Sport city branding of a mid-sized city in Finland
Ahonen, Aila; Lämsä, Jari; Mero, Antti; Karimäki, Ari (2016)
Ahonen, Aila
Lämsä, Jari
Mero, Antti
Karimäki, Ari
Acta Turistica
2016
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2017062814020
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2017062814020
Tiivistelmä
Global competition amongst cities has grown and branding has lately become an important part of cities’ strategies. The aim of this paper is to study the brand stakeholders’ perceptions of the sport city brand of a mid-sized city, Jyväskylä, in Finland. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with eleven city leaders and sport managers who had an inuence on the sport brand of the city of Jyväskylä. The results show that in the minds of the respondents Jyväskylä has a strong image as a sport city. It stems from sports education, sports events, strong sports clubs, and active citizens. The results indicate that sports, and sporting events in particular, could be a key element in developing the brand image of the city of Jyväskylä. The results emphasize the importance of a closer cooperation and brand thinking amongst the stakeholders in order to develop the sport city brand of Jyväskylä.