Lesson 10- Rebranding

Question 1

What is rebranding?

Answer 1

• Rebranding is a strategy used to discard negative perceptions of a place.
• Its main aim is to try to make a location a desirable place in which to live and one that people will want to visit for social and recreational purposes

Question 2

Difference between regeneration, re-imaging and rebrandings?

Answer 2

• Regeneration is where the physical buildings and infrastructure in an area are improved.
• Rebranding is where the perception of a place is deliberately changed through agents such as the government.
• Re-imaging is where the image of a place is changed, to replace negative associations with more positive ones.

Question 3

Why is rebranding needed?

Answer 3

• Deindustrialisation resulted in visible decline in many western cities, and these areas were neglected by urban planners.
  -Therefore, many urban centres became associated with negative factors such as crime, poverty and deprivation, leading to minimal tourism, shopping and interest in those areas.

Question 4

How is rebranding carried out?

Answer 4

• SPORT: London 2012 Olympics – attracted regeneration and new jobs to deprived East London as sports facilities were built.
• CULTURE: Art galleries & Museums - Liverpool, Glasgow, Bristol for example have these, to attract cultural tourism to the area.
• TECH/SCIENCE: Cambridge Science park – to attract educated researchers, and key tech businesses to an area.

Question 5

Why is rebranding contravertial?

Answer 5

• Rebranding must start from the inside and involve local residents with ‘insider’ experiences, who truly understand it (Relph and Yi-Fu Tuan). However, many actors rebranding places are not ‘insiders’ and therefore find it difficult to rebrand the place.
• Some city regeneration schemes have actually driven out the locals they originally intended to help, as rising property prices and rents have favoured more affluent people.

Question 6

Why did Liverpool need to be rebranded?

Answer 6

• Liverpool had a significantly poor image as a place, in the 1980s and 1990s.
• Deindustrialisation had caused a severe economic downturn in the city, with the old docks closing down and unemployment and dereliction therefore being high.
• The city was also severely marginalised by the press; with the Toxteth riots in 1981, and many other events leading to the city being presented as violent

Question 7

How was Liverpool rebranded?

Answer 7

• The Tate Liverpool art gallery opened in the Albert Docks in 1988 followed by ‘The Beatles Story’ museum in 1990
• In 2008 the city centre was regenerated as Liverpool ONE, a £900 million shopping hub
• In 2008, Liverpool won the European Capital of Culture, leading to a £4bn investment into arts and infrastructure
• £75bn investment into 2km waterfront, creating office space and a cruise terminal to encourage trade

Question 8

How successful was the rebranding of Liverpool?

Answer 8

• The retail (especially Liverpool ONE) has brought more money into the area and provided jobs. The city has therefore moved from the 15th to the 5th biggest retail centre in the UK. This has successfully rebranded the area to the inside and outside of the city, according to perception surveys.
• Both being the Capital of Culture and hosting Eurovision have brought wider recognition throughout Europe of Liverpool’s cultural significance.
• However, attempts to regenerate other parts of the city such as the Anfield area hasn’t been as successful. This is largely because of less investment, meaning there was little rebranding done, and the perception remains unchanged.