Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

The challenge of internal stakeholder support for co-creational branding strategy

Thelander, Åsa LU orcid and Säwe, Filippa LU (2015) In Public Relations Inquiry 4(3). p.323-341
Abstract
This article focuses on co-creation as a strategy and the challenge of applying theories of co-creation in practice. Place branding and a co-creative strategy based on art is used as an example of a special type of public relations concerned with building connections between stakeholders and a specific place. This is investigated through an analysis of how key internal stakeholders in a municipality understand the co-creative strategy for branding urban renewal, looking at their understanding, alignment and support for the strategy. An organizational ethnographic approach is used and the analysis is based on interviews with 16 administrative municipal managers from five different departments. Four different rationales are identified among... (More)
This article focuses on co-creation as a strategy and the challenge of applying theories of co-creation in practice. Place branding and a co-creative strategy based on art is used as an example of a special type of public relations concerned with building connections between stakeholders and a specific place. This is investigated through an analysis of how key internal stakeholders in a municipality understand the co-creative strategy for branding urban renewal, looking at their understanding, alignment and support for the strategy. An organizational ethnographic approach is used and the analysis is based on interviews with 16 administrative municipal managers from five different departments. Four different rationales are identified among managers. The study highlights how these profound rationales among internal stakeholders become a challenge in branding. In theories of co-creation, absolute consensus between stakeholders is assumed. In complex organizations, such as municipality, a more realistic goal is to establish compatible zones of meaning among internal stakeholders. It is concluded that public relations practitioners and researchers must cope with this reality when they approach public relations as co-creation. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
internal stakeholders, co-creation, art event, place branding, public relations
in
Public Relations Inquiry
volume
4
issue
3
pages
323 - 341
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • scopus:85014436563
ISSN
2046-147X
DOI
10.1177/2046147X15573882
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f4278fe9-2f50-43a0-a522-5a724cfeefe5 (old id 8309324)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:56:23
date last changed
2024-01-22 01:58:04
@article{f4278fe9-2f50-43a0-a522-5a724cfeefe5,
  abstract     = {{This article focuses on co-creation as a strategy and the challenge of applying theories of co-creation in practice. Place branding and a co-creative strategy based on art is used as an example of a special type of public relations concerned with building connections between stakeholders and a specific place. This is investigated through an analysis of how key internal stakeholders in a municipality understand the co-creative strategy for branding urban renewal, looking at their understanding, alignment and support for the strategy. An organizational ethnographic approach is used and the analysis is based on interviews with 16 administrative municipal managers from five different departments. Four different rationales are identified among managers. The study highlights how these profound rationales among internal stakeholders become a challenge in branding. In theories of co-creation, absolute consensus between stakeholders is assumed. In complex organizations, such as municipality, a more realistic goal is to establish compatible zones of meaning among internal stakeholders. It is concluded that public relations practitioners and researchers must cope with this reality when they approach public relations as co-creation.}},
  author       = {{Thelander, Åsa and Säwe, Filippa}},
  issn         = {{2046-147X}},
  keywords     = {{internal stakeholders; co-creation; art event; place branding; public relations}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{323--341}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Public Relations Inquiry}},
  title        = {{The challenge of internal stakeholder support for co-creational branding strategy}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2046147X15573882}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/2046147X15573882}},
  volume       = {{4}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}