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Carly Stiana Scheffer-Sumampouw et al. Smart City Branding

including case studies, bibliographic research, inter-
views and observations. In this type of research, the diversity, just like what Lenda said earlier, for
researcher participates in the events or conditions un- religious harmony because hands are praying
der investigation. Researchers often ask WHAT ques- there, a sign or identical to togetherness in
tions to dig for more profound information. For this spiritual connection. However, it is also used
reason, the results of qualitative research are the depth as a location or a place for activities for young
of the researcher’s analysis. In general, the nature of people for sports infrastructure; there is also
the exploratory study is creative, flexible and open, sports infrastructure: skateboarding, basket-
and the data obtained are detailed, allowing for new ball courts, climbing walls, everything there.
theories or concepts to emerge if research results from [Kountu, 2021]
conflict with the ideas and images used. We visited
Manado in November 2021. Travelling within Indone- Thus, Bunaken and Boulevard are among the city’s
sia is allowed with specific and strict health protocols. landmarks and must-visit when tourists travel. There
We experienced the city as both researchers and trav- were also numerous symbols, logos, and slogans/
taglines when we searched the internet. Some of the
ellers. We interviewed key informants Erwin Simson photos and news articles were written or taken from
Kountu, SH (Pembina IV/a, Kepala Dinas Kominfo) iconic places in Manado, for example, the statue of Je-
and Dra. Neivi Lenda Pelealu, M.Si (Pembina Utama sus Christ gives a blessing, the waterfront city at the
Muda, IVc, Kepala Dinas Pariwisata). Additional in- Malalayang beach and the raising of our national flag,
terview is with Abdiel O Bajen – Kepala bidang pe- “merah-putih” at the base of Manado Bay. At the same
masaran dinas pariwisata Kota Manado, while expert time, the rest of the news articles about symbols or slo-
informant is a writer and lecturer of De La Salle Uni- gans were political news about the elected governor,
versity of Tourism located in Manado as well-Yelly A. newly-elected mayor and vice mayor of the city and
Walansendow, SE, S.ST.Par, M.Si. the winning political party. It is unfortunate, though,
that we did not meet with the mayor or vice mayor.
Discussion Another element of smart branding in Manado, the
As mentioned in Figure 3 above, city branding is part city based on the Kominfo model, is business. We do
of the six pillars of the smart city in Indonesia (Direk- not gather essential data on this dimension; however,
torat Jendral Aplikasi Informatika Kementrian Komu- we focus on data we received during interviews and
nikasi dan Informatika, 2017). It is called smart brand- field research. A tourism government official stated
ing. As the second pillar, smart branding consists of 3 that few unique handicrafts or home industry prod-
elements: appearance, business, and tourism. In terms ucts in Manado could have economic value. True,
of appearance, Manado is already well-known for sev- they sell lots of things, and I visited several souvenir
eral things: BUNAKEN, which is the heaven of d1ivers shops (one is open 24 hours). Unfortunately, they are
and the house of plenty of sea creatures. not iconic enough to be branded. Some of the prod-
Bunaken is a well-known sea park in North Su- ucts even were not initially made in Manado. Instead,
lawesi. BOULEVARD is another iconic place near Laut they were imported from outside Manado:
Sulawesi, the city’s iconic area of one-stop shopping
malls and culinary and sports centres. Boulevard is a Then MSMEs or superior products from Mana-
place where communities and tourists come for gath- do are more culinary, to be honest, if we talk
ering, sporting, shopping and enjoy Manadonese de- about MSMEs or craft products, especially
licious meals: more imported from Java and then written
“Bunaken” which is a lot in shops in Manado.
God Bless Park, or Taman Berkat, strategically There are also local craftsmen, but they are
lies on Boulevard; it is the centre of activities less competitive in quality and work; I do not
for the people of Manado city; people use it for know, maybe because of the characteristics of

70 | Proceedings of the 7th UNESCO UNITWIN Conference