The Role of Integrated Communication Within Place Marketing: The Province of Florence Case

Purpose of the paper and literature addressed - The focus of this paper is to analyse the role played by integrated communication with regard to place marketing strategies and policies, as defined and implemented by Local Government Authorities (LGA), in order to establish and manage interaction between actual and prospective local business users within the same area. This research will draw on the theoretical perspective of place marketing as an approach for the creation and further consolidation of a relationship network between Authorities that manage territory elements (LGA) and place users (people and business investors). Marketing place relations are characterized by a widespread and deep nature able to create a medium-to-long term partnership between local “supplier” and “buyer”. This type of interactions show evidence of an interconnected dimension, characterized by two essential elements: not only is there a system of commonly shared values, but there is also uniformity between investors’ goals and those possessed by local interest holders. Research method - The method used in this research is founded on the qualitative business case study method. Research findings - The most important research findings of this paper can be summarized as follows: a) analysis of the marketing strategies and policies developed for the business segment by the Province of Florence in 2005; b) analysis of the communication activities developed by the Province of Florence in view of the chosen place marketing strategies; c) analysis of the interactive-collaborative quality of the place marketing communication developed by the Province in favour of businesses clustered in the Florentine area or interested in creating business relations with the territory; d) analysis of the role played by the place marketing communication used by the Province of Florence in establishing a local network between LGAs and place business users. Main contribution - From both a theoretical and a managerial point of view, the objective of this paper is to provide some indication in creating a research method aimed at evaluating place marketing actions, and specifically, those involving LGA communication. For this purpose and in order to assess the effective value of place marketing, it will also be necessary to develop appropriate techniques, capable of verifying drawn investments, as well as of identifying any further, more complex event.