How to Brand a Creative Space: Guest lecture at the Master's Programme "Arts and Culture Management"

On October 4, 2025, Daria Kotova, Executive Director of the “Yasnaya Polyana” Space, gave a guest lecture as a part of the course "Creative Place Branding”. Daria described the brand concept, the choice of the name for the space, the target audience of the brand, and the specifics of coworking space promotion in the St. Petersburg market. 

According to Daria, "Yasnaya Polyana" was created as the largest business and art space for entrepreneurs in St. Petersburg. Special attention was paid to the unique design of the space, which was done in an author's style representing works of contemporary artists and sculptors."

The strong competition among creative spaces in the St. Petersburg market requires "Yasnaya Polyana" to position itself clearly in order to achieve competitive advantages. One of the directions of such positioning is to create a comfortable environment for residents, not only for work, but also for leisure, with a large number of educational, entertaining, and sports events, as well as to form a brand community.

The lecture aroused great interest among students. According to Maria Derkacheva, a 2nd-year student of the Master's Programme "Arts and Culture Management", "the lecture was really informative and interesting. It was fascinating to hear about the development concept and the internal structure of such a large and diverse space. It was especially valuable to learn how “Yasnaya Polyana” competes with other coworking spaces, what helps it retain loyal residents and attract new audiences."

Ekaterina Shekova, Associate Professor of the Management Department and the author of the "Creative Place Branding" course

"The guest lectures provide students with opportunities not only to learn about the specifics of branding by gaining valuable insights from the practitioners and asking them questions, but also to complete course assignments based on creative spaces. One of such assignments is to study the perception of the creative space brand by the target audience using the Jennifer Aaker’s brand personality assessment methodology."

In conclusion, Daria answered students’ questions and expressed interest in further collaboration with the Master's Programme "Arts and Culture Management", particularly in student projects development on the basis of “Yasnaya Polyana”.