Giannina Warren

• BA (Religious & Cultural Studies) - Queen's University, Kingston, Canada
• PG Certificate (Advertising Management) - Schulich Business School, York University, Toronto, Canada
• PG Certificate (Graphic Design & Desktop Publishing) - George Brown College, Toronto, Canada
• BA (Public Relations Management) - Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
• MA (International Communications) - Leeds University, Leeds, UK
• PG Certificate (Higher Education) - Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy, Middlesex University, UK
• PhD: 'Cultural Intermediaries and Place Branding: A Framework for Understanding their Impact and Influence' - Faculty of Business and Law, Middlesex University, UK

• Place Branding, Public Relations, Promotional Culture, Campaign Planning, Promotional Practice

Her research examines the intersection of promotion and policy of places, identifying ways marketing, branding and PR can help guide public policy and urban planning for sustainable cities.

She is an expert in the ‘professionalisation’ of the place branding practice, developing a new framework for understanding the occupational resources and responsibilities that place marketers hold in key areas in a city’s policy value chain.

Her latest research projects examine the role of sustainability discourses and climate action mitigation practices in city branding; identifying the policy platitudes, political paralysis and PR problems that occur at both the global and hyper-local levels of municipal governments in UK and Canada.

• Warren, G. (2024). A social capital framework to understand the particularities and power dynamics in city branding. Marketing Theory. https://doi.org/10.1177_14705931241275548
• Warren, G., Walker, C., Cleave, E. (2024). ‘The Climate Change Challenge: Catalysing Behavioural Change Through City Branding’ in Kavaratzis, M., and Deffner, A. (Eds) City Branding: Contemporary Conceptualisations and Tools for Reputation Management and Tourism Development. Edward Elgar Publishing, London UK.
• Warren, G. (2024). ‘Professionals’ in Severin, E., Oliviera, E. (Eds) Encyclopaedia of Place Branding. Edward Elgar Publishing, London UK.
• Warren, G., Walker, C., Cleave, E. (2024). ‘Climate Change’ in Severin, E., Oliviera, E. (Eds) Encyclopaedia of Place Branding. Edward Elgar Publishing, London UK.
• Warren, G. and Grigaliunaite, S. (2023). ‘Leveraging Social Capital to Catalyse Post-Pandemic Anti-Fragility: The Vilnius Model’. Journal of Place Management and Development, (3) 27-57.
• Alkhayyat, Y., Walker, C., Warren, G., Cleave, E. (2023). You have declared a climate emergency…now what? Exploring climate action, energy planning and participatory place branding in Canada. Urban Resilience and Sustainability, 2023, 1(3): 214-234. doi: 10.3934/urs.2023014
• Warren, G. (2022). ‘From Inferiority Complex to Smug Superiority: The Case of Brand Canada.’ In Dinnie, K., 2022. Nation Branding: Concepts, Issues, Practice, 3rd ed. Routledge, Oxford.
• Warren, G., Dilmperi, A., Dinnie, K., (2021). Power struggles and playing politics: An application of Bourdieu’s cultural intermediation theory to place marketing. Annals of Tourism Research 91, 103276.
• Warren, Giannina and Dinnie, Keith (2018). Cultural intermediaries in place branding: who are they and how do they construct legitimacy for their work and for themselves? Tourism Management, 66. pp. 302-314.
• Warren, Giannina and Dinnie, Keith (2017). Exploring the dimensions of place branding: an application of the ICON model to the branding of Toronto. International Journal of Tourism Cities, 3 (1). pp. 56-68. 

Climate Emergency Declarations… What Now? Exploring Climate Action, Energy Planning, and Participatory Place Branding in UK and Canadian Cities

2022 – 05 to 2023 – 07 | Award

British Academy (London, GB)

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• Director of Studies or Supervisor for two PhD Students
• Supervisor for 12 completed MA Place Branding Dissertations

• ‘Academic of the Year’ Award for Faculty of Creative Industries, Student-Led Teaching Awards, 2023 and 2017
• ‘Most Inspiring Teacher’, Student-Led Teaching Awards, 2018

CONSULTING AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

• Co-Founder, Academic Director
  • The Place Brand Academy
  • Offering a series of CPD-accredited courses, validated training tools, and Masterclasses for Place Branding professionals.
• Developing training tools and capacity-building for clients globally.
  
  • Bloom Place Academy
  • Academic Director (2021 – 2023)
• Canada in Context: Cultural Sensitivity Training for U.S Companies Doing Business in Canada
  • Sidewalk Labs LLC (A Subsidiary of Google Inc.), Toronto, Canada.
  • Senior Consultant and Keynote Presenter (2018)
• Building a Brand Ambassador Program
  • Thessaloniki Tourism Organisation, Thessaloniki, Greece.
  • Senior Consultant, in collaboration with Dr Keith Dinnie, University of Dundee (2017)
• Destination Canada: Nation Branding Insights to Win New Business
  • Bensimon Byrne, Destination Canada, City of Toronto
  • Senior Consultant (2016)
• The Potential Contribution of Coastal Tourism to the Regeneration of Seaside Towns
  • British Hospitality Association, UK.
  • Senior Researcher, in collaboration with Place Matters Ltd. (2015 – 16)
• The impact of higher education policy on the work, practices and constitution of departments offering undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in the areas of media, communication and cultural studies
  • MeCCSA, UK.
  • Researcher, in collaboration with Dr Natalie Fenton, Goldsmiths University (2014)

INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE

• Communications Director (2007 – 2013)
  • Media spokesperson. Economic Development & Culture Division, City of Toronto
  • Strategic planning and execution of public relations and social media campaigns for major annual City-produced festivals, events and city-branding campaigns.
  • Managed all aspects of media relations including interviews, press conferences, monitoring and onsite logistics – for local, national and international media.
  • Creation of all media relations materials including press kits, releases, pitches, key messages, and speeches for senior public service executives, politicians and the Mayor of Toronto.
• International Brand Manager (2004 – 2007)
  • McCarthy Tétrault LLP
  • Executed international advertising campaigns, marketing collateral and Visual Identity Manual for Canada’s largest law firm – including creative development, copywriting, procurement, and graphic design. Trained employees firm-wide on national initiatives.
• Marketing Officer (2003 – 2004)
  • Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, Ontario Government
  • Writing and editing of strategic marketing communication plans, news releases, Ministers’ speeches and key messages, internal strategic plans and client correspondence.
• Marketing & Communications Coordinator (2001 – 2003)
  • Enersource – Mississauga’s Public Hydro Utility
  • Developed all facets of corporate communications and marketing outreach in highly competitive deregulated energy sector. Media spokesperson and public educator.
• Desktop Publisher (1999 – 2001)
  • BMO Nesbitt Burns
  • Managed the translation, design and production of international collateral supporting one of Canada’s largest investment banks in a company-wide rebrand.

• Programme Director, MA Place Branding (2022–)
  • An international thought leader in Place Branding: spearheaded, developed and launched the world’s first MA in Place Branding.
  • Curriculum design and development; program validation.
  • Established industry partnerships.
  • Marketing and recruitment.
  • Online course design and delivery.
  • Module Leader: PLB4000 Key Theories and Concepts in Place Branding; PLB4001 Place Brand Implementation; PLB4002 Stakeholders, Sustainability and Social Cohesion; PLB 4003 Competitive Advantage, Creativity and the Central Idea; PLB4004 Independent Project.

• Programme Leader, BA Advertising PR and Branding (2019 – 2023)
  • Led a team of academics across four international campuses (London, Dubai, Mauritius, Hanoi) through all aspects of programme delivery for 600+ students. Degree validation, QA standards, recruitment, cohort cohesion, special events and grading/external examination.
  • Delivery of entire degree online in swift response to COVID-19 requirements – timetabling, guest speakers, module delivery, crisis management and communication.
  • Spearheaded innovative new initiatives such as weekly team meetings, a dynamic Discord communications channel, international panel discussions, experiential learning and alumni relations.
  • Curriculum design and development, leading the team through a program overhaul and revalidation process.
  • Module Leader: MED1020 Key Issues in Advertising; MED2020 Promotional Campaigns; APM1002 Public Relations Practice; APM2051 Promotional Cultures; and APM3005 Place Branding and International Diplomacy (the latter being the first undergraduate module on this topic in the UK).

• University Link Tutor, Academy of Journalism and Communications, Hanoi, Vietnam (2016 – 2024)
  • Spearheaded and launched a new franchise partner for BA Advertising PR and Branding – QA frameworks, Academic Partnerships, negotiating contracts, back-end administration, liaising with teaching team on module delivery and assessment.
  • Annual visits to Hanoi, Vietnam to train academic staff, attend graduation/opening ceremonies and negotiate with senior leadership.

• University Link Tutor, HKU Space, Hong Kong (2017 – 2019)
  • Managed delivery of BA Journalism and BA Advertising PR and Branding with franchise partner.
  • Annual visits to Hong Kong to meet with senior leadership, teaching team and students.

PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT

• 2017. CEU Madrid, Spain. Visiting Lecturer, Advertising and Public Relations (ERASMUS)
• 2015. Goldsmiths University of London. Associate Lecturer, Media and Communications (Sessional)
• 2013 – 2015. Brunel University, London, UK. Lecturer, MA Media and Public Relations (Sessional)
• 2013. Seneca College, York University, Toronto. Lecturer, PG Cert. Corporate Communications (Sessional)