Requirements for rural tourism branding: A case study in Trenggalek

City branding is a prominent subject in city development for tourism. However, the number of studies that focus on city branding process for rural areas is still limited. In this paper, we demonstrate the city branding process of Trenggalek and compare the process and results with those of major city branding. This study employed content analysis to investigate key icons of Trenggalek city branding using an in-depth interview as a primary research instrument to collect data from Trenggalek stakeholders, followed by a focus group discussion and a survey using a structured questionnaire addressed to Trenggalek citizens. The results showed that the city components used in branding comprised beach, mountain, and Turonggo Yakso. This research results confirm the outcomes of previous research that for small cities, icons, in most cases, will consist of related historical or cultural themes. City branding process for rural areas has been proven to be much simpler than that for major cities.