Countries can’t pretend to be everything to everybody. Countries are not corporations but like corporations, countries must find their own personality and define the traits of its character, if they want to streamline their identity and reinforce their (nation) brand.
One example of well-characterized country is Switzerland. Besides all the stereotypes about the country like mountains, [...]
The nation brand character: the case of Switzerland
Nation brands and national brands: making the most of them
One of the basic tenets of nation branding is that there often exists an intimal relationship between a nation brand and national brands, that is, companies hailing from that particular nation.
This relationship allows a usual nation branding tactic, which basically consists in exploiting this relationship for the benefit of either the nation brand or the [...]
The brand symbiosis of Sweden and IKEA
Countries and corporate brands are often interlinked. Commercial brands often feed country brands, and vice-versa: corporate brands are sometimes ambassadors of their country of origin and, at the same time, they get further traction by appealing to their country of origin.
Corporate brands whose corporate values match those of their country of origin include Apple and [...]
How a nation brand can profit off the country’s brands: an exercise
As everybody involved in the nation branding industry is well aware of, great brands are the best ambassadors of a country. Think of what BMW says about Germany, or IKEA about Sweden, or Armani about Italy. Countries that sport a famous brand can reap gigantic benefits off this sort of brands. But, what happens to [...]
