After publishing the Branding Slovenia story in early November 2009, I got an interesting response from an accredited source, Ms. Maja Konecnik Ruzzier, Assistant Professor of the Faculty of Economics at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Ms. Konecnik has been involved in Slovenia’s national re-branding from the core, so her vision on the issue is…
As everybody involved in the nation branding field is well aware of, nation brands, or the image of a nation, rather than built is prompted (you don’t build it, as it exists in the minds of people only, but you prompt that mental image to change through strategically-aligned actions) but don’t get misleaded by this…
Switzerland is widely admired for its system of government, but is not perceived as having offered much to the world in terms of culture.? These were two of the findings of last year’s edition of the Nation Brands Index, which put Switzerland in eighth position overall – three places lower than in the same study…
Via Jack Yan’s blog it comes out that there is a new book on nation branding out there. Nation Branding: Concepts and Country Perspectives, edited by Nishit Kumar and Anil Varma and published by ICFAI Press is, according to Mr. Yan, a very complete book giving a snapshot of the discipline’s practice in the late 2000s….
Malaysia is very well known for its tagline “Malaysia – Truly Asia”, but the Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak wants to push things forward. Malaysian political marketing blogger Radzi comments on the challenges being faced by Mr. Razak in building the Malaysia’s nation brand. Every nation is a brand. Think of the associations that France,…
New Zealand is one of the world’s most acclaimed nation brands. Most people across the world agree in the ideas associated with New Zealand: wonderful scenery, desirable remoteness (say escape) and friendly locals. The country has positioned itself very succesfully over the years, with the help of stunning videos like this one (oldie, yet nice…
With Arab and foreign visitors swarming Lebanon this summer, from the malls in Achrafieh, Dbayeh, Dora and Verdun to the clubs and restaurants in Gemmayze and downtown, and the mountain enclaves from Broumana to Bhamdoun, it is obvious to the naked eye that Lebanon is more than ever a prime vacation destination. However, this summer…
Brand Africa continues to be a dismal one. Images of poverty and conflict continue to dominate the perceptions of people around the world, particularly in the West. Africa is still seen as a charity case waiting for salvation from outside the continent. This negative view persists despite the enormous progress the continent has made over…
Publishing house Henry Stewart has released a very interesting presentation by nation branding expert Keith Dinnie. As most people into the field know, Mr. Dinnie is Associate Professor of Business at Temple University, Japan, and is the author of the world’s first academic textbook on nation branding, Nation Branding – Concepts, Issues, Practice. In this spoken…
Part of Sweden’s celebrated image can be credited to the fact that the country has a unified brand platform, the result of incorporating the Swedish Institute, VisitSweden, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Invest in Sweden Agency and the Trade Council into the Council for the Promotion of Sweden, which generated a common brand platform for most of…
A few days ago, the Chinatravelbranding blog interviewed Tim Riches, CEO Singapore, Growth Officer Asia Pacific at FutureBrand Australia. As all of you know, FutureBrand is the branding firm behind the highly popular Country Brand Index 2009, which was released earlier this month. In the interview, Riches discussed about the Country Brand Index’s background and methodology,…
A country’s reputation is intrinsically linked to its economic fortunes and international standing. A proper nation brand image can attract people and money through foreign investment, trade, tourism and immigration, as well as provide ‘soft power’ in the shape of political, diplomatic and cultural leverage. In order to revive flagging or damaged images, countries are…
