Timescapes of brand co-creation: A time-based multi-stakeholder place branding framework

Abstract

Brands are not static and evolve over time, yet the critical role of time in brand dynamics remains under-theorised. This paper proposes a time-based framework for place brand co-creation. It examines how time explains three key components of multi-stakeholder branding: participation, leadership, and the co-created brand. By introducing the concepts of timeframe, temporality, timing, tempo, duration, sequence, and time modalities and discussing them in place branding, this paper conceptualises the timescape of brand co-creation. The planned and emergent timescapes are introduced as two extreme ideal types of a time-based brand co-creation continuum, providing a time sensitive foundation for future theoretical and empirical studies on brand co-creation.