Small town marketing solutions: identity and community building in order to achieve settlement goals and increase the attractiveness of the place of residence

Small towns are facing a development renaissance and are valued as places to live and recreate in the settlement system (Hollingsworth  Goebel, 2017; Kresl  Ietri, 2019; Piskóti, 2023). Capitalising on attractive opportunities can reverse the decline and migration process of recent decades. The necessary repositioning and branding require innovative solutions in conceptual and strategic terms, as well as in the form of programs and measures at the operational level (Lambe, 2008). There are no template success roles or success strategies, there are even a specific methodological deficit for small and medium-sized cities, both in the field of development and marketing. The author presents the results of his own national small-town research (Piskóti, 2022), and the example of a small town in Abaúj-country, Szikszó, with special characteristics, the innovative, model plans and solutions of the small town, which were created with his personal contribution. The conclusion of the study and the example is that any repositioning strategy “goes up in smoke” if it fails in establishing it with internal social marketing, identity- and community-building, and in gaining the support of the local population in its implementation. The final part of the paper summarises the content and analysis of an identity-building programme supporting repositioning.

Keywords: small town renaissance, repositioning, identity and community building, social
innovation and marketing