Community Rules in City Branding Communication (Study on “Boyolali Smile of Java” city branding in Boyolali, Indonesia)

Abstract

City branding has become a practice carried out in various countries including Indonesia. Cities in Indonesia are trying to increase their competitiveness through city branding. The success of city branding been achieved by several big cities in Indonesia, small cities and several districts have implemented city branding as a strategic policy. Boyolali is one of the regencies that has recently also carried out city branding. With the approach of the Kavaratzis city branding communication model, this study wants to describe the role of the community as a stakeholder in city branding of Boyolali Regency. The methods used were interviews and documentation, the informants in this study consisted of the government side and several community activists in Boyolali Regency. Data were analyzed using data analysis techniques Miles and Huberman. The results showed a lack of community involvement in the planning and implementation of city branding. However, these communities eventually became part of the Boyolali city branding tertiary communication. The activities carried out by these communities were finally able to become a branding tool for Boyolali, which not controlled by the government.