WP-1a A review of transnational and interregional place branding in Europe

ErasmusUniversity Rotterdam RHV

Dr. Erik Braun

Dr. Sebastian Zenker

Jan-Jelle Witte MSc

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© 2013 by Erasmus University Rotterdam, Department for Urban, Port and Transport Economics/EURICUR. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of RHV b.v., including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast.

Department for Urban, Port and Transport Economics/EURICUR Room H16-01 Burgemeester Oudlaan 50 3062 PA Rotterdam The www.eur.nl/rhv

Table of Contents

1. Introduction ...... 1 2. Transnational branding initiatives ...... 2 BioValley ...... 3 Eurometropolis ...... 5 Øresund ...... 6 Region Sonderjylland-Schleswig ...... 8 Baranya Region ...... 9 Centrope Region ...... 10 Euro-regio Galicia-Northern Portugal ...... 12 Bothnian Arc ...... 13 Baltic Sea Region ...... 14 Meuse-Rhine Euroregio (MRE) ...... 15 EUREGIO -Gronau ...... 17 Inner Scandinavia ...... 18 Bohemian-Saxon Switzerland ...... 19 Insubrica Euregion: Lakes and Alps ...... 21 Euregio Silva Nortica ...... 21 Rhodopes and Aegean Sea ...... 23 Helsinki-Tallinn ...... 24 The Channel Tunnel ...... 25 3. Interregional branding initiatives ...... 25 Brainport Region ...... 26 Solent Region ...... 28 Skaraborg ...... 29 Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar ...... 30 Vogtland ...... 31 Western France ...... 32 Eastern Poland ...... 33 4. Selection of cases for further study ...... 35

1. Introduction

The connection between Denmark and Germany gets a new dimension with the construction of the Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link that should open in 2021. This tunnel is expected to strengthen the link between Copenhagen and Hamburg. It will also drastically improve the link between the German and Danish areas close to the new tunnel: the region Sjaelland in Denmark, the city of Lübeck and the Counties of Ostholstein and Plön in Germany. This new transnational region has been labeled the Fehmarnbelt region. However, “calling it a region is an expression of a vision for the area - not the reality”1. Compared to other areas in the Baltic Sea Region, the area of the Fehmarnbelt Region has “a low visibility”2 among potential investors and talents.

The objective of work package 1a is to present a comprehensive overview of examples of transnational and interregional applications of place branding that could be interesting for the partners in the Fehmarnbelt region. Also, the report suggests 6 potential case studies from which three cases are analyzed in work package 1b. Across Europe there are numerous examples of interregional place branding as well as transnational branding indicatives. Just listing all of them would not be very helpful to the partners in the Fehmarnbelt region. To be included in this overview of place branding initiatives five criteria were used. A branding initiative is included if:

1. there is a clear transnational or interregional dimension; 2. they have been implemented or in other words that they are up and running and outsiders can learn from their experiences; 3. there is a identifiable joint strategic approach; 4. identifiable marketing/branding activities have been employed; 5. the focus is preferably broader than attracting leisure tourists, and attracting inward investment is an important part of the initiative;

Selection criterion five has been added as a result of the discussion on September 30th where the partners indicated that the focus should be on broader branding initiatives aiming at investors and businesses.

In the next section 2 we present an overview of transnational branding initiatives. Section 3 concerns relevant interregional place branding initiatives. Section 4 includes presents our proposed selection of the place branding initiatives presented in section 2 and 3 that could be one of the three cases that will be analyzed in more detail.

1 See: Terms of Reference for Tender - Feasibility Study and Activity Plan: Branding of the Fehmarnbelt Region, p4 2 See: Terms of Reference for Tender - Feasibility Study and Activity Plan: Branding of the Fehmarnbelt Region, p4 1

2. Transnational branding initiatives

While non-European examples of transnational region branding exist3, the rise of the transnational region and the development of branding strategies for these regions can be described as a European phenomenon. The typical form of transnational regional cooperation is the Euregion, which are created to reduce administrative, cultural-linguistic or infrastructural barriers separating the governments, firms and residents of border regions. INTERREG-funding is available for enabling projects to reach these aims. Many, but far from all Euregions include cross-border region branding in their list of tasks.

By communicating the assets of the combined transnational region as a single offering (for example investment opportunities for the audience of potential investors; workers, markets and cooperation opportunities with local universities for the audience of firms and entrepreneurs considering relocation; jobs and quality-of-life assets for potential residents; cultural attractions for the audience of tourists and business travelers), the combined offering is likely to be more attractive and diverse that that of the separate parts of the region. The implicit promise is that all these assets are within reach from any location within the transnational regions. Gradual reduction of legal, administrative and cultural-linguistic barriers along internal borders of the European Union, as well as continued investment in border-spanning transportation infrastructure makes this promise more and more realistic. However this is not always the case, and in particular differences in governance practices and expectations may pose a challenge.

Through desk research a total of 17 examples of transnational branding initiatives have been identified. They range from small transnational regions such as the EUREGIO region spanning the Dutch-German border, to multinational initiatives spanning an area as large as the Baltic Sea Region. For each of the 17 cases, their precise location (including a map) and brand name (with their slogan or catchphrase if available) as well as their intended target audience are given. Moreover the content of the branding strategy, its distribution channels and the organizations that manage it are described based on print and online information sources.

3 For example the Cascadia Region, uniting British-Columbia (Canada) with Washington State and Oregon (USA) 2

BioValley

Area Upper Rhine Metropolitan Region Countries France, Germany, Switzerland Type Transnational Place brand BioValley, “Biobusiness Development – Think Europe, think BioValley!” Audience: Investors, companies

(http://www.biovalley.de/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/15-Jahre-BV-30-07-2012-final-D.pdf)

Biovalley is located in a region that crosses three national borders, and includes the region of Alsace (France), the state of Baden-Württenberg (Germany) and the cantons of Basel and Jura in North-Western Switzerland. Each of these areas aspire to be recognized as world- leaders in life sciences. In order to gain such international recognition, stakeholders in the region communicate their industrial and academic assets in life sciences to potential investors under the shared brand BioValley.

The BioValley is presented in digital and print media as one of the largest European clusters of medical research and industry, with about 15,000 scientists, 600 companies and 10 academic institutes in the sector. Moreover possibilities for firms and academic institutes to benefit from technology transfer through taking part in regional public-private networks are highlighted. The BioValley organization organizes a number of events for its own and external audiences, both to raise awareness of the brand and to provide services to its constituents. These events include meet&match events and other networking activities, as

3 well as workshops and roundtables. Moreover it maintains a database of firms, researchers and investors active in the region4.

The BioValley branding initiative has been funded over a 15 year period by the INTEREG program Upper Rhine. BioValley partly functions as an umbrella brand, with regional sub- brands in each of the three participating countries. Of these, the Alsace BioValley is the most active one as well as the coordinating partner for the tri-national brand. In addition to its branding effort at the scale of the trinational region, Alsace BioValley also BioValley also actively promotes its regional sub-brand. For example the slogan “Think Europe, Think BioValley” for the tri-national BioValley is adapted to “Think Europe, Think Alsace”5. Neither its German nor Swiss counterparts apply the branding strategy in exactly this way. BioValley Basel is more limited to a networking and service platform rather than a branding organization, while in Germany the BioValley brand is applied at two different scales. At the regional scale BioRegio Freiburg, coordinated by Technologiestiftung BioMed Freiburg, presents itself as partner in the tri-national network, but in its online communication6 it also carries the brand of Bio-PRO, the biotechnology and life sciences service agency of the state of Baden-Württenberg. Technologiestiftung BioMed Freiburg also coordinates the national BioValley Deutschland platform, but at the time of writing the official members of this platform are all located within Baden-Württenberg. There is hence some ambiguity in the application of the brand BioValley as regional umbrella brand.

4 http://www.biovalley.com 5 http://www.alsace-biovalley.com/site/plaquette_de_presentation_abv_enpdf-fr-29-2.html 6 http://www.bio-pro.de/standort/5_bioregionen/bioregio_freiburg/index.html?lang=en 4

Eurometropolis

Area Lille, Tournai, Kortrijk Countries France, Belgium Type Transnational Place brand Eurometropolis Audience: Investors, companies, knowledge workers, tourists

(Map adapted from http://www.leiedal.be/sites/leiedal/files/assets/lve/economie/Invest%20in%20the%20Kortrijk% 20region.pdf)

Eurometropolis is the shared brand of the cross-border region that includes Lille in France, and the cities of Kortrijk and Tournai in Belgium, along with their surrounding urban areas. Behind this brand is the Eurometropolis Agency, a European Territorial Cooperation Group (ETCG) created in 2008 to promote cross-border cooperation along this part of the French- Belgian border. The agency’s members consist of 14 government institutes at various spatial scales, from national and provincial or departmental to local governments. Among the agency’s focus areas are investment promotion and tourist attraction, for which it has created the Eurometropolis region brand. In the area of investment promotion the brand is communicated through participation in European (rather than worldwide) trade fairs, where companies and business parks in the region are presented under the Eurometropolis label. The main challenge is to address the limited visibility of the region to international audiences. Attention is focused on the accessibility of the Eurometropolis region, highlighting its strategic location between Paris, Brussels and London, as well as the range of sea ports, international airports and highspeed train stations within relatively short distances78.

7 http://cride.fr/IMG/pdf_map_and_assets_-_Eurometropolis_Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai-2.pdf 8 http://www.eurometropolis.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/Divers/Documentation/360_ofopportunitiesEN.pdf 5

Besides investment promotion the Eurometropolis brand is also used for tourists attraction. A challenge for the region is the spread-out nature of its tourist offerings, which are therefore perceived as isolated and less attractive. The Eurometropolis Agency aims to increase the visibility of the region’s tourist offerings by linking them together, focusing on specific sectors such as nature and gastronomy. A tourist map9 using the Eurometropolis brand and bringing together attractions in the entire cross-border region is available in all tourist information centers in the region, and a visitor information website has been launched10.

While the Eurometropolis Agency organizes and participates in events of its own, it also offers the use of its brand to grassroots events organized by inhabitants and other stakeholders in the region. However some requirements are set for the use of its label, most importantly that the event contributes to the visibility of the region as well as the fostering of a shared identity among its constituents. Moreover, events accredited to use the Eurometropolis label need to involve at least two of the three parts of the region (the regions around Lille, Kortrijk and Tournai), and have to be carried out in both of the official languages of the region (French and Dutch)11.

Øresund

Area Øresund Region Countries Denmark and Sweden Type Transnational Place brand Øresund/ Medicon Valley Audience: Investors, companies, residents, knowledge workers, governments

Source: Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs

9 http://www.eurometropolis.eu/life-in-the-eurometropolis/time-off/tourism/tourist-map.html 10 http://www.visiteurometropolis.eu/ 11 http://www.eurometropolis.eu/who-are-we/partnerships-branding.html 6

The Øresund Region got its name from the narrow strait called the öresund connecting the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. This strait is also the natural border between Denmark and Sweden. The construction of the Øresund Link (both bridge and tunnel) is a milestone in the development of this region and connects Scandinavia with the rest of Europe. The Øresund Region is a transnational region that brings Denmark and Sweden closer to one another. The Danish side consist of the islands of Zealand (Sjælland), Lolland, Falster, Mön and Bornholm, while the Swedish side concerns the Province of Skåne, thus connecting the metropolitan regions of Copenhagen and Malmö as well as the city of Lund.

In the year before the opening of the Øresund Link to the public, a joint plan for the future of the cross-border area was presented by Danish and Swedish government entitled: Øresund—A Region is Born12. The lead organization for this transnational ambition is the öresund Committee: a cross-border cooperation of Danish and Swedish regional and local authorities. Next to its natural involvement in the development of the Øresund Link, the Committee also aimed to brand the Øresund region concentrating on the (international) image of the region.13 The branding consisted chiefly of promotional activities to increase and communicate the attractiveness of the Øresund as an interesting place of working, living and leisure. In fact, the Øresund Region is often named as a best practice of cross-border place marketing.14

In their most recent vision and strategy document, the Committee sets out to make the most of the potential of the transnational region (ØRUS – Øresund Regional Development Strategy). The strategy has four prioritized fields: knowledge and innovation, culture and events, a diverse and cohesive labour market and accessibility and mobility. Strategic areas in the knowledge and innovation theme are clean technology, information and communication technology, foodstuffs and life science.15 In the field of life sciences, the Medicon Valley Alliance is one of the most well-known examples of Öresund regional cooperation (together with the merger of the ports of Copenhagen and Malmö). The Medicon Valley Alliance is a partnership between business, academia and the university hospitals in the field of life science. Medicon Valley has developed into a place brand in its own right.

12 Balchin, P., Sykora, L. & Bull, G. (1999) Regional Policy and Planning in Europe (London: Routledge). 13 Hospers, G.J. (2006) Borders, Bridges and Branding: The Transformation of the Øresund Region into an Imagined Space, European Planning Studies, 14(8), 1015-1033. 14 Hospers, G.J. (2006) Borders, Bridges and Branding: The Transformation of the Øresund Region into an Imagined Space, European Planning Studies, 14(8), 1015-1033. 15 http://www.oresundskomiteen.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/ORUS_EN.pdf 7

Region Sonderjylland-Schleswig

Area Region Sonderjylland-Schleswig Countries Denmark, Germany Type Transnational Place brand CB-Log, Cross-Border Logistics Region Audience: Investors, companies

(http://www.cb-log.de/en/standort-zukunft/map/)

The region Sonderjylland-Schleswig is located in Southern Jutland (Denmark) and Schleswig- Holstein (Germany). A key highway linking Germany to Denmark and the rest of Scandinavia, the A7/E45, runs through the region, making it an attractive location for logistics firms. The CB-Log (Cross-Border Logistics) brand has been developed to raise awareness for the region among investors, highlighting opportunities for investment related to the international logistics sector. In particular the subsectors of Fresh food logistics (cooled or refrigerated transport), wind energy logistics and value added services related to logistics are presented as strengths of the cross-border region.

The branding initiative was started in 2009 with co-funding from the EU Interreg-4a program. Its lead partners are the development agencies of Southern Jutland (Udviklingsråd Sønderjylland, URS), and Schleswig-Flensbourg (WiREG), as well as the vocational education centers EUC Syd in Sønderborg (Denmark) and the Fachhochschule Flensburg, in Flensburg (Germany). While the Sonderjylland-Schleswig more or less overlaps with a , which besides Southern Jutland (Sonderjylland) and Schleswig-Flensburg (Germany) also includes Nordfriesland (Germany), this Euroregion does not appear to play an active role in the CB-Log project. The Euroregion aims to further regional integration among others through cultural and educational cross-border projects16. Besides the development of print

16 http://www.region.de 8 and online media for communicating the CB-Log brand, the four partners, among other activities, also promote cooperation in logistics-related vocational education, carry out cross- border work-orientation events for graduates in the logistics sector and function as a shared research and lobby platform17. The target audience includes external investors (addressed in English), as well as potential investors with German or Danish as native language.

Baranya Region

Area Baranya County, Osijek- Baranja County Countries Hungary, Croatia Type Transnational Place brand “A cross-border region where rivers connect, not divide” Audience: Investors, companies

(Source:Wikipedia creative commons)

The Baranya Region is a cross-border region that straddles two sides of the Drava river, which forms part of the border between Hungary and Croatia. It consists of a Hungarian part (Baranya County), which includes the city of Pecs (population of 157,701 in 201018), and a Croatian part (Osijek-Baranja County), including the city of Osijek (population of 108,048 in 2011). These regions have a historical and cultural affinity, and their capital cities of Pecs and Osijek have cooperated through a twinning programme since 1973. The region falls within the much larger Danube-Drava-Sava Euroregio, but rather than at the scale of the Euroregion the initiative for the Baranya cross-border branding initiative took place at a more local scale. Its lead partners are the Regional Confederation of Employers &

17 http://www.cb-log.de/cb-log/das-projekt/ 18 http://data.un.org/ 9

Industrialists of South-Western Hungary, and the Osijek regional office of Croatian Employer’s Association (Hrvatska Udruga Poslodavaca, or HUP). Co-funding was provided by the European Union through pre-accession assistance for Hungary-Croatia cross-border cooperation.

The two counties united in the Baranya Region undertake a shared branding initiative, focused on investment promotion. Under the heading “A cross-border region where rivers connect, not divide” they aim to increase foreign direct investment into industrial parks in the border area. The main communication channel is a website 19 , which provides information on the two constituent parts of the region but offers little in the way of a shared brand or vision for the cross-border region as a whole. Ideas to also create a tourist brand for the region, by promoting a cross-border wine route, are still in an early stage20. There is some ambiguity about the precise brand name communicated to external audiences, as both the Hungarian name Baranya and the Croatian equivalent Baranja are used in communication materials.

Centrope Region

Area Centrope Region Countries Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary Type Transnational Place brand Centrope: “Meet Europe. Meet Centrope.” Audience: Investors, companies, knowledge workers, tourists

(http://www.wirtschaftsagentur.at/fileadmin/user_upload/pdfs/Centrope_LocationMarketingBrochu re_2012.pdf)

19 www.investinbaranya.com 20http://www.deldunantul.com/public/upload/nemzetkozi_kapcsolatok/magyar_horvat_hataron_atnyulo/cros t_ii/CROST%20II%20English%20finaly%20study.pdf 10

The cross-border region called Centrope is made up of four regions along the borders of Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. It includes the capital cities Vienna and Bratislava, as well as Brno (the second largest city of the Czech Republic) and Gyor (most important city in North-West Hungary). It was created in 2003 as an Euregion, with its Austrian constituents (Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland) playing a leading role and providing the initial funding alongside INTERREG project funding. It was preceded in the 1990s by a series of political cooperation projects in the region, but was conceived under its current name and geographical extent as part of the DIANE (Direct Investment Agency Net) INTERREG-funded project, which started in 2002 with the aim of creating a brand name with which the region can be promoted as attractive business and investment location towards an international audience. The DIANE organization, lead by a consortium of Austrian regional business agencies and with similar partners in the other three participation countries, still owns to Centrope brand. In the years following 2003 a series of branding activities took place to launch the Centrope brand, including extensive advertisement in local newspapers and cinemas, the distribution of video clips and brochures, and the organization of events such as music concerts aimed at a young audience and a sailing competition21. These events have been followed up by participation at international investment fairs, but also for example the promotion of touristic routes through the region that emphasize its shared characteristics as well as its rich cultural and natural variety. This includes a wine route, but also a cultural route called Traces which allows tourists from within and outside of the region to explore common architecture and design heritage “..from times, when Central Europe was trendsetter in architecture and design”22.

As of 2013 the Centrope brand is associated with the slogan “Meet Europe. Meet Centrope”. It is presented as a region that offers a rich cultural and natural variety as well as opportunities for working and investing in a highly accessible region. Especially the short distance between the capital cities Vienna and Bratislava (60km) is highlighted, as well as the combined population of over 7 million inhabitants in this densely populated area. Centrope is an umbrella brand with four sub-brands or focus areas, focusing on respectively Knowledge (“Meet innovation. Meet Centrope”), Human Capital (“Meet opportunities. Meet Centrope”), Spatial Integration (“Meet mobility. Meet Centrope.”) and Culture and Tourism (“Meet pleasure. Meet Centrope.”). It focuses both on investors and tourists, as well as people working and living in the region. For example under the heading ‘Human Capital’ not only are opportunities highlighted for firms to employ qualified workers, but also opportunities for workers to have access to a large, cross-border labor market with a wide range of high-end job positions23. Besides a marketing project, Centrope also continues to be a governance project. For example frequent stakeholder forums and expert working groups, made up of public and private regional stakeholders, are organized through the Centrope

21 http://epub.wu.ac.at/3313/1/Daniela-Coimbra-Swiatek_Dissertation_November-2011.pdf 22 http://www.centrope.com/en/regional-activities/traces-of-modernity 23 http://www.centrope.com/repository/centrope/downloads/CENTROPE%20Image%20Folder.pdf 11 organization, for stimulating regional integration and development along the four focus areas introduced above.

Euro-regio Galicia-Northern Portugal

Area Galicia, Northern Portugal Countries Spain, Portugal Type Transnational Place brand Galicia-Northern Portugal: “The Atlantic gateway to Europe” Audience: Investors, companies

(adapted from: http://invest.ecicii.com/sites/default/files/book_en.pdf)

The region of Galicia-Northern Portugal is a Euroregion, created in 1991 to foster the political and economic integration of this cross-border region24. As part of its economic task it engages in an international branding strategy. In online and print media the brand “Euro- región Galicia-Northern Portugal: The Atlantic gateway to Europe” is communicated to potential investors. As indicated by the brand name, the focus of its branding initiative is on highlighting the location of the region as a strategic point of access to the European market, well-connected to the rest of the world by sea and air routes. Moreover the region is presented as “The most cohesive Euro-region in Southern Europe”25, highlighting the efforts of the Euroregion organization to fully integrate Galicia and Northern Portugal into one coherent economic and political unit.

24 http://www.gnpaect.eu/index.php?componente=seccion&arch=index&id=17 25 http://invest.ecicii.com/sites/default/files/book_en.pdf 12

Bothnian Arc

Area Swedish-Finnish border area Countries Sweden, Finland Type Transnational Place brand BothnianArc: Together we are more Audience: Investors, companies, knowledge workers, tourists

The Bothnian Arc is a cross-border brand created for the coastal region around the Gulf of Bothnia, the Northernmost part of the Baltic Sea. The region has a long history of cooperation mostly centered on the border-cities Haparanda (Sweden) and Tornio (Finland), both having undergone strong Finnish cultural influences. In the 1990s the two towns decided on a shared marketing initiative under the name EuroCity. Originally the EuroCity would have involved not only a promotion effort but also actual construction projects to make the cross-border city more visible, but these plans proved hard to realize. In 2005 the shared marketing effort switched to the name Haparanda–Tornio Region26.

At a higher scale level the Bothnian Arc project, funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers, aims to raise awareness for the Swedish-Finnish border area and the coastal region bordering the Gulf of Bothnia under a shared brand name, BothnianArc. The aim of this project is for the region “..to become the most functional and integrated border region in Northern Europe – with strong economic growth, high-quality social welfare and a

26 for an in-depth analysis, see Löfgren, O. (2008), Regionauts: the transformation of cross-border regions in Scandinavia, European Urban and Regional Studies, Vol 15, Issue 3, pp. 195-209 13 sustainable, clean environment.”27 Moreover these assets and values are communicated through digital and print media to investors and tourists. Investors are targeted at seminars in the Baltic Sea Region and in Brussels, and various sub-brands have been created for specific economic sectors. These sub-brands include FilmArc28 (a network and company database for film-related partners), ICT-Arc (a network, but currently without website) and Bothnian Green Logistics Corridor29, among others30. The Bothnian Arc is also a tourist brand, with the specific aim “..to promote this coastal region as an alternative year-round destination to Lapland”31. Lapland already is a strong tourist destination, while the Bothnian Arc so far mostly attracts domestic tourists. With a join tourist marketing campaign, collective hotel guides and tourist maps and other multilingual resources that present the cross-border region as one tourism offer, it is hoped that the Bothnian Arc will also become highly attractive for international tourists and business travelers32.

Baltic Sea Region

Area Baltic Sea Region Countries Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland and Russia Type Transnational Place brand Under construction Audience: Investors, tourists and talents

Source: http://www.bsr2013.eu/wp-content/uploads/BDF_SotRR_2013_web.pdf

27 http://www.bothnianarc.net/sites/default/files/BA%20esite%20broschyr%20201304%20Eng%20final_0.pdf 28 http://filmarc.net/ 29 http://www.bothniangreen.se/associated/ 30 http://www.bothnianarc.net/sites/default/files/BA%20esite%20broschyr%20201304%20Eng%20final_0.pdf 31 Ioannides, D. Nielsen, P. and P. Billing (2006), Transboundary collaboration in tourism: the case of the Bothnian Arc, Tourism Geographies, Vol. 8, No. 2, page 134 32 Ioannides, D. Nielsen, P. and P. Billing (2006), Transboundary collaboration in tourism: the case of the Bothnian Arc, Tourism Geographies, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 122-442 14

Over the years there have been several attempts to brand the Baltic Sea Region (BSR)33. Many of those projects stopped when European funding ended. Hence, one of the main observations of Jacobsen34 is still valid that “a limited number of the place brand owners show a sustainable commitment” to branding the BSR. The Öresund Region and Medicon Valley (included in this overview) stand out from the crowd with demonstrated long-term commitment. The Baltmet Promo project (finished in 2011) started with the observation that the BSR’s “competitiveness potential as a common marketing area is not yet fully exploited and that the BSR does not have a shared identity nor a recognized image”35. The output of the Baltmet Promo project consists of a number of pilot projects (including a Baltic Sea Region Investor’s Guide) and a set of recommendations for the developing the BSR identity and image as well as specific policy recommendations for tourism development, attraction of talents and investment promotion. According to the Baltic Development Forum, the BaltMet Promo Project was the first attempt to approach the branding of the BSR using a bottom-up approach instead of a top-down approach whereby “common identity building of the BSR was addressed by doing concrete collaborative promotion in the global markets.”36 The output of the Baltmet Promo project has been the basis for the ONE BSR project (2011- 2013/14). The project is described as an “umbrella project for branding of the BSR” that is open to connect with relevant stakeholders. It aims to produce elements for the Baltic Sea Region image and identity. ONE BSR sets out to develop tourism co-operation at new international markets (US), strengthening ‘triple-helix’ activities aiming at international talent retention and continuing with improving co-operation in investment promotion among Investment Agencies in the BSR. It is still too early to evaluate the results of this project.

Meuse-Rhine Euroregio (MRE)

Area Meuse-Rhine Euroregion (MRE) Countries The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium Type Transnational Place brand Meuse-Rhine Euroregio (MRE) Audience: Investors, companies, knowledge workers, tourists

33 See: http://www.baltmet.org/; Andersson, M. (2010) Place branding and Place Promotion Efforts in the Baltic Sea Region – a situation analysis, Copenhagen: Baltic Development Forum; Jacobsen, B.P. (2012), Application of Branding to Places, Lübeck: Wirtschaftsförderung LÜBECK GmbH. 34 Jacobsen, B.P. (2012), Application of Branding to Places, Lübeck: Wirtschaftsförderung LÜBECK GmbH.

35 http://onebsr.eu/baltmetpromo/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/BaltMet_Promo_Story_Final_Publication.pdf 36 http://www.bdforum.org/activities/projects/bsr/ 15

(http://www.euregio-mr.com)

The Maas-Rhine Euroregion or MRE is one of the oldest , created in 1974. Its territory consists of Aachen (Germany), Liege, the province of Limburg and Eupen (Belgium), and the city of Maastricht (The Netherlands) with its hinterland. This cross-border cooperation organization supports events and initiatives that raise international awareness for the region. However the name and logo of the Euroregion are not given a prominent position in the communication of these events, so the MRE branding strategy can be characterized as implicit rather than explicit.

Cross-border initiatives supported (through funding and / or raising awareness) by the Euroregion include the Charlemagne Music Festival, an information portal that highlights business parks in the cross-border region37, and the bid of the city of Maastricht to become Cultural Capital of Europe in 2018. This bid is supported by all cities in the MRE region, and under the vision of “Revisiting Europe” it communicates a set of shared or complementary values that are claimed to characterize the identity of the residents and institutions of the region38. Finally a project has been launched that aims to raise awareness for the Euregion as automotive cluster39

37 http://www.interregemrnews.eu/nl/nieuwsbrief/interreg-euregio-maas-rijn-7-winter- 2011/informatieportaal-versterkt-concurrentiepositie-bedrijventerreinen/75/) 38 http://www.via2018.eu/en/bid-book/summary-.aspx 39 http://www.acemr.eu/ 16

EUREGIO Enschede-Gronau

Area EUREGIO Enschede-Gronau Countries The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium Type Transnational Place brand Meuse-Rhine Euroregio (MRE) Audience: regional tourists

(http://www.grenswerte.eu)

The EUREGIO is the oldest of the Euregions, founded in 1958. On the Dutch side it includes the regions of Twente and Achterhoek as well as parts of and Province, and on the German side it includes Münsterland, Landkreis Grafschaft Bentheim, parts of and the city and Landkreis of Osnabrück40. In the project Tourism Marketing Border Region, tourist organizations on both sides of the border cooperate to create and communicate cross-border tourist products. This cross-border marketing strategy focuses in particular on the internal rather than external tourism sector, and attempts to convince residents on either side of the border to undertake more daytrips to the other side of the border. Two websites offer practical information for cross-border daytrips, offered in both Dutch and German. Grensbelevenis/Grenzerlebnisse, or “Border Experiences”, describes specific walking and cycling tours crossing the border, as well as highlighting the cultural and shopping offerings across the border41. For example it communicates a specific area in the middle of the cross-border region (Achterhoek and Westmünsterland) as the Riverland42, creating a new identity for an area not usually associated as one spatial entity. The website

40 http://www.euregio.eu/sites/default/files/downloads/EUREGIO%20Karte_EUREGIO%20kaart.pdf 41 http://www.grenzerlebnisse.de/ 42 http://shop-grensbelevenis.nl/rivierenlandschap 17

Geheim over de grens, or “Secrets across the border”, is only available in Dutch and describes events, accommodations and trip suggestions in the German border area43.

Inner Scandinavia

Area Hedmark-Värmland region Countries Norway, Sweden Type Transnational Place brand Inner Scandinavia Audience: tourists

(http://www.aebr.eu/pdf/fmanager//Regionen/V/V_rmland/Fact_sheet_member_regions_InnerSca ndinavia.pdf)

The region covering Hedmark, Akershus and Östfold in Norway, and Värmland and Dalarna in Sweden, has joined forces to conduct a shared tourism development strategy under the name Inner Scandinavia. The cross-border strategy is managed by two regional organizations, the County Administrative Board of Värmland on the Swedish side, and Hedmark County Council on the Norwegian side. Together they applied for membership in the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR), and have carried out INTERREG regional development

43 http://www.geheimoverdegrens.nl/

18 projects since 199544. The organization focuses on helping stakeholders in the region develop events and tourist offerings, and offers training sessions through its entrepreneurship center45. However the name Inner Scandinavia is not (yet) used as a branding name, and is so far only associated with communication about the cross-border project organization (offered only in Swedish and Norwegian). Brands that are communicated to tourists refer to specific tourist offerings, such as the Scandinavian Snow Shoe Tour46.

Bohemian-Saxon Switzerland

Area Euregion Elbe/Labe Countries Germany, Czech Republic Type Transnational Place brand Bohemian-Saxon Switzerland Audience: tourists

(http://www.varnsdorf.cz/en/town-surroundings/euroregion_elbe/labe/)

The region comprising the city of Dresden and its surrounding area (united in the municipal organization Euregion Oberes Elbtal/Osterzgebirge) and the district Ustecky Kraj in the Czech Republic, together form the Euregion Elbe/Labe. The tasks of this Euregion, which was founded in 1992, include tourist attraction and regional development. With the help of INTERREG funding, the Elbe/Labe Euregion has carried out projects including the improvement of cross-border transportation (introduction of a cross-border river ferry and improved bus lines), and the ongoing organization of yearly festivals that include the Festival of Central Europe, the Czech-German Days of Culture and the Saxon-Czech Theatre Autumn. In order to improve the tourist attractiveness of the region, the Euregion has set up a branding strategy around the brand name Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland47.

44 http://www.aebr.eu/pdf/fmanager//Regionen/V/V_rmland/Fact_sheet_member_regions_InnerScandinavia.pd f 45 http://scandinavianheartland.org/ 46 http://www.snowshoetour.com/ 47 http://www.aebr.eu/pdf/fmanager//Regionen/E/ElbeLabe/Fact_Sheet_ElbeLabe_EN.pdf

19

The geographical name of Saxon Switzerland goes back to the 18th century, when the work of Swiss Romantic artists made the regions natural landscapes famous48. Since then it has been a well-known tourism destination in Central Europe. Over time the region on the Czech side of the border gained the related name of Czech Switzerland or Bohemian Switzerland, which is also the name of a natural park in the border area. The Euregion aims to leverage these strong and complementary region brands by communicating the shared Saxon- Bohemian Switzerland brand to an international audience. These branding efforts are still in an early stage at the time of writing. Saxon Switzerland on the German side, and Bohemian or Czech Switzerland on the Czech side still remain the main tourism brands communicated through website and promotion material4950. But the agency for the promotion of Czech Switzerland now also communicates its region as part of the cross-border Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland region, and alongside the separate national information portals a shared cross- border information portal has been launched51. Moreover a product origin brand has been created by the Czech Switzerland promotion agency, and subsequently extended to the German side, allowing craft, artisanal and agricultural producers to attach the label Czech- Saxon Switzerland Regional Product to their products. To qualify for this product origin brand, products need to meet the criteria of having been produced in the region in an environmentally sustainable way, being of high quality, and having a unique characteristic such as being handmade, being a typical regional product and/or being recognizable as a tourist souvenir52. However the Czech-Saxon Switzerland label does not precisely follow the brand name of Bohemian-Saxon Switzerland, creating some inconsistency in the branding strategy.

48 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxon_Switzerland 49 http://www.sachsen.de/en/261.htm 50 http://www.ceskesvycarsko.cz/en/node 51 http://www.ceskosaske-svycarsko.cz/about-us.html 52 http://www.regional-products.eu/en/brands/detail/385/ceskosaske-svycarsko-regionalni-produkt

20

Insubrica Euregion: Lakes and Alps

Area Regio Insubrica Euroregion Countries Switzerland, Italy Type Transnational Place brand Insubria: Lakes and Alps Audience: Tourists

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Regione_Insubria-Mappa.png)

The cross-border region that unites the Italian-speaking Ticino Canton in Switzerland with the Italian Districts of Como, Lecco, Varese and Verbano-Cusio-Ossola was created in 1995 under the name Regio Insubrica Euroregion. Given the linguistic and cultural affinity between the two border areas, the Euregio has developed into one of the more active ones. Among its initiatives is the development of a cross-border tourism brand called “Insubria, Lakes and Alps”. The Insubria brand is mainly communicated through a tourist information website53, which describes various attractions as well as local products from all parts of the region. It includes one tour that links attractions on both sides of the border54.

Euregio Silva Nortica

Area Waldviertel, South Bohemia Countries Austria, Czech Republic Type Transnational Place brand Silva Nortica Audience: Tourists, residents

53 http://www.lakesandalps.com/en/ 54 http://www.lakesandalps.com/en/offers/offers-list/sacri-monti.html 21

(adapted from: http://www.aebr.eu/pdf/fmanager//Regionen/S/Silva_Nortica/Fact_sheet_Mitgliederregion en_ERSN.pdf)

The Euregio Silva Nortica unites the Austrian region of Waldviertel (Zwettl, Krems, Gmünd, Waidhofen an der Thaya, Horn Districts) and the Czech region of Southern Bohemia or Jihočeský kraj (Ceske Budejovice, Pisek, Jidrichuv Hradec, Tabor Districts). In its 2007-2013 strategy the Euregio set out a plan for shared cross-border tourist development, including a cross-border branding initiative. Besides tourism branding, the strategy includes a branding initiative aimed at presenting the region as an attractive living place, in order to address problems due to decreasing population and shortages of specialized (technical) labor in the region. A governance issue arose from the fact that while the Czech Region of Southern Bohemia has an official mandate, the Austrian partner in Silva Nortica (EUROPA Plattform PRO Waldviertel) does not. In order to give Southern Bohemia an Austrian partner with official decision-making powers, when necessary the Austrian state of Niederösterreich takes this role for the Silva Nortica cooperation projects.55

The tourism branding strategy for Silva Nortica is still in a very early phase, and at the time of writing no marketing materials or online tourism information portal are available. Interestingly the region of Waldviertel on the Austrian side already possesses a well- developed tourism brand, under the brand “Waldviertel: wo wir sind, ist oben” (literally: “Waldviertel: where we are, is up”)56. For the branding strategy of Silva Nortica as an attractive place to live, a first pilot has recently been launched within the frame of the QUALIST project. This project, undertaken together by the Silva Nortica region and the Vogtland region in Germany (discussed as a case study of inter-regional branding), undertakes to improve the quality of living in small cities. Besides solving practical issues of quality of living (such as accessibility and special housing requirements for senior citizens), the QUALIST project also includes a place marketing initiative focused on communicating the

55 http://www.aebr.eu/pdf/fmanager//Regionen/S/Strategie_2007-2013.pdf 56 http://www.waldviertel.at/de/default.asp 22 attractiveness of living in small cities in the project region57. A pilot for this marketing initiative is being undertaken in the Waldviertel region at the time of writing5859.

Rhodopes and Aegean Sea

Area Rhodopi Euroregion Countries Bulgaria, Greece Type Transnational Place brand Rhodopes and Aegean Sea Audience: Tourists, investors

(adapted from: http://www.aebr.eu/pdf/fmanager//Regionen/R/Rodopi__GR_BG_/Fact_Sheet_Euroregion _Rodopi.pdf)

The Euregion called Euroregion Rhodopi is a cross-border cooperation organization between the Association of Rhodope Municipalities (Bulgaria) and the Border Region Delta-Rodopi (Greece). This region covers on the Bulgarian side 21 municipalities in the districts Smolya, Kardzhali, Plovdiv and Pazardzhik, and on the Greek side five municipalities in the Drama- Kavala_Xanthi Prefecture. The Euregion was created in 2001, and is active in the implementation of INTERREG-funded projects for among others the stimulation of cross-

57 http://www.silvanortica.com/userfiles/file/qualist-faltblatt-dinlang.pdf 58 http://qualist.eu/en/project_WP5.html 59 http://www.wohnen-im-waldviertel.at/ 23 border economic and tourism development60. In 2005 a project was carried out to develop a joint business guide, showing business opportunities in the entire cross-border region as an integrated offering. The business guide61 is written in Bulgarian and Greek, with short passages in English. Its distribution channels are not clear. Moreover the Euregion has commissioned a tourist brochure for the cross-border region entitled Tourist Brochure “From the Rhodopes to the Aegean Sea”, which is not available online at the time of writing. There is currently no online information portal for the cross-border region, while Greek62 and Bulgarian63 national tourism information portals only describe the part of the Rhodopi region on their side of the border

Helsinki-Tallinn

Area Helsinki-Tallinn Euregio Countries Finland, Estonia Type Transnational Place brand Helsinki-Tallinn Knowledge Region Audience: Tourists, investors

The Euregio Helsinki-Tallinn is in an early stage of developing a common branding strategy. The Euregio was founded in 1999 and aims to develop a cross-border knowledge region. While the precise branding strategy is still to be unveiled, it is already clear that it focuses on the twin metropolitan cities of Helsinki and Tallinn, and that it will have a clear focus on innovation, science and art. The main events in which the strategy for realizing the vision of a cross-border knowledge region is being developed, are the Euregio Fora (held every 1,5 years) and the Knowledge Arena (held every second year). Besides political authorities the Euregio Helsinki-Tallinn has a range of cooperation partners including chambers of commerce, universities and science parks on both sides of the border6465. In 2008 a

60 http://www.aebr.eu/pdf/fmanager//Regionen/R/Rodopi__GR_BG_/Fact_Sheet_Euroregion_Rodopi.pdf 61 http://www.arm-bg.net/download/2008.pdf 62 http://www.visitgreece.gr/en/nature/mountains/rodopi 63 http://www.seebulgaria.bg/ekskurzia/8/58/1/trans-rhodopi-mountins-bike-tour-from-western-bulgaria-to- the-east-of-the-country.html 64 http://www.ebs.ee/public/EBS_Krigul.pdf 65 Lepik, K. and Krigul, M. (2009), Cross-border cooperation institution in building a knowledge cross-border region, Problems and Perspectives in Management, Vol. 7, Issue 4, pp. 33-45 24 feasibility study66 was undertaken for a Helsinki-Tallinn fixed link connection in the form of a railway tunnel.

The Channel Tunnel

Area County of Kent, Region Nord Pas-de Calais Countries United Kingdom and France Type Transnational Place brand None existing Audience: Passengers and freight transporters

A potentially interesting comparison would be the Channel Tunnel that connects the United Kingdom and France by rail. In the summer of 1987, Margaret Thatcher and François Mitterrand ratified the Treaty of Canterbury in which both countries committed themselves to construct the tunnel with a length of 50,5 kilometres under the English Channel. By signing the Treaty both governments created the Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) that has to supervise all matters concerning the construction and operation of the Fixed Link.67 From the very start the IGC took on this great responsibility. The main concern about the effects of the fixed link on the county of Kent on the British side and the region of Nord-Pas de Calais on the French side regions were to safeguard that they could cope with the expected increased traffic volumes. Integration or joint economic development has never been a priority of the ICG and there are few serious ex-post economic evaluations of the impact on both regions. Most ex-post economic evaluations of the Channel Tunnel investment conclude that the impacts are overestimated and some even conclude that “overall the British economy would have been better off if the Tunnel had never been constructed, as the total resource cost has been greater that the benefits generated”. 68

3. Interregional branding initiatives

Like Transnational branding initiatives, interregional branding initiatives are becoming increasingly common in Europe. There is no commonly agreed definition of what is meant by the regional scale, and hence interregional brands can differ in geographical scope from inter-municipal to inter-provincial cooperation. However the essential characteristic of an

66 http://www.euregio-heltal.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Hel-Tal-rail-connection-prefeasibility- study_ETI-ASIC_110708.doc-NeoOffice-Writer.pdf 67 http://www.channeltunneligc.co.uk/The-IGC.html?lang=en 68 Anguera, R. (2006), The Channel Tunnel—an ex post economic evaluation, Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 40(4), p291-315. 25 interregional initiative is that it crosses administrative borders, and hence faces particular challenges which a region or city brand does not face. Seven examples of interregional branding initiatives have been selected, representing a range of different scale levels as well as branding content and target audiences.

Brainport Region

Area The Southeast Netherlands Countries The Netherlands Type Interregional Place brand Brainport 2020 Audience: Investors, companies, knowledge workers, governments

Source: http://www.brainport2020.nl/en/home

The Southeast Netherlands includes three regions located in the Province of Brabant – Northeast Brabant, Middle Brabant and Southeast Brabant and the three regions of the Province of Limburg (North, Middle and South). The Southeast Netherlands is home to companies and research institutes such as Philips, DAF trucks, ASML, VDL, FEI Company, TomTom, DSM, Océ, AkzoNobel, NXP, Eindhoven University of Technology, TNO Science and Industry, Design Academy Eindhoven, PDE Automotive, High Tech Campus Eindhoven and many more. At the heart of the Southeast Netherlands is the Brainport region Eindhoven that was labeled the world’s smartest region in 2011 by the Intelligent Community Forum69. The city of Eindhoven is the region’s core and the fifth largest city of the Netherlands with approximately 212,000 inhabitants.

The Eindhoven region has positioned itself as the Brainport of the Netherlands, as the counterpart of the two Dutch ‘mainports’: Port of Rotterdam and Amsterdam Airport. The Eindhoven region is one of the few in Europe – and the only one in The Netherlands – that meet the Barcelona standard (expenses on R&D are at least three percent of the gross regional product)70. The origin of this regional partnership goes back to the early 1990s and has been (co)funded by various European programs. In the first years of the new millennium an alliance of local and regional stakeholders developed the Brainport strategy aiming to strengthen its position as one of the world’s leading high-tech regions. These stakeholders set up a ‘Triple Helix’ partnership among industry, knowledge and educational institutions

69 https://www.intelligentcommunity.org/index.php?src=gendocs&ref=Top7_by_Year&category=Events 70 See: Brainport Eindhoven (2004), Crossing borders, moving frontiers. Eindhoven: Brainport Eindhoven, 26 and governments embodied in the Brainport Foundation that governs the partnership and safeguards the Brainport strategy. Brainport Development is the economic development agency of the Brainport foundation that implements the strategy. Over the years Brainport region Eindhoven has developed into a strong brand nationally and internationally with high- tech and innovation as key associations.

In 2010, the Mayor of Eindhoven has been invited by the Dutch government to develop a integrated vision and strategy – called Brainport 2020 – that covers the Southeast Netherlands with Brainport Eindhoven region as the nexus71. In other words, the idea is to enlarge the geographical scope of the successful Brainport brand to the whole of the Southeast Netherlands. Brainport 2020 is governed by a ‘network organization’ - a light network configuration that makes sure that existing strong executors (such as Brainport Development) can do their job (even) better. The strategic focus is on three sectors: High Tech Systems & Materials, Chemical Engineering and Chemistry and Agrofood. The Brainport 2020 Urgency programme 2011-2015 encompasses a large number of economic development activities including promoting the area to (international) investors, investing in an attractive business climate and attracting and retaining knowledge workers. Finally, Brainport 2020 is also exploring international partnerships in the Dutch, Belgian and German Transnational region called the Eindhoven-Leuven-Aachen area triangle focusing on high- tech with a proposition “Engineering the Future”.72

71 Brainport Development (2011), Brainport 2020 Top Economy, Smart Society, Eindhoven: Brainport Development Eindhoven 72 http://www.elat.org/ 27

Solent Region

Area Hampshire County, Isle of Wight County Countries United Kingdom Type Interregional Place brand Solent Region Audience: Investors, companies, knowledge workers

(http://www.businesssolent.com/templates/ld_templates/layout_2096.aspx?ObjectId=2488)

The Solent Region consists of most of Hampshire County and the county of the Isle of Wight, in the South of the UK, and includes the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth. The two parts of the region are separated by the Solent, a sea strait and major shipping lane for passenger, cargo and military ships. The possibility of constructing a fixed link crossing the Solent is a topic of ongoing debate, but has not been realized yet. The region boasts a strong logistics and manufacturing industry, along with other business sectors, but the wage level is below the UK average and the region, especially the Isle of Wight, struggles to retain graduates from its education institutes73. Business South, a non-profit platform organization launched in 2011 and open to public and private stakeholders as well as education institutes and voluntary organizations, has set up a Solent Region brand to strengthen the attractiveness of the region. Over 220 firms have registered as ‘Champions’ of Business South, which are larger organizations that contribute to the organization and can become active in sectoral or theme-based action groups.

Business South has created four region brands, one each for the Solent Region brand and three of its neighboring regions. These include Sussex, Dorset, and the M3 Region (named after the M3 corridor, a major highway connecting the region to London). Each of these regions can organize events and action groups under its own sub-brand, but at the time of writing only the Solent Region brand has events and action groups that carry its name.

73 http://www.businesssolent.com/site/south/invest 28

Events range from local, such as briefings, workshops and networking events open to regional stakeholders and / or the general public, to international, including presence at international fairs. Action groups organized through the Business South platform that carry the Solent brand include for example Solent Maritime and the Solent India Business Network, aimed at the Indian business community in the region. The Solent Region brand addresses not only investors, but also residents, students (especially recent graduates) and tourists. It can be seen as an umbrella brand, ranging from “Invest in Solent”, “Live in Solent”, “Work in Solent” and “Study in Solent”, to “Enjoy Solent” (aimed especially at tourists).

Skaraborg

Area Skaraborg region, Västra Götaland County Countries Sweden Type Interregional Place brand Skaraborg, The Great Lakes Audience: Investors, companies

(http://www.investinskaraborg.se/english/index.htm)

The Skaraborg region is located in Västra Götaland County in Western Sweden, located between the Vänern and Vättern lakes. The Skaraborg municipal organization, representing a total of 13 municipalities, has set up the inward investment agency Invest in Skaraborg to present the region brand to investors. The Skaraborg brand highlights the quality of life

29 combined with business opportunities in the agricultural sector. Three specific brands are distinguished as sub-brands, namely the Skaraborg Wood Processing Cluster, the Skaraborg Food Cluster and the Skaraborg Automotive Cluster 74. The Skaraborg brand itself is presented as one subbrand of the Västra Götaland region brand, which is marketed as “The Agricultural Green Region: Heart of Sweden”75. However Skaraborg is the only regional sub- brand with a relatively detailed investment promotion strategy.

Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar

Area Baden-Württemberg, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz Countries Germany Type Interregional Place brand Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar Audience: Investors, companies, knowledge workers

(http://www.fokus-rhein-neckar.de/cms/p/MRN_Entstehung/)

The Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar is a cooperation organization as well as a region brand located on the borders between Baden-Württenberg, Hessen and Rheinland-Pfalz. Its origins go back to 1951 when the cities Mannheim, Ludwigshafen, Heidelberg and Viernheim started cooperating in regional labor market policies, which was later developed into a regional planning organization. In 2005 the region became one of six European Metropolregions in Germany, which expanded its mandate in regional development policy as well as turning it into a unique public-private partnership. Leading firms in the region, most notably BASF, in 2003 set up the Zukunftsinitiatieve Rhein-Neckar Dreieck (Future Initiative Rhein-Neckar Triangle) with the aim of strengthening the region and in particular

74 http://www.investinskaraborg.se/english/investment.htm 75 http://www.greenregion.eu/ 30 its labor market situation. By contributing both a vision and financial means, the region’s leader firms offered to strengthen among others the cultural offerings in the region in order to safeguard the attractiveness of the region to much-needed knowledge workers. This private initiative became part of the European Metropolregion, creating a public-private body devoted to among others region branding, art and culture, sports and regional identity7677. Currently the region branding of the Metropolregion revolves around three sub- brands: “Investieren – aber mit Zukunft: Der Wirtschaftsstandort” (Investment – but with future: the business location); “Forschen – aber mit Exzellenz: Der Wissenschaftsstandort” (Research – but with excellence: the science location); and “Leben – aber mit Qualität: Das Freizeitangebot in der Metropolitanregio Rhein-Neckar” (Living – but with quality: the leisure offerings in the Metropolitanregio Rhein-Neckar)78. The cultural offerings of the region are highlighted through the sub-brands “Kultur-Region Rhein-Neckar”, and “Festivalregion Rhein-Neckar”79.

Vogtland

Area Thüringen, Sachsen Countries Germany Type Interregional Place brand Vogtland Audience: Tourists

(http://www.vogtland-reiseleitung.de/willkommen-im-vogtland/geographisch-vogtland-wo/)

76 http://www.fokus-rhein-neckar.de/cms/p/MRN1_1_Erfolg/ 77 http://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/cps/rde/xbcr/SID-6165D526- 585FE266/bst/csrTeaching_CaseStudy_BASF.pdf 78 http://www.m-r-n.com/ 79 http://www.m-r-n.com/en/home/life-experience/art-culture.html 31

The region of Vogtland is a historical region centered on the German city of Plauen (Sachsen). In its largest extent it includes parts of the states of Sachsen, Thüringen, Bayern and the North-Western tip of Bohemia in the Czech Republic. The organization Turismusverbund Vogtland (Vogtland Tourism Association), supported by the state of Sachsen, has set up a tourist information portal80 which presents the touristic offering of the Saxon and Thüringen parts of Vogtland as one tourism product. While currently the Vogtland brand is thus limited to an interregional brand, it has the potential to become a transnational brand in the future. Already in 2002 tourism associations of Vogtland and neighboring Franken commissioned a study to set out a strategy for moving towards a transnational brand, based on the Euregio Egrensis81. This Euregio overlaps in territory more or less with the historical Vogtland region, including parts of Sachsen, Thüringen, Bayern and Bohemia. The Egrensis Euregio tourism brand is still in an early phase, but at the time of writing the production of the first tourism marketing products for the transnational region is in progress82. An Egrensis initiative that has already been launched is the Vierländereck or four country border area bus and train ticket, which allows visitors and residents to travel within the entire cross-border region during one day at a fixed price83

Western France

Area Pays de la Loire, Poitou-Charantes Countries France Type Interregional Place brand Western France Audience: Investors, companies

(http://www.western-france.org/wf_where.html)

80 http://www.vogtlandtourist.de/ 81 http://www.vogtlandtourist.de/cgi-bin/click.system?navid=1055&sid=c 82 http://www.euregio-egrensis.org/de/projekty/cestovni-ruch/page/cest_ruch/ 83 http://www.vogtlandtourist.de/cgi-bin/download.pl?id=351&navid=1313&lang=de&styp=1 32

The regions of Pays de la Loire and Poitou-Charentes have launched a collaborative branding initiative aimed at investment promotion, under the brand name Western France. This region is presented as a well-known touristic region which also holds less widely known investment opportunities. Specific aspects highlighted are its accessibility relative to the Atlantic coast and the Western-European market, as well as high quality of living combined with somewhat lower costs compared with other parts of France84.

Eastern Poland

Area Eastern Poland Macroregion Countries Poland Type Interregional Place brand Eastern Poland: The new investment area in the European Union Audience: Investors, companies

(http://poland.org.hk/en/invest-in-eastern-poland)

Similar to the brand of Western France, the brand Eastern Poland has been created as a vehicle for promoting five voivodeships or states at or near the Eastern border of Poland which together form the Eastern Poland Macroregion. The brand has been launched through the program “Why Eastern Poland” carried out by the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ), supported by the Development of Eastern Poland National Cohesion Strategy, the national inward investment agency Invest in Poland, and by the EU through ERDF funding. The region is communicated as a little known, upcoming region, possessing the advantages generally associated with Central and Eastern Europe (for example relatively low wages, abundant land and real-estate at lower prices), but standing out in terms of safety, low pollution levels and a well-developed infrastructure and education system. A great number of industrial specializations (twelve in total) are listed as strengths of the region85. Through the website potential investors are referred to databases

84 http://www.western-france.org/ 85 http://whyeasternpoland.eu/en/why-is-worth- 33 of greenfield and brownfield locations as well as specific investment projects, maintained by Invest in Poland86.

The Eastern Poland brand is communicated to potential investors in three ways. Firstly through organization of events in the region, and participation at events elsewhere in Europe and beyond, the five regions and 12 industrial sectors present themselves to the target group under the shared label of Why Eastern Poland. Secondly through direct marketing, which involves contacting individual members of the target group of potential investors directly and offering them tailor-made information and linking them to specific investment opportunities. Thirdly the program includes a media campaign with advertisements in international newspapers, magazines and on airports, as well as through videos distributed online87. Interestingly, the online videos have received wide attention because of their humorous content, but have also been widely satirized by internet users88.

86 http://whyeasternpoland.eu/en/why-is-worth-/new-investment-areas 87 http://whyeasternpoland.eu/en/press/news-214/the-eastern-poland-macro-region-promotion-program-s- support-for-the-five-regions 88 http://www.businessinsider.com.au/why-didnt-you-invest-in-eastern-poland-2013-1#first-heres-the-kid- shaking-his-head-at-you-1 34

4. Selection of cases for further study

In sections 2 and 3 a total of 24 branding initiatives have been shortly introduced. This includes 17 cross-border branding initiatives, and 7 interregional ones. In this final section a selection of six cases is suggested as most interesting options for further study. These cases comply most closely with the five selection criteria mentioned in section 1, namely that the branding initiative has a clear transnational or interregional dimension, that it has actually been implemented at the time of writing, that an identifiable joint strategic approach can be discerned, that this approach employs identifiable marketing/branding activities, and that the brand addresses a relatively broad range of target audiences. Table 1 below presents the list of proposed case studies, and grades them according to how closely they match the five selection criteria. Grades range from limited compliance (*) to very high compliance (****).

Table 1: List of six cases proposed for further study

Country 1. Clear 2. Up and 3. Joint 4. Branding 5. Broad transnational/ running strategic activities range of interregional approach employed target dimension audiences BioValley DE, FR, transnational *** ** *** ** CH Øresund DK, SW transnational **** **** **** ****

Sonderjylland DE, DK transnational *** *** *** *** -Schleswig Centrope AT, CZ, transnational *** *** *** **** SK, HU Brainport NL interregional **** **** **** ***

Solent UK interregional ** ** *** ****

*limited; **average; ***high; ****very high

On the second criterium (up and running), scores depends on the extent to which the branding strategy has already been implemented. The Øresund and Brainport cases score especially high on this criterium because they have been launched a relatively long time ago, and have remained very active throughout this period. The Solent region scores slightly lower because it is relatively young. On the third criterum (having a well-developed joint strategic approach) again Øresund and Brainport score highest, because they involve an extensive, long-term strategy that is strongly embedded in their region. BioValley and Solent score lower because their branding strategies have not been implemented to a similarly high degree in all parts of their region. For example in the case of BioValley the brand has been fully implemented only in the Alsace sub-brand, and only to a much more limited degree in the case of the Basel and Freiburg/Germany sub-brands. The fourth criterium shows the range of branding activities employed, which in all of the six cases includes not only media

35 campaigns but also for example public and stakeholder events. Øresund and Brainport were seen to employ the broadest range of branding activities. Finally the fifth criterium looks at the breadth or narrowness of the scope of target audiences addressed by the branding initiative. On this criterium Øresund, Centrope and Solent show the broadest scope, including not only investors and firms but also residents and visitors. BioValley has a more narrow scope, focusing on investors and firms.

Especially on the third and fourth criteria it is an open question whether high scoring or low scoring cases are most interesting. For example difficulties in reaching a joint strategic approach may offer different lessons than a best-case example where a joint strategic approach has already been reached.

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