Ethos Perspectives
Nation Branding
Introduction
Although nations have always existed as brands, recently there
has been an explosion in "nation-branding" —
coordinated government efforts to manage a country's image,
whether to improve tourism, investment or even foreign relations.
New Zealand, Spain and Ireland are leading examples of the
countries which have rebranded themselves successfully, partly
by using techniques which major corporations have long employed.
However, branding a nation or a city is
a far more complex task than selling detergent. One can argue
that it requires more complex trade-offs and co-ordination
than branding work for a product in the private sector. For
example, no country begins with a clean slate: Each has to
contend with its history and with perceptions already in existence.
Nation branding also involves many, often unrelated and conflicting
dimensions ranging from foreign policy to sports and the arts.
It addresses multiple, diverse target audiences; and involves
politics.
This issue explores some of the different
types of branding — country, nation and destination
branding — that are relevant to Singapore.
Reference 1: Introduction. Destination
Branding: Creating the Unique Destination Proposition by Nigel
Morgan et al
The key argument of this collection of essays is that "places
offer the greatest untapped branding opportunities."
Destination brands are beginning to reach beyond the tourism
industry with countries like Singapore and New Zealand seeking
to position themselves as holistic place brands. Key issues
that successful destination branding must address are: the
role of politics in crafting brands; the need for a long-term
commitment to developing the brand; the need for ongoing and
comprehensive market research in creating brands (Anholt notes
that above all, it requires a sympathetic understanding of
the consumers’ mindspace); the need for partnerships
among stakeholders; and the value of brand champions.
Even successful nation brands must evolve
and the most successful do so while remaining true to their
brand’s essence. For instance, Spain and Singapore have
woven new attributes into their original brand personalities.
A new theme that has emerged since the 9/11 attacks is the
importance of public and media relations, including crisis
communications and specially designed PR to maximise the value
of special events such as the Olympic Games.
Morgan, Nigel, Pritchard, Annette and Pride
Roger. Introduction. Destination Branding: Creating the Unique
Destination Proposition (Second Edition) (Oxford: Elsevier
Butterworth-Heinemann: 2004).
http://books.elsevier.com/uk/hospitality/uk/subindex.asp?isbn=0750659696&
country=United+Kingdom&community=hospitality&ref=&mscssid=
Q3EW0R52K5729J6U02NS8PPUTBSQBRP9 (accessed 13 July,
2006)
Reference 2: How the World Sees the
World: The Anholt Nation Brands Index (Fourth Quarter, 2005)
The Anholt Nation Brands Index now covers 35 countries including
Singapore and evaluates their brands based on six areas: tourism,
exports, governance, investment and immigration, culture and
heritage, and people. This edition of the index includes a
financial valuation of country-brands based on how much a
country would have to pay to licence its brand if it did not
own it. Singapore ranks 25 out of 32 countries ranked.
Anholt suggests that people consider countries
as a whole and that therefore, it is good for countries to
have rounded brand images with strength in as many dimensions
as possible. Consistency is a key asset of a nation brand
and Singapore ranks first in terms of all round-brand strength
and consistency.
In the 2005 Q3 report, Anholt commented
on the tendency of countries with powerful brands to rate
their own nation brands highly as well, just as employees
of a company need to ‘live the brand’ if the brand
is to succeed. All top 15 nation brands rank themselves first,
as do Ireland (17th in world rankings) and India (26th in
world rankings). Singapore ranks itself 8th (23rd in world
rankings). Malaysia ranks itself 4th (31st in world ranking).
The report also looks at how sports, education
and science and technology as factors in nation branding.
In this, Singapore ranks 17 out of 25 countries for science
and technology. Finally, Japan is regarded as the most valued
nation brand in eight developing countries, including Singapore.
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