PLACE BRANDING A logo and slogan design to brand Albania

Place branding is becoming increasingly popular among governors and policy-makers, and so is the body of articles and literature dedicated to this “emerging” phenomenon. Nevertheless the scientific community has still an important role to play in identifying, investigating and assessing various place branding approaches, even more so in transitional countries such as Albania. This article intends to bring forward some new developments in Albania regarding place branding. It is divided in three parts. The first briefly introduces some theoretical concepts behind place branding, the second refers to the “Branding Albania” initiative recently launched by the Albanian government and the third summarizes some of the ideas explored together with students of POLIS University with such regard. Finally the article draws some conclusions and findings from our experience with the Branding Albania initiative with a two-fold perspective: strategic and graphic. Special attention will be paid to the design process while drawing the logos and slogans.