This article investigates how to enhance the agency of regional actors in branding the 'Nordic Battery Belt' (NBB), a region witnessing the emergence of the battery industry as a new green path. Branding will attract skilled workers, investment, markets, and raise public awareness of the industry's decarbonization contribution. While national battery strategies exist, tools to enhance strategic branding are underexplored. The article develops a toolkit based on directed content analysis, incorporating branding theory's pyramidic components: attention, awareness, associations, attitudes, and relationships. A conceptual framework, using a multidisciplinary approach, elaborates on the toolkit's importance for enhancing actors' agency in regional branding.

Ejike Okonkwo