Transformation of the iconic social representations of ten european capitals through destination @-branding and re-branding.

This new piece of research is inscribed within a broad research programme on Place-identity and Social Representations of European Capitals in first visitors of six different nationalities begun by de Rosa in the 1980s (de Rosa, 1995; 1997; 2013b) - later developed along multiple interrelated research lines based on “field studies” and “media studies”, inspired by the modelling approach to social representations that articulates different constructs/theories (like social representations, collective memory, place-identity, attitudes, social practices, branding…) techniques and verbal/textual/iconic communicative channels (de Rosa, 2013a; 2013c). In particular this contribution represents an integrative work concerning a study on the “Destination@-branding” (Morrison & Anderson, 2002) of ten European Capitals. In accordance with the model of “destination branding” (Cai, 2002) - including brand identity, brand image and brand element mix (name, logo, sign, design, symbol, slogan…) - this contribution focuses on the institutional stems and commercial logos and compares these iconic structural elements of the brands of ten historical European Capitals. The brands of Rome, London, Paris, Helsinki, Vienna, Warsaw, Berlin, Madrid, Brussels and Lisbon are the symbolic tools and cultural artefacts created in different historical periods in order to contribute to the “distinctiveness” of the different cities and the objectification of different social representations anchored in their history and collective memories. Therefore, the first aim is to compare the iconic structural elements of the brands (ancient and modern stems and logos) of the ten historical European capitals, which play a determinant role in the narration of urban history. The research also compares the social representations evoked by brands (stems and logos) of the ten European Capitals among potential first-visitors. Moreover, by considering that the branding is an evolutionary process (rebranding) the contribution analyses the recent transformations of some commercial brands in a longitudinal perspective. Finally, the contribution integrates the results of the analysis of the main graphic element of the branding in the framework of the more complex research programme (de Rosa, Bocci, Dryjanska, 2017), suggesting a preliminary overview of the Destination @-Branding focused on the iconic social representations.