This paper aims to study the practice of city branding in small cities and towns, and to identify the characteristics of this process through an expert survey of the heads of city administrations. For this purpose, the expert survey was conducted among the heads of small cities and towns and their deputies in charge of city development issues. The sample consisted of one representative from 33 small cities and towns in Russia. The survey used a questionnaire characterizing city branding objectives, stakeholders involved, decision-making, brand promotion measures, resources and effects. The questionnaire was developed based on the analysis of scientific and practical literature on city branding.

As a result, it was revealed that, with some exceptions, branding practice in the studied cities is weakly related to the objectives of city development and has a short-term orientation. The administrations have a tendency to solve branding problems relying solely on their own resources, which leads to city branding resource constraints. These findings contribute to the city branding research by providing data on the implementation of branding practices in small cities and towns. The results also expand the practice of using municipal officials’ expertise in the city branding studies by attracting expert officials to analyse the management practice of city branding process.