Introduction to interregional place branding

Place branding is an inherently difficult venture, since places are complex systems of geographical abstractions, each one understood in relation and contrast to other geographical entities. Even at the smallest size – a district, town, or city a place is quite complex, but it becomes even more challenging when the entity exists on a higher level, like a region, two or more joined regions, or a country. When performing place branding, regions often not only differentiate themselves but also cooperate (within one country or between countries), thereby building socalled interregional brands with a high degree of complexity. In this chapter, we will define the place brand and examine different concepts to understand branding as they relate to places. In a next step, we will highlight the special character of interregional place branding. Finally, we will apply these concepts to a particular interregional place branding case, namely, the Fehmarnbelt region. In this way, we aim to provide a strong foundation for the cases and concepts detailed by subsequent authors.