ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of empirical data from seven European regions in order to understand their current position and their response to the challenges they face in an increasingly globalized and competitive environment. It explains that product branding and regional branding are co-evolutionary processes of cultural exchange between private and the public institutions and individuals, and a tentative framework for further research across regions is proposed. The CURE project brought together research from seven European regions: Southeast Netherlands, the Basel area, East Westphalia Lippe, Brandenburg Southwest, the Gyr region, Styria and Wales. It investigates one of these regions in some detail the case of Walesin order to explore how the interaction between regional products and cultural manifestations of regional identity can play out in a specific European region. The chapter explores how regions can establish and maintain their distinctiveness in an ever more globalized and standardized world, in the context of the increasing importance of intangible differentiators.
