Garut place branding strategy: Elevating local cultural values amidst the dominance of the "Kota Dodol" image

Abstract

This study examines Garut Regency's shifting identity, from historically noble nicknames like "Swiss van Java" and "Kota Intan" to the commercially driven "Kota Dodol." This condition signifies the dominance of the capitalist market, which risks commodifying Garut’s cultural diversity, local wisdom, and natural wealth into a single commercial narrative. The research examines how place branding can elevate authentic cultural values amid the hegemony of the "Kota Dodol" image. Using Michel Foucault's critical framework on Power/Knowledge relations and the Regime of Truth, alongside Anholt’s Place Branding Hexagon, this study uses a qualitative interpretive case study design. Primary data were collected from FGDs with traditional and cultural stakeholders, supported by secondary data including digital media analysis and literature studies. The findings reveal that the local government's collaboration with corporate entities to establish the commercial welcome monument serves as an apparatus of market hegemony that marginalizes alternative cultures. Furthermore, Foucault's lens highlights the need to deconstruct the dominant colonial myth about the origin of the name Garut ("kakarut"), which local traditional councils strongly resist. Through Anholt's framework, digital data confirms a brand credibility gap. The public heavily associates Garut with the commercial dodol industry and nature tourism, while the idealized "Kota Intan" identity struggles with poor physical realities. The study concludes that before repositioning "Kota Intan" as a high-value umbrella brand, local stakeholders (Penta-helix) must collaboratively fix physical prerequisites and internal governance to ensure that branding reflects true historical and cultural preservation.