Australia's leading Place Branding conference returns in June

Place Branding Australia, Australia's leading conference of its type, is returning this year, being held in the Tasmanian capital of Hobart from 16th to 18th June.

After an overwhelmingly positive reception to previous programs, Place Branding Australia 2021 will provide learnings from a number of live projects across Australia and New Zealand.

Held during Dark Mofo, Place Branding Australia’s hub will be the Hotel Grand Chancellor on the Hobart waterfront.

With the theme ‘Resilience and authenticity’, event organisers The Intermedia Group advise “with one of Australia’s most innovative and exploratory place-based events as our backdrop, the conference will provide attendees with deep insight into a wide range of Australian and New Zealand place branding projects and the challenges facing our communities today.

“In a post pandemic world, the paradigms have shifted. And so have the places we work, live and play. Locations around the world are grappling with the question of how to thrive and prosper, how to retain and attract residents, businesses and visitors. How to reinvent themselves and tell their story to the world.

“In a world tethered by technology, digital marketing and social media is the gift that keeps giving. Using it properly can hold the key to a successful place branding campaign and those who ignore it do so at their own peril. But it’s important to remember that technology is merely a messenger, and without an honest and authentic message any place branding campaign is doomed to fail.

“To that end, building your place branding story can be tricky. What’s the story? Who owns it? Who controls it? What happens when the stakeholders don’t agree? And how do you take your place branding strategy from concept to market?

“This year’s Place Branding Australia program takes on these questions and explores why it’s more important than ever to understand and communicate the meaning, identity and unique character of the places we live.

“The wave of domestic migration brought on largely by COVID-19 makes effective place branding more powerful than ever. As such, there has never been a more important time to better understand and communicate what it is that defines the places in which we live and work.

“Covering place branding projects of various sizes and scopes across Australasia, this year’s conference program and activities have been designed to deliver conference attendees.

“Every community’s motivations for embarking on a place branding exercise are unique. From those in the early stages of a project, through to others that have been underway for years, our speaker line up will provide learnings and insight in to place branding stories of all shapes and sizes, at various points in their lifecycle.

“By its very nature, Place Branding is a collaborative effort. Our conference will bring Australasia’s most innovative place branding thinkers together in the one place to meet, listen, hear and debate. With Dark Mofo as the backdrop, the conference will be the ideal occasion to expand your thinking, and meet leading urban planners, place marketers, architects, place makers, and government practitioners.”

Click here for more information in the Australasian Leisure Management industry Calendar.