Place as brand

The clustering of creative industries is a particularly abundant research topic as it delves into the broader issue of the relevance of place. The breadth of research on the topic has adopted the representational perspective, focusing on socialization and informal exchanges of knowledge as key to creative clustering. However, this study makes use of the non-representational perspective that sees the physical environment as essential to understanding creative clustering. By combining non-representational clustering literature with branding literature, this thesis investigates the role of place as a branding device for creative clusters located in post-industrial buildings and explores the relationship between the perceptions of individual entrepreneurs about place, the perceptions of the cluster and its branding processes. More specifically, it focuses on relevant elements of the built form that play a role in creative production, reputation-making and, ultimately, branding. The research was conducted via social media content analysis and qualitative interviews with micro-cluster managers and creative entrepreneurs located within. Results suggest the existence of complex dynamics between the physical location of a micro-cluster, the stakeholders involved and the branding processes of such organizations. Place is an active and recognised source of inspiration and reputation for the workers within it; consequently, creative clusters indeed actively make use of the locational behaviour of creative entrepreneurs in their branding. The research concludes that place is a central element of the branding of post-industrial micro-clusters and proceeds to presenting the most popular place branding strategies that were found.