The role of European Capital of Culture events within Genoa's and Liverpool's branding and positioning efforts

This paper explores the role of European Capital of Culture events within the branding and positioning efforts of Genoa and Liverpool. Through a review of existing literature on the subject of place branding and a set of primary research methods, the results of this study suggest that the European Capital of Culture title acts for cities as a catalyst and trigger for the branding of a city. The brands created for Genoa and Liverpool thanks to their European Capital of Culture status are set to last over and beyond the year of culture itself, as culture becomes part of the cities' marketing mix.