Skip to main content

FOLIA GEOGRAPHICA

Menu

Folia Geographica 2019, 61/1, pp. 120-142

CITY BRAND IMAGE: SEMIOTIC PERSPECTIVE A CASE STUDY OF PRAGUE

Kvetoslava MATLOVIČOVÁ A*, Eva TIRPÁKOVÁ B, Peter MOCÁK C

Received: March 30, 2019 | Revised: April 27, 2019 | Accepted: May 16, 2019

Paper No. 19-61/1-531

A* University of Prešov, 17. novembra 1, 080 01 Prešov, Slovakia
kvetoslava.matlovicova@unipo.sk (corresponding author)

B Prague City Tourism, Arbesovo náměstí 70/4, Praha 5, Czech Republic
e.tirpakova@gmail.com

C University of Prešov, 17. novembra 1, 080 01 Prešov, Slovakia
peter.mocak@smail.unipo.sk


PDF FULL TEXT

Abstract
The article focuses on analysis of the Prague brand image from the point of signs (symbols) that make it up and also of their links in relation to the recipients, as well as to the creators of their meaning. By means of a particular example of Prague we point at the fact that the „language“ of symbols communicated by the city with its real and potential users is read and deciphered differently. The study shows the existing semantic differentiation between the three monitored groups of experts on tourism and branding: domestic (Czech) experts and two groups of foreign experts: from Slovakia (as a country with the strong mutual links based on the common history and persistent intensive contacts until now) and other countries of the world. Three groups of signs are analyzed in particular: (1) iconic signs – representing the territory as a whole, respectively reflecting the real form of the territory or its elements; they are its identical reflection, (2) index signs – in comparison to the previous ones they only indicate a causal relationship with the territory or its elements that refer to it (it is so called the derived relation) and (3) symbolic signs – a decryption of their meanings is the result of the convention because these signs usually do not indicate any direct causal link between the city and the symbol that represents it.

Key words
Iconic sign, Index sign, Symbolic sign, Semiotic, Brand image, Prague

REFERENCES

  1. ALLPORT G. W. (1979). The Nature of Prejudice. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, ISBN: 0201001799, 537p.
  2. ASHWORTH G. J., VOOGD H. (1990). Selling the City: Marketing Approaches in Public Sector Urban Planning. London, Belhaven Press. ISBN: 1 85293 008 X.
  3. BIGNELL J. (2002). Media Semiotics: An Introduction. 2. vydanie. Manchester University Press, ISBN: 071-9062-05-5, 241p.
  4. BURGESS J., WOOD P. (1988). Decoding Docklands. In Eyles J. & Smith D. (Eds): Qualitative Methods, Human Geography, pp. 94–117.
  5. de CHERNATONY L. (2009). Značka: od vize k vyšším ziskům / From Brand Vision to Brand Evaluation. Brno: Computer Press. ISBN 978-80-251-2007-1, 352p.
  6. de CHERNATONY L., MCDONALD M. (2003). Creating Powerful Brands in Consumer, Service and Industrial Markets. Tretie vydanie, Oxford, Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann, ISBN: 0-750-659-807, 467p.
  7. DOWLING G. (2002). Creating Corporate Reputations: Identity, Image and Performance, Oxford University Press, ISBN: 0-1992-522-03, 299p.
  8. FISKE J. (1990). An Introduction to Communication Studies. Routledge, Londýn, ISBN: 0415-04-67-26, 203p.
  9. GALLO P. (2004). Rétorika v teórii a praxi. Dominanta, Prešov, ISBN – 80 – 967349-1-1, 137p.
  10. GARDNER B., Levy S. (1955). The product and the brand. Harvard Business Revue, marec/apríl, pp. 33-39.
  11. GIDDENS A. (1999). Sociologie. 1 vydanie. Praha: Argo. ISBN 80-7203-124-4, 595p.
  12. HANKINSON G. (2015). Rethinking the Place Branding Construct, s. 13-31. In: Kavaratzis M., Warnaby G. and Ashworth G. J. (eds) 2015. Rethinking Place Branding: Comprehensive Brand Development for Cities and Regions, Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-12424-7, 248p.
  13. HEALEY P., DAVOUDI S., O´TOOLE M., TAVSANOGLU S., USHER D. (Eds) (1992). Rebuilding the City: Property-led Urban Regeneration. Spon, London. In Seppo K. Rainisto, Success Factor of Place Marketing: A Study of Place Marketing Practices in Norten Europe and the United States, Espoo 2003
  14. KAVARATZIS M., WARNABY G., ASHWORTH G. J. (eds) (2014). Rethinking Place Branding: Comprehensive Brand Development for Cities and Regions, Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-12424-7, 248p.
  15. KELLER L. K. (2007). Strategické řízení značky / Strategic Brand Management. Praha: Grada Publishing. ISBN 978-80-247-1481-3. 800p.
  16. KOTLER P., ARMSTRONG G. (2004). Marketing. Grada Publishing, Praha, 855p.
  17. KOTLER P., ASPLUND C., REIN I., HAIDER D. (1999). Marketing places Europe: attracting investments, industries, and visitors to European cities, communities, regions and nations. Financial Times Prentice Hall, ISBN: 027-3-6444-24, Harlow, 314p.
  18. KOTLER P., KELLER K. L. (2007). Marketing management, Grada, 12. vydanie, ISBN: 8024713595, 792p.
  19. MATLOVIČ R., MATLOVIČOVÁ K. (2015). Geografické myslenie / Geographical Thought. Prešov: Prešovská univerzita. ISBN 978-80-555-1416-1. 321p.
  20. MATLOVIČOVÁ K. (2008). Place marketing process – theoretical aspects of realization. Acta Facultatis Studiorum Humanitatis et Naturae Universitatis Prešoviensis, Prírodné vedy, Folia Geographica, 12, PU Prešov, pp. 195-224.
  21. MATLOVIČOVÁ K. (2009). What is the Colour of Prešov? An Analysis of Colour Associations in the Population Evoked by a Geographycal Area as the Fundamnet for Creating an Acceptable City Brand. Acta Facultatis Studiorum Humanitatis et Naturae Universitatis Prešoviensis, Prírodné vedy, Folia Geographica, 14, ISSN 1336-6149, ISSN 1336-6157, PU Prešov, pp. 167-179
  22. MATLOVIČOVÁ K. (2011a). Analýza interného imidžu mesta Prešov. Acta Facultatis Studiorum Humanitatis et Naturae Universitatis Prešoviensis, Prírodné vedy, Folia Geographica, 17, Ročník LII, ISSN 1336-6149, ISSN 1336-6157, PU Prešov, pp. 217-241.
  23. MATLOVIČOVÁ K. (2011b). Analýza percepcie urbánneho prostredia ako základ marketingovej stratégie orientovanej na rezidentov. Prípadová štúdia mesta Prešov / Urban space analyses: an example of the marketing strategy focuses on residents. Presov case study. In Jžek J., Kaňka L. (eds.): Konkurenceschopnost a udržitelný rozvoj malých měst a venkovských regionů v České republice, Vydala Západočeská univerzita v Plzni, 2011, ISBN 978-80-261-0094-2, pp. 169-196.
  24. MATLOVIČOVÁ K. (2015). Značka územia / Place Brand (učebnica/textbook). Prešovská univerzita v Prešove, Fakulta humanitných a prírodných vied, ISBN: 978-80-555-1529-8, 320p.
  25. MATLOVIČOVÁ K. (2016). Country-of-Origin (COO) koncept – jeho vymedzenie, determinanty a možnosti využitia v marketingovej praxi / Country-of-Origin (COO) concept – definition, determinants and possible application in marketing practice. In: Nováček A. (ed.) (2016): Geografické myšlení jako aktuální společenská výzva, sborník příspěvků z Výroční konference ČGS, 5. – 7. září 2016, České Budějovice, Jihočeská univerzita, ISBN:978-80-7394-619-7, pp. 99-108.
  26. MATLOVIČOVÁ K., HUSÁROVÁ M. (2017). Heritage marketing a možnosti jeho využitia pri rozvoji turistickej destinácie / Potential of the Heritage Marketing in Tourist Destinations Development Čičva Castle Ruins Case Study. Prípadová štúdia hradu Čičva. Folia Geographica 2017, Vol. 59, No 1, pp. 5-35.
  27. MATLOVIČOVÁ K., KOLESÁROVÁ J. (2012a). Place branding – pvýznam a možnosti využitia v rozvoji území / Place Branding – possibilities of its. Application in the regional development. Acta Facultatis Studiorum Humanitatis et Naturae Universitatis Prešoviensis, Prírodné vedy, Folia Geographica 19, Ročník LIV., ISSN 1336-6149, ISSN 1336-6157, PU Prešov, pp. 160-170.
  28. MATLOVIČOVÁ K., KOLESÁROVÁ J. (2012b). Destination image and possibilities of its formation: a case study of the image of Thailand as a tourist destination perceived by Slovaks / Destinačný imidž a možnosti jeho formovania – Prípadová štúdia vnímaného imidžu Thajska ako turistickej destinácie u Slovákov. Central European Regional Policy and Human Geography, Year II, no. 1, 2012, HU ISSN 2062-8870, HU E-ISSN 2062-8889, Article no. 2012-1, University of Debrecen, Hungary, [online] na: http://www.cerphg.unideb.hu/PDF/2012_1/1_kveta_nyomda.pdf, pp. 5-20.
  29. MATLOVIČOVÁ K., KOLESÁROVÁ J., MATLOVIČ R. (2016). Vybrané teoretické aspekty destinačného marketingu založeného na participácii marginalizovaných komunít. In: Hotelnictví, turizmus a vzdělávání: sborník recenzovaných příspěvků z 8. ročníku mezinárodní vědecké konference, Praha: Vysoká škola hotelová, ISBN 978-80-87411-75-9. pp. 128-143.
  30. MATLOVIČOVÁ K., KORMANÍKOVÁ J. (2014). City Brand-Image Associations Detection. Case Study of Prague. SGEM International Multidisciplinary Scientific Conferences on Social Sciences and Arts, SGEM 2014, Conference Proceedings, Volume II., Sociology and Healthcare, Albena, Bulgaria, ISBN 978-619-7105-23-0, ISSN 2367-5659, pp. 139-146.
  31. MATLOVIČOVÁ K., MATLOVIČ R. (2017). Destinačný marketing pre geografov / Destination marketing for geographers (učebnica/ textbook). Prešovská univerzita v Prešove, ISBN: 978-80-555-1892-3, prvé vydanie, 275 pp. [online] dostupné v PDF na: https://www.unipo.sk/fakulta-humanitnych-prirodnych-vied/geografia/pracovnici/matlovicova/pp.
  32. MATLOVIČOVÁ K., MIHÁĽ O. (2017). Stratégia rozvoja mesta Kolín nad Rýnom založená na budovaní značky / Cologne development strategy based on the branding. Acta Geographica Universitatis Comenianae, Vol. 61, 2017, No. 2, pp. 161-182.
  33. MATLOVIČOVÁ K., SOVIČOVÁ I. (2010). Analýza vonkajšieho imidžu mesta Prešov. Geografia Cassoviensis, ročník IV., 2 / 2010, ISSN 1337 – 6748, pp. 107-113.
  34. PRAHA (2017). Magistrát hlavního města Prahy. Grafický manual loga mesta Oficálne stránky hlavního města Prahy [online]: www.praha.eu, citované 7.3.2019.
  35. SIWEK T. (2011). Percepce geografického prostoru / Geographical space perception. Česká geografická společnost, Praha, ISBN 978-80-904521-7-6, 163p.
  36. SMITH A. (2005). Conceptualizing City Image Change: The ‘Re-Imaging’ of Barcelona, Tourism Geographies, Vol. 7, č. 4, pp. 398-423.
  37. TIRPÁKOVÁ E. (2015). Imidž analýza značky mesta Praha. [magisterská práca]. Prešovská univerzita v Prešove (Prešov, Slovensko), FHPV PU, 146p.
  38. WALMSLEY D. (1988). Urban Living: The Individual in the City. London: Longman Scientific & Technical, ISBN: 0-470-20863-5, 204p.
  39. WARNABY G., MEDWAY D. (2010). Semiotics and place branding: The influence of the built and natural environment in city logos. In Towards Effective Place Brand Management: Branding European Cities and Regions|Towards Eff. Place Brand Manage.: Branding European Cities and Regions (1st ed., pp. 205-221). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
  40. WARNABY G., MEDWAY D. (2014). Rethinking the Place Product from the Perspective of the Service-Dominant Logic of Marketing, kapitola 3, pp. 33-50 in Kavaratzis M., Warnaby G. and Ashworth G. J. (eds) (2014): Rethinking Place Branding: Comprehensive Brand Development for Cities and Regions, Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-12424-7, 248p.