Branding on the Nordic margins:Greenland brand configurations

• Main Authors: Ren, Carina Bregnholm, Gad, Ulrik Pram, Bjørst, Lill Rastad
• Other Authors: Lucarelli, Andrea, Cassinger, Cecilia, Gyimóthy, Szilvia
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Edward Elgar Publishing 2019
• Subjects: Arctic; Greenland; Branding; Nordic; Nordic branding; Culture; PDAC; Extractive industries; Tourism; diplomacy; denmark
• Online Access: https://vbn.aau.dk/da/publications/19f712f1-ce55-4850-bcfd-b412a1ede2b4; https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788974325.00024; https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/the-nordic-wave-in-place-branding

In this chapter, we explore branding approaches and tensions at what we might term the margins of the Nordic, namely Greenland. We do so by zooming in on four different empirical sites: diplomacy, mining, tourism and the cultural industries. By taking a closer look at who gets to brand Greenland and in which configurations, we dig into issues of agency and legitimacy. While the first two sites display strong top-down and foreign agential characteristics, the next two sites are characterized by more local control of brand elements and narratives. In the tourism sector recent branding attempts have sought to attract a global audience beyond the usual Danish tourists. Using recent Visit Greenland activities, such as the “Pioneering Nation” campaign, we extrapolate various, partially contradictory, identity positions in this field. Finally, looking at the cultural industries of fashion and food, we argue that Greenland – largely as a result of decentralized, commercial decisions – is supplementing its “indigenous” brand, highlighting traditional handicraft and food production with a post-modern re-circulation of culinary and artisanal products as national symbols.