Representation of Regional Brand and Image in the Messages from the Head of the Republic of Mordovia (1996–2024)

Introduction. After the country's transition from a socialist to a market development model, Russian regions found themselves amid fierce competition for federal resources, outward investment, human resources potential. Therefore, an integral part of the activities of regional administrations has become the creation of an attractive image of the territory, the formation of its new strengths. The purpose of the study is to identify the directions, structure and results of the managerial work of the executive power of Mordovia to create its image and branding, reflected in the main political document of the region, the message from the Head of the Republic of Mordovia. Materials and Methods.The study presents an analysis of the texts of the messages from the Head of the Republic of Mordovia to the State Assembly of the Republic of Mordovia from 1996 to 2024 for the use of the concepts of "brand" and "image". General scientific methods are used, such as systemic, comparative-historical, structural-functional. The analytical and quantitative characteristics of the studied texts were revealed using the content analysis method. Results. In the text of the messages from the Head of Mordovia, the targeted steps of the government of Mordovia to create an image of a successful region were identified and then analyzed. The main markers of the image of Mordovia were economic and political stability, the struggle for leadership in the Finno-Ugric world, sports development and a healthy lifestyle culture, and the activity of the NPO sphere. The stages in the image work were identified. The connection between adjustments to various aspects of the image and the change of the highest official of the Republic of Mordovia was revealed. The value of the message from the Head of the Republic of Mordovia as an object of research of the government strategy for the development of the region and the effectiveness of its implementation was confirmed. Discussion and Conclusion. The problem of an attractive image of the region was posed from the first document in 1996 and went through stages from identifying key growth points, stabilizing the directions of maintaining the regional image to the regression of the topic and moving to support the creation of local brands. The work contributes to the scientific development of the topic of the image of Mordovia. The study can be continued in the direction of studying government bodies as the main subject in the sphere of forming the image of the territory. The materials of the article may be useful to those interested in the history of the region, researchers of the topics of image and branding, and employees of government bodies.