HSE Lecturer Participated in Conference on City Branding in London

The largest football event in the world, the FIFA World Cup 2018, is rapidly approaching. For the 11 Russian cities chosen to host the World Cup, this is assumed to be a powerful impulse for social and economic development. The preparation for this event is well underway, and the organisers face a lot of different challenges.

Aleksandra Sazhina, Senior Lecturer at the School of Management at HSE Perm, assessed the willingness of residents to participate in producing public goods. In her study, Sazhina notes that in order to improve the quality of decisions related to preparation for the 2018 World Cup, it is necessary to involve the residents of the host cities in those decision-making processes related to marketing and promotion of the cities as part of the concept of joint production (co-production).

At the moment, the use of intangible assets represented by the residents, is undervalued. For city administrations, getting residents involved has a lot of advantages, including:

• Regular feedback regarding the result of the activities implemented during preparations for the World Cup;
• Residents’ high motivation and loyalty;
• Reducing the city’s budget expenses.

Co-production is a complex process and may involve diverse types of activity. However, according to the theory and practices of territorial marketing, involving the residents will help the city not only benefit from the above-mentioned advantages of co-production, but also successfully showcase the city to other interested parties (investors, tourists).
Sazhina presented her report ‘Co-production in place marketing as the basis for tourism development’, at the Inaugural Conference of the International Place Branding Association, which took place at Middlesex University (London, UK) at the end of 2016.

Aleksandra Sazhina discussed the results of her study with some of the leading experts in territorial marketing, including Dr. Sebastian Zenker, Dr. Keith Dinnie, and Prof. Charles Dennis, who made recommendations on further directions for study.