(A) Study on the flexible identity use to improve a city brand image - Focused on Xian, China -

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to study the concept of city branding and flexible identity, then gives a proposal for Xi'an city branding design by combining these two studies. Xi'an was one of the most important cradles of Chinese civilization. It was the start of "Silk Road" that linked China with Continental Europe. And it served as the first capital of a unified China and capital of 11 dynasties periodically from the 11th century B.C. to the early 10th century A.D. Xi'an, or Chang'an as it was called in ancient times, was the city of "Everlasting Peace." For the most of Chinese cities, the city logos are hard to be distinguished. They are being repeated, similar shaping and outdated. Even more, currently, Xi'an does not even have its own city branding. City branding means to choose a relevant brand factor to combine it with the city by establishing a positive image in order to gain recognition. A circumstance of increased competition among cities has led the cities to build a good city image to attract people. However, City, as a multi-components system, apparently a static identity cant interpret it adequately. At a time of exponential growth in technology and business, a brand must be flexible to be changed to face all kinds of opportunities. Thus, a new concept for building brand identity showed up - Flexible Identity. Flexible Identity is an identity that can be changed, but has a basic element that always remains the same. By researching previous literatures, this thesis builds a flexible city branding identity model. After the model is tested by other city branding cases, the thesis then identifies that the factors in city branding system and flexible identity system are influencing each other. The more of the city branding flexibilities have, the more items of city branding factors will be defined. At the last part, the proposal of Xian city branding design is based on this model.