South Africa was named Africa’s most valuable nation brand last Wednesday (May 25th, 2011) at the announcement of the fourth BrandFinance Global Nation Brands League. The BrandFinance Global Nation Brands League’s valuation is conducted every year by Brand Finance, an independent brand valuation consultancy. Now in their fourth year, the league covers a global sample…
We continue to look North. Some weeks ago we imagined how a country sitting around the Arctic Sea would be like if ruled by Tyler Brûlé (the Nippon-Nordic Confederation) and now we look at a region which could enter the confederation thanks to its Arctic credentials. In truth, we don’t normally look at anything below…
In today’s increasingly global marketplace, where plethora of choice and successful mass production have resulted in thousands of advertising messages bombarding us every day, it is interesting to note the rise of the brand. As a measure of quality, consistency and trust in a company’s products and services, the brand has taken centre stage in…
Dorie Clark, CEO of Clark Strategic Communications, is a marketing and communications consultant. She’s written a small piece on why Costa Rica is a winning brand from the touristic point of view: I recently returned from a trip to Costa Rica — and along the way, discovered that almost everyone I know has either traveled…
As we reported in September this year, the Brand Africa forum was celebrated in Johannesburg, South Africa, as a summit with nation branding experts and country brand managers from a number of African nations. The forum’s objective was to explore ways so that Africa as a continent and African countries can improve their image and…
It’s November and it’s time for the annual Country Brand Index to be released, as we announced on our Early Results from the 2010 Country Brand Index post. This index is a yearly study made by FutureBrand, a global brand consulting firm, and is based upon a global quantitative research study with 3,400 international business…
Canada should redirect attention from the beauty of its nature to the beauty of its Six Cs – read on to find out what they are. With the G8 and G20 meetings about to begin, the attention of the international media will inevitably, if fleetingly, focus on Canada. What kind of impression might be conveyed? Which of…
The Ukranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has launched a new nation branding identity for Ukraine. The accompanying website, BrandUkraine.org, features the main elements of the new Ukranian brand identity, from logos to images, and from color palettes to ornamental shapes. The website, however, has been criticized in Ukraine because of its non-obvious navigation pattern and…
An artist by the name of Axel Brechensbauer has drawn a proposal of a monument to be installed in the peak of a Swiss mountain as a symbol of Switzerland (but ont only). The artists himself explains, More than being the Paris tower of Switzerland, this monument will also work as a temple of the sun….
This week I wrote about 12 recipes for country branding – that is 12 ways to ‘brand’ your country and take the appropriate measures to prompt your country’s image to move towards the desired direction. But, how do you know that your country needs some country branding? You aren’t sure about it? Maybe it’s hard…
On Wednesday we informed about the new ‘Brand Australia’ nation branding concept. As part of the initiative, a new logo has been introduced to brand all things the country wants to tag as ‘Australian’ to convey the country’s new image tactics. The logo, as we explained, symbolises the country’s growth and expansion. “It embraces the…
Ireland is on the spotlight lately from a nation branding perspective, and not only because of its beautiful green fields and good beer. The country has gone financial turbulences in the last months, and the country is in a process of re-thinking itself. This is a process other countries like Greece, Iceland and Dubai, which…
