Place Branding and Dialogue Process in the Decentralization Era of Indonesia.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the contribution of a social institution in public information to local branding construction in the decentralization system in Indonesia in the post-reform era. Decentralization has implications for the emergence of local actors in public information management known as KIM or Community Information Group. As a social communication institution, KIM manages communication and information both top-down and bottom-up between government agencies and the local citizens. This research also discovers that KIM activists perform the Public Relations function in local branding construction. In this study, branding was considered as a communication activity that was crucial in the formation of co-creation and co-production in the local government area instead of an effort of marketing activities. The research method is a qualitative and case study with interview techniques to nine activists of KIM from different urban villages. The results show that the branding construction is oriented to place branding as regional identity and conducted through two stages of dialogue, the formation of communication circles and the utilization of digital media. The communication circle is built as a form of internal empowerment while the next stage is enforcement of local identity through the creation of narratives in digital and social media managed by the activists. The last stage aims to obtain an outlook of feedback and public opinion of visitors and audiences as the primary public in branding narratives.