Redefining city’s image: Guimarães, European Cultural Capital 2012.

Abstract

Purpose – To improve the city’s image, strengthen its identity, attract new audiences and gain competitive advantage, events such as European Cultural Capital (ECC), has been an important opportunity for some cities. The aim of this study is to understand how a medium-sized city with an industrial background can redefine its image through culture. Design/methodology/approach – The study analyzes the Guimarães ECC 2012 brand in terms of its identity, object and market based on desk research and questionnaires to the brand’s target audiences (n = 938). Findings – The empirical study proved that the ECC 2012 event enabled to develop a strong, unique and distinct identity and renew the pride of its citizens. Simultaneously, the event permitted to add a new life to the city, which incited a visit of “old” and “new” visitors and create the bases to accomplish the goal of cultural city. Research limitations/implications – the main limitation of the study is the representativeness of the results, since it isn’t possible to generalize the findings to other similar cases. Originality/value – Normally, the studies about mega-events tend to focus only on the analysis of the economic, social and cultural impacts resulting from the event. The present study attempts to provide an evaluation of the city’s image during the event, as well as, analyse the city’s ability to extend and reinforce its unique values and redefine its image through its culture.