Before we get into any discussion of nation branding, we'd like to first start out with an explanation of exactly what we mean by the term. Drawing from the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) article cited in our first post: "Very simply, [nation branding] means applying corporate branding techniques to countries." For example: To what extent does an internationally popular president help attract foreign investment? What about a nationally-owned radio station?
For those of you familiar with public diplomacy, you may be asking yourself how nation branding differs from this traditional practice undertaken by nations to market themselves. According to CFR, they are compliments to each other. "...nations have become far more cognizant of the value of their brand as an asset. Understanding valuation helps countries better understand the investments they make in their image." They also note that nation branding brings "a focus on the behavioral aspects of managing a nation’s image. ...officials from government, nonprofits, and the business world can better collaborate to make sure the messages a country is putting out represent what they view as “the fundamental common purpose” of their country."
For those of you familiar with public diplomacy, you may be asking yourself how nation branding differs from this traditional practice undertaken by nations to market themselves. According to CFR, they are compliments to each other. "...nations have become far more cognizant of the value of their brand as an asset. Understanding valuation helps countries better understand the investments they make in their image." They also note that nation branding brings "a focus on the behavioral aspects of managing a nation’s image. ...officials from government, nonprofits, and the business world can better collaborate to make sure the messages a country is putting out represent what they view as “the fundamental common purpose” of their country."
In short, the focus of public diplomacy has historically been on selling foreign policies abroad with little thought given to the quantitative effects that might come from these actions. Nation branding fills this gap, providing the data on these effects and assessing the contributions made by governments as well as nonprofits and private partners to a national brand.
For a real world example of nation branding, check out the commercial for Lithuania below!
What do you think America's brand image is? Who has contributed to the creation of this image?
I think one of America's brand image is for instance Commerce, which consists of trade, technology, internet, fashion, finance, Wall Street, and Foreign Policy (Politics). The most important part of America's brand image is, being the Super Power and having the strongest technology and military power in the world. Mostly, the politicians contribute to the creation of America's brand image. During the Clinton administration the American economy was booming and foreign investments were on the rise. I do not know if this had anything to do with president Clinton or not. After President Bush was elected, he has been not welcomed by the international community and pretty much every foreign country Bush visited, he faced protests by the country's citizens. To conclude, only a well perceived and liked president contributes to the creation of brand image.
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