“Brand” is a familiar concept and a main concern for most of those who are somehow involved in business, production and entrepreneurship.
Many of us may face a different viewpoint or ambiguity in a specific definition of this widely used keyword in the modern world, but almost all of us agree on its increasing importance for today’s businesses in a market that is becoming more global and competitive every day.
One of the topics related to the concept of brand, along with expressions such as “product brand”, “personal brand”, “employer brand”, etc., is the concept of “regional brand”, which, if not more important, is certainly not less important than other concepts.
The regional brand shows the special identity of a region and province and its emblem and expertise, and it is the most important tool for the competition of cities and geographic regions in investments and tourist attraction.
A regional brand is an attractive topic because it benefits all small and large businesses and the entire economic ecosystem of the region, and it is also complicated because, unlike other concepts, a single person or company ds not take the initiative.
Creating an attractive and dynamic image of the region requires the comprehensive cooperation of the private and public sectors with each other, the integrated functioning of the entire ecosystem, and the use of all advertising and promotion tools.
As you are talking about the brand of the region and the province, usually more attention is paid to the problem of attracting tourists, while today this concept is considered as one of the main factors of attracting financial and non-financial investments, increasing foreign direct investment (FDI), marketing of products, and export promotion.
Paying attention to the term “non-financial investment” is very important because many of us have only seen the financial aspect of investment and paid less attention to other aspects such as human capital, new ideas, knowledge, etc. We have paid less attention to the brand of the region where we work.
Qom province is facing a double situation from the perspective of “regional brand”.
On the one hand, Qom is a reliable brand in the field of tourism and religious education, whose reputation is not even limited to national borders of Iran, and on the other hand, this one-dimensional image does not show anything of the province’s other capacities in the fields of industry, trade, etc.
Based on personal experience, you can understand that when you talk about the province’s position in petrochemical industries, shoes, furniture, carpets and many others with a person from outside the province (and maybe many provincial fellows as well), you will be met with their surprise and denial. And in the author’s opinion, this is one of the biggest weaknesses of our province in the field of competition, which requires special measures to be taken by private sector activists and government officials. Commerce
In the meantime, it seems that the most important role is played by the Chamber of as the most important organization of the private sector.
Ali Mosabeh – TSR
