Use of perceptual maps in city brand positioning: Example of Erzurum province

Today, there is an intense competition among the cities as in all the institutions, organizations and industries. Just like businesses, cities are trying to convince consumers to find buyers for the values they produce. Brand positioning is considered an important tool that helps differentiation of cities in order to be preferred against competitors. This study aims to determine the brand position of the city of Erzurum against its competitors. Within the scope of this goal, a qualitative study was carried out with the local administrators and the local people of the city in order to determine the elements that will affect the brand positioning of Erzurum. In the next stage, the scale developed in line with the information obtained from the qualitative work was subjected to factor analysis to determine the factors to be used in positioning the cities. The factors were named as natural attractions, historical and cultural values, economic development and development, transportation, ease of life, peace and security, urban planning and environmental regulation, innovation and entrepreneurship, culture and art, marketing and promotion. In the last stage, a questionnaire developed in accordance with these factors was administered to 287 people who visited Kayseri, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş and Malatya provinces, which were determined to be competitors to Erzurum. As a result of this study, the data obtained were analyzed by multidimensional scaling method and the locations of cities on perceptual maps were determined. As a result, cities appear to vary significantly in terms of sub-scales in general. When evaluated in terms of similarity to the ideal city, the cities were ranked as Gaziantep, Kayseri, Malatya, Kahramanmaraş and Erzurum. Erzurum, which hosts numerous natural, historical and cultural values, was found to be positioned in the most unfavorable position, and various recommendations were made in order to improve the city's brand positioning.