This article presents a detailed reflection on best practices in the growing domain of state branding. It focuses on two fundamental elements of state branding: The structure of the brand;. and the management of the brand. Four critical dimensions, or branding spaces are introduced and elaborated upon as the pillars of an integrated approach to state branding: Public diplomacy, tourism, exports, and foreign direct investment.
The surfacing of the brand state and corresponding emergence of state branding are not without critics and skeptics. But, as argued by Ollins (2002), this antagonism may just be a matter of snobbery, ignorance, and semantics: "If instead of using the word `brand' and other corporate expressions like strap lines in this piece I had used words like identity, national image, national identity and so on, no well educated person with any historical knowledge would have raised an eyebrow."
Paradoxically, the image a country reflects is both simple and complex. It can be captured and expressed by a simple gestalt-like set of attitudes that trigger an overall positive or negative reaction, or by other general perceptions. Stereotypes, in a slightly more detailed and reinforcing way, provide an articulation of simple judgments and mental associations. In both its most primitive and intermediate forms, a country image is the result of a complex array of forces and impressions.
The current process of globalization and the accompanying increase in economic competition for markets have underlined the need for countries to brand themselves in an integrated manner on what we regard to be the four critical dimensions of state branding: Public diplomacy, tourism, exports, and foreign direct investment. We have also referred to these dimensions as `state branding spaces.' What we actually find, however, is that most countries only consciously brand themselves for tourism purposes and that such tourism branding tends to be confused with overall country branding.
Countries must also be aware of the types of basic information that foreign companies look for when searching for an FDI location: Local labor market, access to customer and supplier markets, infrastructure, transportation, education and training opportunities, quality of life, business climate, access to R&D facilities, capital availability, taxes and regulations. |
