Image of the municipal authority as a competitive advantage

The feasibility, technologies and practices of image formation of the municipal authorities in the Russian Federation is analyzed in the article. The author discusses the main problems of municipal authorities positioning. The effectiveness of municipal government clearly depends on financial self-sufficiency of territories. In the situation when the municipal authorities are trying to increase the attractiveness and the level of confidence of voters and to ensure the loyalty of the regional center, the branding strategy can be an effective instrument.