Places also concern about communicating with their audiences. Cities around the world are applying branding techniques as a way to respond to the pressures of territorial competitiveness, both in case this response is prepared under a touristic perspective or even with the intention of stimulating domestic audience. Tourism plays a very important role in the economy of Florianopolis, Brazil. However, the seasonality of this activity – particularly intense during the summer months and milder in the rest of the year – causes an imbalance between supply and demand throughout the year. As an alternative to summer tourism, the city government has been investing in actions that encourage tourism to a diverse audience, focused on attracting investors and members of the creative class. This article presents territorial branding as stimulus to urban development through the analysis of the case “Projeto Rota da Inovação” (PRI) and the apprehension process of the concepts of the brand that will represent the technological and innovative face of Florianopolis. It exposes the methods and tools used and, as a result, it discusses the process and the final concepts, generated through a co-creative methodology, as well as their meanings. In conclusion, this study underlines the main adaptation needs to the application of a business branding methodology to the urban branding context.

Keywords: Place Branding; Brand DNA; Brand DNA Process; Urban Development; PRI.