摘要：The article examines the relationship between the branding of the territory in the newly united territorial communities (hereinafter UTC) and the formation of the local identity of the UTC as a factor of its competitiveness. The definition of the concepts “brand” and “branding”, which are offered by domestic and foreign scientific schools, is given. It has been proved that branding of the UTC territory is a kind of strategy aimed at improving the image of an administrative-territorial unit in order to attract investors, tourists, businessmen. The functions of the brand of the UTC territory concerning the user (identification, personalization, guarantee, simplification of the solution and satisfaction) are highlighted and it is indicated that the effective promotion of the brand depends on the investments made in its initial promotion, first of all, in informative advertising. It has been proved that local identity, as a place of residence, a territory that has certain differences, characteristics, and becomes a brand, and branding is a mechanism aimed at uniting local communities living on the territory of the UTC, forming an idea of the own identity of this territory. In the article, the brands of individual territories of communities are defined as local brands that characterize the mentality of the local population, its proximity to cultural and historical traditions, which is due to natural-geographical, economic, historical and socio-cultural factors. The emphasis is made on the use of the logo and other visual attributes of the community brand to strengthen local identity, that is, the self-identification of individuals with the local community, based on the cultural and psychological unity of the population. The brand of the UTC territory is a tool for implementing the development strategy of society, since it accumulates the interests of its population, investors, business, government, and, thus, acts as a factor of competitiveness.
