline as governments find out that this doesn’t work.

Hopefully, in future, these governments will start looking for more intelligible solutions as opposed to writing it off.

Thank you, Robert.

Speaker

Robert speaks on topics such as community reputation, image, brand, (social) media, PR, clichés and stereotypes, cities, countries and regions, identity, heritage and culture, universal values, events, tourism, investment promotion, talent attraction, export marketing, economic competitiveness and collaboration, globalisation, strategic and action communication, creativity and innovation, place brands, city brands, nation brands, country branding, destination brands, place marketing and branding, research and measurement, accountability, and sustainable development.

Please contact Robert for speaker rates, which may vary between €5,000.- and €20,000.-. Special considerations may be made for non-profit organizations.

Consulting

As consultant, Robert typically advises in areas such as place identity, image, reputation, economic competitiveness, tourism policy and strategy, educational policy, tourism and investment promotion, and major international events. This is approached from a strategic reputation management perspective referred to as competitive identity, which is based on the premise that places build reputation through substance and symbolic actions, as opposed to marketing gimmicks.

He has been involved in many consultancy projects and advisory boards for reputable organisations such as the International Air Transport Association, the European Commission, the Flemish Government and various ministries, tourism promotion boards and regional and city administrations.

Anholt & Co

Robert Govers is a Senior Partner at Anholt & Co. where he has worked on numerous assignments with the Governments of the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan and Qatar. He has also advised many other administrations worldwide including the national and regional governments of Luxembourg, three provinces in the Netherlands, and the City of Ghent.

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Imaginative Communities:

Imaginative Communities is written for readers who want to understand why some communities, cities, regions and countries are admired and others are not; for anyone who feels that the way in which their community is perceived is too negative, clichéd or stereotypical; and for those people who want to find out what can be done about it.

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These projects highlight Dr. Govers' capacity to bridge academia with practical application in diverse geographical and cultural contexts, from North America to Europe.

Testimonials

Robert gave a phenomenal presentation at European Cities Marketing conference in Madrid... Robert's straight-shooting and no-marketing-mumbo-jumbo approach ... is both refreshing and very educational. Robert's message was very well received and top-rated by the delegates.

European Cities Marketing

Conference Host

Robert was our keynote speaker at the 2017 Tel Aviv Cities Summit, and delivered a wonderful presentation... Robert is able to communicate his ideas in a way that keeps everyone in the audience engaged.

Tel Aviv Cities Summit

Conference host

It has been said that countries should measure their gross national imagination, a critical resource for success in the twenty-first century. Robert's important new book 'Imaginative Communities' shows why this is crucial in an age of fractured identity.

Dr Parag Khanna

Author of 'Connectography'

Research Output & Publications

Since 2009 Robert Govers has co-edited and authored four books on the topic of community reputation with Palgrave Macmillan publishers

Imaginative Communities (published in 2018) is his first book under his own imprint. He also co-authored over fifty journal articles, book chapters and conference papers and has delivered numerous public speeches and business publications.

Co-editor of the quarterly journal, Place Branding and Public Diplomacy.

Connect with Robert Govers

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