PLACE BRANDING AKO FENOMÉN GLOBALIZUJÚCEHO SA SVETA Teoretické východiská / PLACE BRANDING AS A PHENOMENOM OF GLOBALIZING WORLD Theoretical background

The current highly competitive environment is forcing places to compete with others places for human resources, investments, tourists or events. Success in this competitive struggle can increase their competitiveness against other places and bring them desirable benefits. In this context, one of the possible tools to achieve these advantages can be considered increasingly popular concept of place branding. The first part of present paper outlines main theoretical aspects of the concept place branding ranging from understanding place as a product, through place marketing to place branding involving building, strategy, management and evaluation of place brand. The second part in the form of a discussion looks at the phenomenon of place branding in terms of its neoliberal nature and suggests topics for further research of issues of nation and city branding in contemporary globalizing world.