Nation branding

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Nation Branding is a field of theory and practice which aims to measure, build and manage the reputation of countries (closely related to place banding). It applies some approaches from commercial brand management practice to countries, in an effort to build, change, or protect their international reputations. It is based on the observation that the "brand images" of countries are just as important to their success in the global marketplace as those of products and services.

Perhaps the inventor of Nation Branding in its modern form would be Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew. Not only did he define what Singapore was and agressively promoted it worldwide but he introduced a set of values and behaviours for Singapore's citizens and ensured they were adhered to - using advertising to help educate the population.

Simon Anholt is normally credited as a pioneer in the field; other practitioners include Wally Olins, Dr Nikolaus Eberl, Jose Filipe Torres from Bloom Consulting, Sicco van Gelder and Malcolm Allan from Placebrands and numerous branding and public affairs agencies. There is one professional/academic journal in the field, Place Branding, published by Palgrave Macmillan.

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, 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.

Graham Thomas did much work promoting Singapore when he was CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi in the mid 1990s. He says 'Lee should be lauded as a leading practitioner in this field. He created the concept of Singapore and then pursued it remorselessly. And the Government ensured that everything joined-up and that a consistent message was promoted - whether through tourism, the airline, economic opportunities and so on. And then I would add Ian Batey to that list as he created the 'Singapore Girl' back in the 1970s and that had huge ramifications beyond just the airline. He was a key advisor to Lee. In fact, the best case-history of this idea now called Nation Branding would be Singapore.'

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