How to measure the effectiveness of place branding initiatives is a question often asked by those in charge of city brand development or destination marketing.

Finding answers to this question is particularly crucial for public administrations, whose budgeting requires accountability and the ability to measure return on investment.

As place branding experts, we have a fairly good idea about what is required to ensure successful and efficient city-, regional or national brand positioning.

The bad news: because every place is different (which is good!), there is no one master rule you could follow to guarantee effective place brand strategy implementation.

With a strong brand, it will help attract visitors which in turn elevates the local economy. Some people such as Rodger Motiska, founder and director at Motiska Design, believe municipalities, destinations, and colleges need to find what makes them stand out from the competition. Once places can define this they can start heading to the goals they have set before them. If your goals are to grow a community or become a destination for tourism, branding by defining who you aspire to be will direct development to reach your goals.