Nation branding

Nation branding is a field of theory and practice which aims to measure, build and manage the reputation of countries (closely related to place branding). Some approaches applied, such as an increasing importance on the symbolic value of products, have led countries to emphasise their distinctive characteristics. The branding and image of a nation-state "and the successful transference of this image to its exports - is just as important as what they actually produce and sell." This is also referred to as country-of-origin effect.

Nation branding in practice

Nation branding appears to be practised by many states, including Canada, the United States, France, United Kingdom (where it is officially referred to as public diplomacy), Japan, China, South Korea, Singapore, South Africa, New Zealand, Israel and most Western European countries. An early example of this was the Cool Britannia approach of the early days of the New Labour government (following the Britain (TM) pamphlet by Demos's Mark Leonard), though this has since been replaced by a more credible Public Diplomacy Board. There is increasing interest in the concept from poorer states on the grounds that an enhanced image might create more favorable conditions for foreign direct investment, tourism, trade and even political relations with other states. Developing nations such as Tanzania and Colombia are creating smaller nation branding programs aimed at increased overall image and with the case of Colombia, changing international perception. Programs led by Richard H. Griffiths have been used in Tanzania, Colombia, Guatemala and the US Department of State.

Nation branding in academia

Nation Branding can be approached in academics as a field in social sciences, political sciences, humanities, communication, marketing and international relations. Scholars such as Evan H. Potter at the University of Ottawa have conceptualized nation brands as a form of national soft power. All efforts by government (at any level) to support the nation brand - either directly or indirectly - becomes public diplomacy.

Critics

Anti-globalisation proponents often claim that globalisation diminishes and threatens local diversity, but there is evidence that in order to compete against the backdrop of global cultural homogeneity, nations strive to accentuate and promote the distinctiveness of local characteristics and competitive advantages.

Nation brands index

The concept of measuring global perceptions of countries across several dimensions (culture, governance, people, exports, tourism, investment and immigration) was developed by Simon Anholt. His original survey, the Anholt Nation Brands Index, was launched in 2005 and fielded four times a year.

Rank	Country NBI 2011	Rank NBI 2010
1	United States
2	Germany
3	United Kingdom
4	France
5	Japan
6	Canada
7	Italy
8	Australia
9	Switzerland
10	Sweden

Rank	Cult./her. Brand 2008	Score
1	France	71.4
2	Italy	70.9
3	United Kingdom	69.0
4	Germany
5	United States
6	Spain
7	Russia
8	Japan
9	PR China
10	Brazil
11	Australia
12	Canada
13	Sweden
14	Netherlands
15	Austria

Rank	People Brand 2008	Score
1	Canada	70.1
2	Australia	68.9
3	Italy	67.7
4	Sweden
5	Switzerland
6	United Kingdom
7	Germany
8	Japan
9	Spain
10	New Zealand
11	France
12	Netherlands
13	United States
14	Norway
-	Scotland

Rank	Export Brand 2008	Score
1	Japan	77.0
2	United States	74.8
3	Germany	72.7
4	United Kingdom
5	France
6	Canada
7	Switzerland
8	Sweden
9	Italy
10	Australia
11	Netherlands
12	Spain
13	Norway
14	Denmark
15	Finland

Rank	Tourism Brand 2008	Score
1	Italy	77.2
2	France	75.9
3	Spain	73.3
4	United Kingdom
5	Australia
6	United States
7	Canada
8	Japan
8	Switzerland
10	Germany
10	Egypt
-	Scotland
13	Brazil
14	Sweden
15	Austria

Rank	Governance Brand 2008	Score
1	Switzerland	67.3
2	Canada	67.2
3	Sweden	66.5
4	Germany
5	Australia
6	Norway
7	Netherlands
7	Denmark
9	United Kingdom
10	France
11	Finland
12	New Zealand
13	Austria
14	Chile
15	Belgium

Rank	Immi./ Inv. Brand 2008	Score
1	Canada	62.3
2	United Kingdom	62.1
2	United States	62.1
4	Switzerland
5	Germany
6	France
7	Australia
8	Sweden
9	Italy
10	Japan
11	Netherlands
12	Spain
13	Denmark
14	Norway
15	New Zealand

Further reading

• Chan, Rachel (20 April 2011) Review of Brand Singapore by Koh Buck Song at University of Southern California Center on public diplomacy at the Annenberg School.
• Townsend, Jake (August 8, 2011) "Branding Peace: Norway's Identity Put to the Test" Huffington Post.
• Olins, Wally (2002) "Branding the nation – the historical context", Journal of Brand Management 9(4-5).
• Fan, Y. (2006) "Nation branding: what is being branded?" Journal of Vacation Marketing 12(1): 5-14.
• Council on Foreign Relations (November 9, 2007) Backgrounder on Nation Branding.
• Entry on Nation Branding, Center for Media & Democracy's Sourcewatch
• Meike Eitel, Marie Spiekermann (2005) Nation Branding : San Marino developing into a brand
• Risen, Clay (March 13, 2005) article, Boston Globe.
• Weiner, Eric (January 11, 2006) Feature of National Public Radio's "Day to Day",
• Gubel, Peter (May 29, 2005) article in Time Magazine.
• Clay Risen (Dec 11, 2005) "Branding Nations", New York Times.
• Andrew Stevens (8 June 2011) "The Singapore brand offers a thoroughly modern city" City Mayors Foundation.
• Rendon, Jim (November 23, 2003) "When Nations Need a Little Marketing", New York Times.
• Anholt, Simon (2003) Brand New Justice: the upside of global branding, Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford.
• Johansson, Johny K. (2004) In Your Face: How American Marketing Fuels Anti-Americanism, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Financial Times/Prentice-Hall.
• Kotler, Philip; Jatusripitak, Somkid; Maesincee, Suvit (1997) The Marketing of Nations: A Strategic Approach To Building National Wealth, The Free Press, New York.
• Melerowicz, Mariana (2009) National Branding in Poland in: AICELS Law Review - Journal on Central European Law. No.1, Rincon: The American Institute for Central European Legal Studies (AICELS).
• Potter, Evan (2009) Branding Canada: Projecting Canada's Soft Power through Public Diplomacy Montreal/Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press.
• True, Jacqui (2006) "Globalisation and Identity", in Raymond Miller (ed.) New Zealand Government and Politics, Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

External links

• Corporate Sector Role in Place Branding
• USC Public Diplomacy
• Branding Greece: Greece as a Brand, the non-governmental Greek project for national branding