WHAT NATION BRANDING IS ALL ABOUT

A nation brand is a nation’s identity that has been proactively distilled, interpreted, internalized and projected for international recognition and to construct a favourable national image. A country brand strategy therefore is a plan for defining the most realistic, most competitive and most compelling strategic vision for the country.

Country or nation branding hinges on the recognition that in a globalized world, all nations need to compete with each other for a share of the world’s attention and wealth, and that country development has to do with competitive positioning, akin to consumer brands.

Country branding is not about spin, neither is it about propaganda. It is about proactive and conscious husbandry of a nation’s identity so as to enhance citizenship behaviours and nationhood internally, and to compete favourably on the global stage. It is about the recognition that image and reputation of a country as well as citizenship capital are critical to a nation’s strategic equity.

A nation brand is national identity made tangible, robust, communicable and above all useful. Unless the overall strategy rings true about its people, there is little chance that it will be believed or endorsed by the population, much more the rest of the world. The story told about a country must not only be credible, it must be more appealing, salient and differentiating than others.

As nations evolve, they create self-sustaining myths to build coherent identities. The notion that a country can be actively marketed to the rest of the world, for growth, for tourism, for trade and for positive image is not new. What is new is simply the word “brand”.

When the government, businesses, civil society and individuals of a country have a good, clear, believable and positive idea of what their country is, what it stands for and where it is going, and manage to coordinate their actions, investments, policies and communications of all aspects of national expressions so they prove and reinforce this idea, then they stand a better chance of building and maintaining a competitive identity both internally and externally – to the lasting benefit of exporters, importers, government, the culture sector, tourism, immigration, and pretty every aspect of international relations.

Every act of promotion, exchange or representation by government, civil society, business, and national sports needs to be seen as an opportunity to build a country's reputation. This means all stakeholders must be united by the nation’s brand vision and shared values to work together and align their behaviour to a common national strategy.

Today’s marketplace is radically different as a result of major, sometimes interlinking societal forces that have created new opportunities and challenges. Only the actors, whether they are countries, cities, regions, corporation, organisations, religions, charities, political parties or individuals, with ability to approach a wide and diverse marketplace with clear, credible, appealing, distinctive and thoroughly planned identity strategy can compete and win. Competing to win is about powerful and imaginative strategy, more a product of intellectual than financial capital. For nations, competing to win is about acquiring culturally grounded differentiation and its coherent projection to targeted critical stakeholders. Therefore, innovative and entrepreneurial values, and behaviors must be at the heart of a branding strategy.

Country branding involves the crafting of the national identity and competitive strategy with which the nation can compete globally to win. Country branding also involves national mobilization and a call on everyone in the country to enact the country brand values. Country branding is also about harmonization of channels of national expressions as varied as acts and policies of government, values and behaviors of the citizenry, education, culture, sports, public health, taxation, public diplomacy, build and feel of settlements, export and investment promotion, and infrastructure development.
 

Country branding involves identifying and leveraging national symbolic events, people and places to communicate the country’s identity and national orientation, and to stimulate nation self-consciousness. Another role implicit in country branding is providing clear, believable and positive communication of what the country really is, what it stands for and where it is going. Also, country branding involves creating more harmony and coordination among stakeholders to tell the same powerful, believable and interesting story about their country.

Internally, country branding works to stimulating relevant and critical innovations among stakeholders around the national competitive strategy, and to unite the nation under a common vision and shared values, nourishing confidence, pride, harmony, ambition and national resolve, to enhance nationhood and citizenship.

Country branding is important because effective branding can generate competitive advantage and several opportunities for a country, such as:

1. Clearer domestic agreement on national identity and development goals.
2. A better possibility of common vision and shared values.
3. A climate where innovation is prized and practiced.
4. More effective investment promotion, currency stability.
5. More effective tourism and business travel promotion.
6. A healthier country of origin effect for exports brands.
7. Greater profile in the international media.
8. More productive cultural relations with other countries.
9. Better promotion of citizenship and nation building.
10. Better prospects for fighting the formation of negative perceptions.
11. Distance nation from residual imagery formed through past uneasy experiences and ineffective country communication.

Country branding therefore attracts consumers and influences the formation of favourable perception; it transfers the equity gained to other objects emanating from that country and; it creates order in the country’s acts of government and behaviours of its citizens.