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."

Simon Anholt is credited as a pioneer in the field. He regularly conducts two global surveys known as the Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index and Anholt-GfK Roper City Brands Index. There is one professional/academic journal in the field, Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, published by Palgrave Macmillan and edited by Simon Anholt.

Simon Anholt also conducts the Nation Branding Masterclass, a series of one-day events designed to support the more effective stewardship of the national identity. Combining his own expertise with the expertise of regional public leaders and key national stakeholders, each event is designed to further the understanding of best practice in national branding techniques, helping countries to understand and develop their competitive identities within a rapidly changing global marketplace. Delegates will learn how nations are currently perceived and how reputations can be changed for the better. They will leave the Masterclass with a better understanding of how a comprehensive national strategy can benefit domestic industries and exports as well as improve inward investment and the general health of the economy.

Nation branding appears to be practised by many states, including the United States and United Kingdom (where it is officially referred to as Public Diplomacy), South Africa, Canada, New Zealand, and most Western European countries. 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.

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.

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 homogenity, nations strive to accentuate and promote the distinctiveness of local characteristics and competitive advantages.

Nation Brands Index

Rank	Country (NBI 2008)	Score
1	Germany	67.4
2	France	67.3
3	United Kingdom	66.8
4	Canada	66.3
5	Japan	66.1
6	Italy	65.9
7	United States	65.5
8	Switzerland	64.9
9	Australia	64.6
10	Sweden	64.1
11	Spain	63.3
12	Netherlands	61.6
13	Norway	60.6
13	Austria	60.6
15	Denmark	60.3
16	Scotland	60.2
17	New Zealand	60.1
18	Finland	59.2
19	Ireland	58.7
20	Belgium	58.1
21	Brazil	56.6
22	Russia	55.7
23	Iceland	55.0
24	Singapore	53.7
24	Argentina	53.7
26	Mexico	53.2
27	India	52.9
28	Hungary	52.8
28	PR China	52.8
30	Poland	52.7
31	Czech Republic	52.5
31	Egypt	52.5
33	South Korea	51.6
34	Thailand	50.7
35	Taiwan	50.6
36	Turkey	50.5
37	South Africa	49.6
38	Chile	49.4
38	Malaysia	49.4
40	Peru	49.1
41	Romania	48.9
42	Lithuania	48.0
43	Indonesia	47.7
44	Estonia	47.6
44	UA Emirates	47.6
46	Cuba	46.6
46	Ecuador	46.6
48	Saudi Arabia	45.5
48	Nigeria	40.9
50	Iran	38.0

The concept of measuring the global perception of a country in several spheres has been developed by Simon Anholt. A subsequent ranking of nations following his surveys was first released in 2005 known as the Anholt Nation Brands Index and was initially published four times a year.

Since 2008 research activities from GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media and Simon Anholt are joined and resulted in an expanded version of the index which is since then known as the Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index (NBI).

Published on an annual basis, 20,157 interviews have been conducted with approximately 1,000 interviews per country for the 2008 Index to determine how countries are perceived by others. People over the age of seventeen have been interviewed in twenty core countries such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Russia, Poland, Turkey, Japan, China, India, South Korea, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, South Africa. The criteria underlying the NBI ranking are:

People: Measures the population's reputation for competence, education, openness and friendliness and other qualities, as well as perceived levels of potential hostility and discrimination.

Governance: Measures public opinion regarding the level of national government competency and fairness and describes individuals' beliefs about each country's government, as well as its perceived commitment to global issues such as democracy, justice, poverty and the environment.

Exports: Determines the public's image of products and services from each country and the extent to which consumers proactively seek or avoid products from each country-of-origin.

Tourism: Captures the level of interest in visiting a country and the draw of natural and man-made tourist attractions.

Culture & Heritage: Reveals global perceptions of each nation's heritage and appreciation for its contemporary culture, including film, music, art, sport and literature.

Investment & Immigration Determines the power to attract people to live, work or study in each country and reveals how people perceive a country's economic and social situation.

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	South Korea
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
-	Scotland
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

• Olins, Wally. 2002. Branding the nation – the historical context. In Journal of Brand Management, 9(4-5).
• Fan, Y. 2006. “Nation branding: what is being branded?” Journal of Vacation Marketing, 12:1, 5-14, available at http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/1286
• Backgrounder on Nation Branding from Council on Foreign Relations, November 9, 2007
• Entry on Nation Branding from Center for Media & Democracy's Sourcewatch
• Nation Branding : San Marino developing into a brand by Meike Eitel, Marie Spiekermann, 2005
• Boston Globe article By Clay Risen, March 13, 2005
• Feature by Eric Weiner on National Public Radio's "Day to Day", January 11, 2006
• Time Magazine article by Peter Gumbel, May 29 2005
• Article in New York Times entitled "Branding Nations" by Clay Risen, Dec 11 2005
• Author unknown: "National Branding - The new sort of beauty contest." The Economist, Nov 11th 2006
• Rendon, Jim: “When Nations Need a Little Marketing.” New York Times, November 23, 2003.
• Anholt, Simon. Brand New Justice: the upside of global branding. Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, 2003.
• Anholt, Simon with Jeremy Hildreth, Brand America: The Mother of All Brands. London: Cyan Books, 2004.
• Johansson, Johny K. In Your Face: How American Marketing Fuels Anti-Americanism. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Financial Times/Prentice-Hall, 2004.
• Kotler, Philip; Jatusripitak, Somkid; Maesincee, Suvit: The Marketing of Nations. A Strategic Approach To Building National Wealth. The Free Press, New York, 1997.
• Melerowicz, Marianna. 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), 2009.
• 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

• Emory Brand Institute at Emory University
• Corporate Sector Role in Place Branding
• How Germany won the World Cup of Nation Branding Analysis of Germany's Nation Branding Program at the FIFA World Cup 2006
• USC Public Diplomacy
• Anholt Nation Brands Index
• Branding Greece: Greece as a Brand, the non-governmental Greek project for national branding
• Nation-Branding.info, portal with nation branding news and articles
• Association for Place Branding and Public Diplomacy website