Veronica Jauriqui

Veronica Jauriqui is Special Projects Manager at the Norman Lear Center.

BrandSpace, led by USC Annenberg Professor Sarah Banet-Weiser, is an interdisciplinary project that examines the way in which new practices, imaginations and politics are being created within the parameters of commercial brand culture.

It's what you drive, what you eat and what you wear. Is it any wonder that soon where you live will be its own brand name?

In our ubiquitous brand culture, today it is local and international destinations - towns, states and even countries - that are having their own crisis of identity. European marketers have developed flashy international campaigns, "I AMsterdam" and "MADrid About You," complete with jazzy logos and glossy brochures in an effort to tempt both tourism and industry dollars.

And on the domestic side, we all know that what happens in Vegas stays there, right?

But what becomes the fatal flaw for many of these campaigns is the marker's attempt to brand place using the exact same strategies that have proven successful in product branding. But what's good for a sneaker or a can of Coke just won't cut it for Finland.

Last week, the BrandSpace faculty working group, led by Communication Professor Sarah Banet Weiser, invited two experts in the craft of regional branding. Annette Schoemmel and Thomas Sevcik comprise the wife-husband team behind Arthesia, an advertising, branding and creative agency based in Zurich and L.A. They provided case studies that stressed not only the inherent challenges in branding place, but the complexities of brand management within the shifting landscape of media and social technology.

They Talk Back

Ah, social media! Just when brand custodians attempt to get a grip on their brand identities, the consumer now has the means and the platform to undermine the brand itself. And the audience is listening.

"The consumer, the employee, the audience is talking back...it is no longer an isolated dialogue," Schoemmel said. "Now it is more the question: How 'open' do I want my brand to be?"