Sonya Hanna joined Bangor Business School in September 2013 as a Lecturer in Marketing prior to which she was a postgraduate teaching and research assistant at the university where she taught Marketing Research. She obtained her PhD thesis in Place Branding at Bangor University in July 2011. Her thesis develops and empirically tests a theoretical model of strategic place brand management to explain the process of branding geographical entities (towns, cities, regions). Sonya’s current research explores place branding further looking in greater detail at the components of the strategic process. 

Roles within Bangor Business School:

• UG and PGT dissertation supervision,
• PhD supervision
• Personal tutor,
• Teaching advisor and mentor, PGCertHE,
• Lead organisor of the consumer research summit (one day conference),
• Director of Student Engagment.

Email: s.hanna@bangor.ac.uk

Telephone: 01248 38 8077

Location: Room 1.14, Hen Goleg

• Professional: Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCertHE)
• PhD: PhD ‘Strategic Place Brand Management’
• Other: MBA General Management
• Other: LLB (Hons) Law

Undergraduate Teaching:

• Marketing Strategy and Management (ASB 3103)
• E-Marketing (ASB 3114)
• International Marketing (ASB 3439)

Postgraduate Teaching:

• International Marketing (ASB 4439)

PhD Supervision:

• Surbhi Jain (2014 - present)
• Thi Hong Ngoc Nguyen (2019 - present)
• Qing Sun (2019 - present)

Sonya’s research interests are focused on place branding and in particular the process of strategic place brand management, considering place brand communications in the digital arena and looking at the development of brand architecture and the alignment of stakeholder objectives and negotiations by leadership. Her other interests lie in the categorisation of stakeholder roles and how they provide the brand experience considering public encounters.

Conference Presentations:

• Hanna, S., and Rowley, J. (2017), “Projected Destination Personalities of European Capital Cities”, The International Place Branding Association Conference.
• Hanna, S., and Rowley, J. (2016), "Social Media in Place Branding: a review", The International Place Branding Association Conference.
• CELT Learning and Teaching conference (2016), Bangor University.
• Hanna, S., and Rowley, J. (2013), "Brand Architecture in Place Branding", in: 3rd International Place Management and Branding Conference: Manchester Metropolitan University Business School, UK.
• Hanna, S., and Rowley, J. (2012), "Place Brand Practitioners Perspectives on the Management of Brand Experience", Academy of Marketing Conference on Marketing: catching the technology wave, University of Southampton Management School, UK.  Won best paper in track award for toruism.
• Hanna, S., and Rowley, J. (2011), "A Practitioner Led Strategic Place Brand Management Model", Academy of Marketing Conference on Marketing Fields Forever, University of Liverpool Management School, UK.
• Hanna, S. (2007), "Objectives and Processes in Place Branding", Academy of Marketing Conference on Marketing Theory and Practice, Kingston Business School, UK.
• Rowley, J. and Jones, R. and Hanna, S. and Vassiliou, M. (2010), “Using Card-based Methods in Semi-Structured Interviews”, in: 9th European Conference on Research Methodologies for Business and Management Studies, IE Business School, Madrid.

Working Papers:

• "The Projected Destination Brand Personalities of European Capital Cities and their Positioning" (2019) with, Prof. J Rowley (Accepted/Published).
• "Place and Destination Branding: A Review of Constructs and their Operationalization" (2018) with, Prof. J Rowley and Dr B Keegan, (Submitted).
• "Branding Destinations: Symbolic Representations, Narrative Representations, and Co-branding" (2019) with, Prof. J Rowley, (Accepted/Published).

I am willing to supervise a PhD

2021

• PublishedPlace and Destination Branding: a review and conceptual mapping of the domain
  Hanna, S., Rowley, J. & Keegan, B., Jun 2021, In: European Management Review. 18, 2, p. 105-117
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2020

• PublishedBranding destinations: symbolic and narrative representations and co-branding
  Rowley, J. & Hanna, S., May 2020, In: Journal of Brand Management. 27, 3, p. 328-338 11 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2019

• PublishedThe Projected Destination Brand Personalities of European Capital Cities and their Positioning
  Hanna, S. & Rowley, J., Aug 2019, In: Journal of Marketing Management. 35, 11-12, p. 1135-1158 47 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2016

• PublishedDo Places have a Personality? A perspective from Place Branding
  Hanna, S. & Rowley, J., Aug 2016, Strategic Place Branding Methodologies and Theory for Tourist Attraction. Bayraktar, A. & Uslay, C. (eds.). IGI Global, p. 21-40
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

2014

• PublishedRethinking Strategic Place Branding in the Digital Age
  Hanna, S. A. & Rowley, J., 31 Dec 2014, Rethinking Place Branding: Comprehensive Brand Development for Cities and Regions. Springer, p. 85-100
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
• PublishedTowards a model of the Place Brand Web
  Hanna, S. & Rowley, J., 25 Nov 2014, In: Tourism Management. 48, June, p. 100-112
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2013

• PublishedA Practitioner-Led Strategic Place Brand-Management Model
  Hanna, S. A. & Rowley, J., 18 Jun 2013, In: Journal of Marketing Management. 29, 15-16, p. 1782-1815
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedBrand architecture in place branding
  Hanna, S. A., Hanna, S. & Rowley, J., 15 Feb 2013, p. Session F3.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedPlace Brand Practitioners' perspectives on the Management and Evaluation of the Brand Experience
  Hanna, S. A. & Rowley, J., 24 Jun 2013, In: Town Planning Review. 84, 4, p. 495-515
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2012

• PublishedPlace Brand Practitioners' Perspectives on the Management of Brand Experience
  Hanna, S. A., Hanna, S. & Rowley, J., 5 Jul 2012, p. Paper 018.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedPractitioners views on the essence of place brand management
  Hanna, S. A., Hanna, S. & Rowley, J., 13 Jun 2012, In: Place Branding and Public Diplomacy. 8, p. 102-109
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedTen difficult steps towards enhancing you Place's Reputation
  Hanna, S. A., Hanna, S. & Rowley, J., 1 Jan 2012, In: Journal of Town and Country Planning.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedUsing card-based games to enhance the value of semistructured interviews
  Hanna, S. A., Hanna, S., Rowley, J., Jones, R. & Vasileiou, M., 1 Feb 2012, In: International Journal of Market Research. 54, 1, p. 93-110
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2011

• PublishedA Practitioner-Led Strategic Place Brand-Management Model
  Hanna, S. A., Hanna, S. & Rowley, J., 5 Jul 2011.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedTowards a strategic place brand-management model
  Hanna, S. A. & Rowley, J., 30 Mar 2011, In: Journal of Marketing Management. 27, 5-6, p. 458-476
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

External Examiner: University of Wolverhampton (September 2017 - present)

Contributing Member: The Place Brand Observer 

Editorial Board Memember: Journal of Place Managment and Development 

Ad-hoc Refereeing: Journal of Place Management and Development, Journal of Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Marketing Theory, Urban Studies, Cities.

Awards:

• Outstanding Reviewer for Journal of Place Management and Development (2017) Emerald Literati Awards.
• Centre for the Enhancement of Learning: CELT Associate Award (2016).
• Best Paper in Track Award - Hanna, S., and Rowley, J. (2012), "Place Brand Practitioners Perspectives on the Management of Brand Experience", Academy of Marketing Conference on Marketing: catching the technology wave, University of Southampton Management School, UK.