Negotiating Strategic Tensions in Place Branding A Study of Gothenburg The Organisational Distribution of External Attractiveness and Resident-Oriented Legitimacy in Gothenburg

Sammanfattning

This thesis examines how tensions between external attractiveness and resident-oriented legitimacy are visible in Gothenburg’s place-branding efforts. The study uses qualitative interviews with selected organisational actors and breakdowns of relevant documents connected to Göteborg & Co, Business Region Göteborg, Demokrati och medborgarservice, and the City Executive Office. The purpose is not to measure how residents or visitors experience Gothenburg’s brand, but to study how different audiences are represented, prioritised, and connected within the different organisation’s documents and communication efforts.The findings presents data to suggest that external attractiveness and resident-oriented legitimacy are not incorporated fully within one coherent place branding strategy. Instead, the relationship between them is indirect, coordinated to a less degree, and separated organisationally. External attractiveness is formalised through destination branding, business attractiveness, investment, and talent attraction, while resident-oriented legitimacy is conducted through participation, dialogue, local governance, and democratic procedures. The study’s result show that strategic tensions in place branding do not always act out as open conflicts, but can be rooted in how organisational actors, responsibilities, and forms of legitimacy can be separated and only partly linked