City Branding of Sialkot: City Branding Model in order to Promote City Competitiveness

The key objective of the research is to highlight the important factors which impact the branding of Sialkot city Punjab, Pakistan. Previously researchers mentioned that Cities are faced with increased competition to attract and retain residents. Due to globalization, residents now have a choice where they want to live, work and stay. Cities must therefore investigate how the use of branding strategies can increase their competitive advantage. Residents, like consumers, have needs and wants and therefore it is important that cities understand the role that branding and marketing can play to position themselves as a place where residents want to live. In the academic field, several international researchers have published articles on place/city marketing and also place/city branding, but within the Pakistan context there is limited research available on these topics. Almost 195 Questionnaires have received from different areas of Sialkot. Tool of the analysis is SPSS. The finding of this study is to develop Sialkot city branding framework within a Pakistan context. To achieve the primary objective, secondary objectives were established to measure the level of experience and importance of the city branding factors. From the results, importance–performance matrixes were developed. This study also aims to confirm and expand the existing marketing theory in terms of city branding within a Pakistan context. For that purpose, researcher will use questionnaire and conduct structured focus group from local citizen of Sialkot city