Place product in the promotion of communes – the case of the Milicz carp and the Barycz Valley

The constant competitiveness for the interest of entrepreneurs, tourists, students makes that local government units put effort into creating their image. However, the limited capital and organizational resources make that these units initiate multilateral promotion actions. Preparing its offer they repeatedly use attractive place products. The main aim of the article is to answer the question whether, if so in what ways, the Milicz carp, treated as a place product, is used in the promotion of the Local Action Group “Partnership for the Barycz Valley” created by the eight communes of Lower Silesia and Wielkopolskie province. Especially while taking into account two elements: Þ rst, the premises of the ofÞ cial strategic documents adopted within ‘the Barycz Valley’, second, the conducted in practice promotion actions. The use of two me thods: content analysis and comparative analysis allows to state that the Milicz carp, against the goals in the given documents, plays a signiÞ cant role in the promotion of the cooperating communes. Actions in the Þ eld of public relations have the greatest importance. On the other hand, the actions concerning the promotion of the Milicz carp do not accompany all the enterprises shaping the image of ‘the Barycz Valley’.


Introduction
Due to the competition for capital, services and people, local government units more and more frequently put effort into creating their image.Therefore they undertake promotion actions which, when properly planned and coordinated, enable them to present their offer for the various groups of receivers.A place product more and more often is becoming one of the offer's elements.
The main aim of the article is to answer the question whether (if so, in what ways) the Milicz carp, treated as a place product, is used in the promotion process of the Local Action Group 'Partnership for the Barycz Valley' ('the Barycz Valley') [pol.: "Partnerstwo dla Doliny Baryczy" ("Dolina Baryczy")] created by the eight communes of Lower Silesia province and Wielkopolskie province.Especially, while taking into account two elements.First, the premises of the ofÞ cial strategic documents adopted within 'the Barycz Valley', second, the real promotion actions, undertaken in practice.The use of the two researc h methods: content analysis and comparative analysis, allows to present the similarities and differences between DOI: 10.15503/jecs20152.411.424 the ofÞ cial (declared) and the actual (implemented in practice) degree of the use of Milicz carp in the promotion of 'the Barycz Valley' communes.Moreover, it enables to indicate these promotion instruments (advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, public relations) which play the biggest role in this scope.

Place product and its different varieties in the place marketing literature
The review of the literature shows that a place product may be deÞ ned in various, often different ways (c.f.Hanna, & Rewley, 2008).Especially as it constitutes a subject of interest of the representatives of various scientiÞ c disciplines such as economists, specialists in the Þ eld of management and marketing, sociologists, culture experts, political scientists, administrative law attorneys etc..The difÞ culties associated with deÞ ning a place product are even bigger due to the fact that everything that can be purchased, used or consumed and, hence, satisÞ es the clients' needs and expectations is a product (Kotler, Armstrong, Saunders, & Wong, 1994, p. 399).Gregory J. Ashworth and Hank Voogd indicate two key elements of place product: nuclear and contributory (1990, p. 66).Different levels of place product are emphasised by Leo van den Berg, Erik Braun and Alexander H. J. Otgaar (2002, p. 7).For the purposes of this article the author adopts the notion that a place product is "a collection of utilities offered to the interested groups of customers in return for payment fully or partly or free of charge" (Szromnik, 2007, p. 116).It is targeted at two groups of customers: internal receivers (citizens) and external receivers (investors, tourists, visitors, students etc.) and is a deÞ ning feature of a commune, district and province.Andrzej Szromnik distinguishes several types of place products, i.a. a tourism product, an investment product, a housing product, a social product, a retail and service product, educational and cultural product, a market and exhibition product, a recreation and sports product (1997, p. 41).According to A. Szromnik, they create a megaproduct in the form of a comprehensive offer of a local government unit targeted at the two above-mentioned groups of receivers (2007, p. 155).Table 1 presents the structure of a tourist products.
As Table 1 illustrates, a tourist product is formed by the two types of elements: tangible (hard) and intangible (soft).Andrzej Stasiak is an author of a similar division.The Þ rst group consists of i.a.tourist attractions and catering services offered by units operating in s commune, district or province.The second one comprises i.a. the weather and the current image (see : Stasiak, 2000, p. 166).In the case of the attractive local government units, a tourist product undoubtedly stimulates their development.Especially as it integrates in itself a range of various place products which attract tourists and, hence, increase the budget income of communes, districts and provinces (Ma ek, 2003, p. 13;cf. Raszkowski, 2011).According to Leszek Mazurkiewicz, the tourist product can be analyzed at two levels (2005, p. 83).The Þ rst is the micro level (when referring to a single recipient), the second -macro (when it comes to offer directed to all groups of recipients).Magdalena Zdon-Korzeniowska stresses that the shaping of the tourist product, including the local tourist product, is a multi-step process (2009, p. 59).
A separate group of place products (tourist) is created by products of twofold type.Their speciÞ city is determined by the special method of production and sale.
Firstly, one may include in the group of place products the regional products entered into the register of Protected Designations of Origin, Protected Geographical Indications or Traditional Specialities Guaranteed.The functioning of the register, kept by the European Commission, is based on the resolution from 21 st November 2012 (Journal of Laws L 343 from 14.12.2012).It contains 37 products from Poland (MARD, 2015).
Secondly, a traditional product may also be deemed a place product.The act from 17 th December 2004 emphasises that "its quality and deÞ ning features are the result of using the traditional methods of production" (Journal of Laws. 2005, no. 10, item 68).In legislator's opinion, it is not only an element of a region's cultural heritage but also a part of a local community's identity.According to the data of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, 44 traditional products are produced in the area of Lower Silesia (see Table 2).The Milicz carp is one of the products (the Milicz carp, 2015).
Tab. 2. Traditional products from Lower Silesia.According to the broad deÞ nition of Andrzej Szromnik (2007, p. 116) the Milicz carp, included in the list of traditional products of Lower Silesia, is an example of territorial product (and also tourist).The rest of this article will present the conditions and ways of using the Milicz carp in the promotion of 'the Barycz Valley'.

Methods
Fo r the purpose of the article two methods, speciÞ c for the research, conducted by the representatives of social sciences, will be used.The Þ rst method is content analysis (c.f.Lisowska-Magdziarz, 2004, p. 13).A crucial meaning is given to the content analysis of source materials, especially the ofÞ cial (prepared, adopted and implemented by local authorities) strategic documents.A particular attention is paid to whether, and if so, to what extent the documents indicate the need to use the Milicz carp in the promotion of 'the Barycz Valley'.The content analysis also refers to the concrete (practical) examples of the use of four promotion instruments in the form of projects and promotional materials.Howe ver, the comparative method allows to identify the similarities and differences in the scale and range of the use of the components of promotion-mix: advertising, sales promotion, personal selling and public relations (c.f.Penc, 1997, pp. 23-24).

The Milicz carp and the Barycz Valley
The Milicz Ponds are not only a company, within Lower Silesia province as its only shareholder since 16th November 2011, but they are also the picturesquely situated complex of Þ sh ponds (The Milicz Ponds, 2015).Together with the nature reserve being a part of the Landscape Park 'Barycz Valley' and Nature 2000 area, the Milicz Ponds create the opportunity to farm the carp with the method of extensive farming with the use of only natural resources.They are the biggest complex of Þ sh ponds in Europe in terms of the size of area (about 7 600 hectares, including about 5 300 hectares of the natural reserve).The tradition of carp Þ shing in the Barycz Valley dates back to the 12th century.Nowadays, in spite of farming sturgeon, catÞ sh, pike, grass carp, pike perch, Asian carp and crucian, carp is one of the Þ sh entered into the register of traditional products (The Milicz Ponds, 2015a).
Using the Milicz carp in the promotion of the local government unit is not only a task of Stawy Milickie S.A. 'The Barycz Valley', formed by the representatives of social, economic and public sectors, conducts similar actions52 .Especially as, being a multilateral association (one of the 355 local action groups operating in Poland), it creates a special opportunity to promote the engaged communes (see Table 3).Also the attractiveness of 'the Barycz Valley' is important.Treated as a place megaproduct (tourist megaproduct), it has the unique landscape and environmental beneÞ ts in the scale of the entire country (Landscape Park, 2015).Table 3 presents the strategic documents which, to various extents, deÞ ne the aims and directions of the promotion process of the eight cooperating communes: Cieszków, Kro nice, Milicz, Przygodzice, Odolanów, So nie, Twardogóra, migród.As results from the compilation, none of the communes have a specialist, autonomous strategic document (marketing strategy or promotion strategy).All the documents presented in Table 3 have a general developmental character.It does not change the fact that all of the local government units in question emphasise the importance of the promotion action conducted within 'the Barycz Valley'.However, the analysis of their content allows to state that they do not deÞ ne the goals, directions, receivers of the promotion actions but also used instruments.A de tailed analysis of their content is not the aim of this article due to the fact that these documents specify the ways and mechanisms for the use of Milicz carp in the promotion of communes.Such analysis, presented later in this article, is applied to special documents (as a result of the cooperation of 'the Barycz Valley' communes).

Promotion-mix
The co nviction that there is a need to create an image more and more frequently force local authorities to plan promotion actions.Especially as the image described by the qualities, which according to citizens a local government unit has, distinguishes them from other competing units (see Kotler, Heider, & Rein, 1993, p. 141).Although the literature provides a wide range of deÞ nitions, for the sake of the article one adopts that promotion is a process of communication with the surrounding: internal and external receivers (Florek, & Augustyn 2011, p. 19).Its main aim is not only to inform about the existence of a commune, district and province and to persuade about their attractiveness and successes (see: Barczak, 1999, p. 45) but also to inß uence the decisions and action of receivers, so that they are favourable for the development of a local community.In this sense, promotion is a factor of the developmental importance (c.f.Zalejski, 2014, p. 500).Therefore promotion aims at persuading receivers to purchase particular place products.
The promotion instruments of local government units are described in the promotion-mix which comprises: advertising, sales promotion, personal selling and public relations.In the case of the Þ rst two instruments the communication of a commune, district and province with the surrounding is indirect and one-sided.In contrast, personal selling and public relations enable the exchange (ß ow) of information between a sender and receivers.In this sense, they change the dynamics of the relations between the subject (the representative of local authorities, an ofÞ cial) responsible for the promotion of a local government unit and citizens, tourists, students, investors etc..Each of the instruments allows to achieve different goals (c.f.Glinka, 2014, p. 447).Special meaning is given to public relations.According to the American Association of Public Relations, the aim of the fourth promotional instrument is to establish or maintain a positive, desirable contacts with the recipients (Davis, 2007, p. 20).The activities in the Þ eld of public relations aim at gaining positive opinions and impressions of these recipients who are currently the interest of local authorities or may be in the future.
'The Barycz Valley' in the promotion of Cieszków, Krośnice, Milicz, Przygodzice, Odolanów, Sośnie, Twardogóra, Żmigród communes One general aim of the functioning of 'the Barycz Valley' is the promotion of cultural and natural heritage in the region.For the achievement of this goal, the tourist and natural qualities, as well as the 'local services and products' should be exploited (Statute, 2013).The directions and forms of the promotion actions held by Cieszków, Kro nice, Milicz, Przygodzice, Odolanów, So nie, Twardogóra, migród communes are described in a set of strategic documents.Strategy, 2008), are also important.
The Strategy of Development underlines the attractive localisation of cooperating communes in the natural habitat.The document describes the general aim as preparing "a coherent tourist offer, based on the exploitation of natural and cultural resources in the region".The authors of the document point out that one condition for its proper implementation is "the promotion of the tourist and landscape values and the tourist offer in 'the Barycz Valley' (Development Strategy, 2013, p. 39).
The second evaluated document, similarly to the Strategy of Development, presumes the realisation of three general goals.All the three goals stipulate the directions of actions and do not refer directly to the promotion of 'the Barycz Valley' (Promotion Plan, 2008, p. 42).
Third and the last analysed document provides also the deÞ ned goals in the communication with the surroundings.Apart from "building the recognition of the Barycz Valley as a tourist destination", it emphasises the importance of the promotion actions targeted at creating local products and a local brand (Marketing Strategy, 2008, p. 30).In contradiction to the Strategy of Development and Promotion Plan, Marketing Strategy presents the deÞ ned schedule of the creation of 'the Barycz Valley' brand.It takes into account target groups (internal receivers: citizens, service providers, producers, authorities and local administration; and external receivers: families, individual tourists, business tourists, disabled and senior people), as well as a keyword, logo and particular promotion actions.
Although the main aims of the three analysed documents differ, the premises formulated by their authors point at the necessity to use all the components of the promotion-mix (see Table 4).The analysis of Table 4 enables one to claim that a communication process of 'the Barycz Valley' with the surrounding is to be based on the relatively rich range of promotion means (c.f.Glinka, 2014a, pp. 509-510).Advertising and public relations should be emphasised.

The Milicz carp in the process of the Barycz Valley promotion
The documents deÞ ning the aims, directions and ways of implementing promotion actions in 'the Barycz Valley' point out the necessary exploitation of place products, including the Milicz carp, at various stage and scope.
The Strategy of Development emphasises the diversity of place products in 'the Barycz Valley' (describing it as 'local services and products').This document presumes the creation of 'the Barycz Valley brand', covering the services and products offered at the territory of the eight communes and labelled with the certiÞcate 'the Barycz Valley Recommends' (pol."Dolina Baryczy poleca").Among those the carp is discerned.What is important, it points out the possible use of this traditional product in the communication with the surrounding only once.This is 'Carp Days' (pol."Dni Karpia") open-air event and it is treated as the means of public relations (Development Strategy, 2013, pp. 38, 59-60, 66).
The Promotion Plan, similarly to the Strategy of Development, emphasises the importance of carp farming as "a general motive and recognisable speciÞ c point in the landscape of the communes located nearby Barycz".It also presumes the cyclic use of local products and events.Among them the decisive role is played by 'Carp Days' which are the only proposal for the use of the Milicz carp in the communication of the eight communes with the surrounding (Promotion Plan, 2008, pp. 42, 44, 66, 70, 86) Marketing Strategy also emphasises the importance of regional products in the promotion of 'the Barycz Valley', including the carp.Similarly to the two other documents, it provides certain solutions for its use in the undertaken promotion actions in a very limited scope.It presumes the organisation of open-air events, including 'Carp Days' which are regarded as an event of the greatest importance (Marketing Strategy, 2008, pp. 43, 55, 63).Among open-air activities, the promotion of the carp in supermarkets is discerned (in cooperation with Stawy Milickie S.A.) 53 .
Table 5 presents the real (current) extent of the Milicz carp use in the communication of 'the Barycz Valley' with the surrounding area.This table presents the division into four components of the promotion-mix and relevant resources.It includes the promotion actions undertaken in 2015, so in the last year of exisitng of all three examed strategies.The assimilation of such time censorship is justiÞ ed that the last year is a kind of conclusion of the planned promotion actions.
Tab. 5.The Milicz carp in the promotion action of 'the Barycz Valley'.

Advertising
-promotion Þ lm -promotion materials, i.e. maps, guidebooks, folders, information materials, brochures, banners, posters, leaß ets -press advertisement Sales promotion competitions Personal selling knowledge and competences of ofÞ cials Public relations -events (open-air events) -websites -thematic and specialised publications -newsletters -social media (ofÞ cial proÞ les) -national and international fairs -publications, sponsored materials in the press and television with local and regional reach Source: the author's own compilation.
According to Table 5, the Milicz carp, treated as a traditional product, Þ ts the promotion actions of 'the Barycz Valley'.This is proved by the exploitation of the two components of promotion-mix, namely advertising and public relations.In the case of sales promotion and personal sales the number of actions is deÞnietly smaller.An example can be the organization of competition (Facebook 2015b).However, the analysis of the table content requires some restrictions.The table presents only those promotion actions which, Þ rst, result from the premises described in the previously mentioned strategic documents, second, result from the cooperation of the eight communes within the 'the Barycz Valley', third, correspond directly to the carp being a part of the promotion offer.
According to the analysis of advertising materials, the Milicz carp is an important element in the message addressed to the wide range of receivers.Both, the Þ lm (presented i.e. at ofÞ cial Carp Days website), and countless promotion materials, emphasise the values of this traditional product in various ways and scope.Especially while taking into account the materials which are elaborated according to the aims of Promotion Plan and Marketing Strategy.They include i.a.: the map 'On the way of the brand products and services of the Barycz Valley' (pol."Szlakiem markowych produktów i us ug Doliny Baryczy") and the folder ' The highest quality of the Barycz Valley' (pol."Najwy sza jako Doliny Baryczy").There is no lack of especially prepared key-rings, pens, leash, notebooks, handouts, etc.In the case of the press advertisement, the carp is used in order to promote the given open-air events organised by 'the Barycz Valley' (Facebook, 2015a).
As Table 5 presents, the mostly exploited promotion actions are public relations.According to the premises of all three strategic documents, several websites are functioning with success and open-air events are organised.Thematic and specialised publications also exist.In the case of the Þ rst promotion instrument, each website from overall six contains some basic information about the Milicz carp 54 .Namely, two of them are worth mentioning: the Þ rst website is dedicated to 'Carp Days' (Carp Days 2015) and second one is dedicated to the genuine brands and services in 'the Barycz Valley' (The Barycz Valley Recommends 2015).In the case of the Þ rst website, the Milicz carp appears as a graphic element, in the logo and promotion materials of the event.Moreover, it Þ ts the schedule of the activities comprising the event.The website presenting the products and services from the Barycz Valley emphasises, in contrast, not only the Milicz carp's qualities but also provides information concerning the place of Þ shing and consumption.In the case of open-air events, an important role is played by the stipulated above and organised annually 'Carp Days' (Carp Days 2015) 55 .The rank of this event is deÞ ned by the participation of all 'the Barycz Valley' communes in its organisation, and a part of prepared attractions is presented outside the region, i.e. in Wroc aw.Also exhibits and varnishing days are important, as they present the carp as a regional and traditional product.The example is i.e.Photographic Exhibition for the Barycz Valley (pol.Wernisa FotograÞ i Doliny Baryczy) (Carp Days, 2015a).Thematic and specialised publications, addressed generally to the external receiver, also underline the important values of the Milicz carp (The Barycz Valley Recommends, 2015a).
The only registered traditional product of the Þ shery of 'the Barycz Valley' is also the element of promotion in social media.Their importance is conditioned by the fact that they enable the free exchange of remarks and opinions and allow 54 The websites: http://nasza.barycz.pl/;http://dnikarpia.barycz.pl/;www.dbpoleca.barycz.pl;www.dzialaj.barycz.pl;www.aktywni.barycz.pl;www.barycz.pl.55 'Carp Days' are not the only event which promotes the Milicz carp.Other promoting events are: Run of the Carp, Carp Grilling Championship, Fish One's Fill -Þ sh supper, Fishery Competition, The Golden Carp -biking and picnic, Þ shery competition for "Golden Carp" trophy, Carp an Forest Festival "the Carp in Forest", "Big Fish"-family recreation event, Open Day at ponds, the Milicz Carp Day.However, 'the Barycz Valley' is not an organiser of above-mentioned events.That is why they cannot be the subject of the analysis.
one to shape the content in the form of various texts, pictures, messages (audio and video).Social media include i.e. social networks (Machura, 2012, p. 483).The example is the activity at ofÞ cial proÞ les at Facebook social media proÞ les: 'the Barycz Valley' (Facebook, 2015) and 'Carp Days' (Facebook 2015a).Public relation activities include also the administration of a newsletter (see Carp Days, 2015).
The case is similar to the cyclic participation in fairs where carp is the principal element in 'the Barycz Valley' promotion, i.e. at International Tourism Trade Show in Wroc aw (MTT Wroc aw) and at Tourism Trade Relaxation in Toru .They play the same role in the articles and sponsored materials which are present in press and television and inß uence the perception of 'the Barycz Valley' and its offer.However, in this case the domination is taken by a broadcasting via local and regional media, e.g.local TV stations (Carp Days, 2015b).

Summary
'The Barycz Valley' is a special form of local government promotion.It formulates the mechanism of multi-sector cooperation (social, economic and public bodies) and enables the communication with the surrounding area at the level not available for independently promoted communes.The mechanism, based on the achievement of goals provided in the three strategic documents, enables the active exploitation of regional products, including the Milicz carp.Especially as it is additionally authorised by the commune strategies of development.
As results from the Strategy of Development, Promotion Plan and Marketing Strategy, the Milicz carp is not a dominant element in the currently held promotion actions.Obviously, the documents assume the exploitation of this traditional product, but to a very limited extent.The example can be the organisation of open--air events, i.e. 'Carp Days'.The comparison of real (current) promotion actions in 'the Barycz Valley' with the premises from the analysed documents enables one to draw several basic conclusions.
First of all, the Milicz carp, against the goals in the given documents, plays a signiÞ cant role in the promotion of the cooperating communes.According to Table 5, the exploitation of this product in advertisement and public relations, both, is clearly visible.Due to the number of promotion actions (events, websites, thematic and specialised publications, social media, newsletters, participation in fairs, articles and sponsoring materials), public relation actions should be especially emphasised.Secondly, the organisation of open-air events, mainly 'Carp Days', is consistent with the strategic documents and is implemented in practical and operable manner.This event plays a very signiÞ cant role, as its preparation demands the operation of a dedicated website, elaboration of promotion materials and issuing the advertisement in press.Third, in the case of sales promotion and personal selling, which are important instruments of promotion according to the premises in strategic documents, the reference to the Milicz carp as a traditional product is missing (except for the personal competences of the ofÞ cials in the eight communes).The source for such state of affairs cannot be directly stipulated, and the activity of cooperating communes, or its lack, cannot be the source.On the other hand, the case of the carp used in unplanned manner can be provided, i.e. running the above mentioned Facebook proÞ les.
The Milicz carp, treated as a widely known traditional product, creates an opportunity for the promotion of the communes cooperating within 'the Barycz Valley'.Especially while taking into account all the jointly conducted actions.The compilation of the data from Table 4 and Table 5 illustrates, however, that the actions concerning the promotion of the Milicz carp do not accompany all the enterprises shaping the image of 'the Barycz Valley', which may be an impulse for the initiatives realised in the future.
Among them the Local Strategy of Development of the Barycz Valley 2009-2015, referred to as the Strategy of Development, (Local Strategy, 2009) plays the most signiÞ cant role.The two other documents, elaborated and enacted formerly in 2008, namely the Promotion Plan of Tourist Offer in the Barycz Valley for the years 2008-2015 (Promotion Plan, 2008) and Marketing Strategy of a Local Brand in the Barycz Valley for the years 2008-2015 (Marketing

of products
. 3. Strategic documents programming the process of the promotion of 'the Barycz Valley' communes.
Barycz Valley' according to strategic documents.