Branding your country The Boston Globe
Close Window  
ACCORDING TO Simon Anholt, author of ''Brand America: The Mother of All Brands,'' a select group of countries have national images ''so powerful and so positive'' that they amount to ''megabrands.'' Other countries have successfully turned around, or repositioned, their national brand in recent years. Still others are actively working to polish their brand identity.
MEGABRANDS ''These countries,'' writes Anholt, ''are effortlessly synonymous with a number of valuable attributes.'' FRANCE: ''chic and quality of living.'' ITALY: ''style and sexiness.'' GERMANY: ''quality engineering.'' SWITZERLAND: ''purity, wealth, integrity.'' JAPAN: ''technology, entertainment, design.''

TURNAROUND BRANDS SPAIN: Once thought of as a European backwater, Spain capitalized on the 1992 Barcelona Olympics to successfully rebrand itself as a hip Mediterranean playground (think of the Joan Miro sun symbol). IRELAND and SOUTH AFRICA rebranded themselves as countries on the move, based on their economic and political turnarounds, respectively.

BRANDS TO WATCH BRITAIN, having already positioned London as a cosmopolitan, investment-savvy style capital, now wants to extend the image to the rest of the country, coordinating efforts across government agencies. SLOVENIA's brand strategy has focused on transforming its image from that of a post-communist state to the new crossroads of Europe, building highways, lowering trade barriers, promoting foreign investment, and selling itself as an alternative tourist destination for those tired of Italy and France.

(KRT Photograph)
Clockwise from left: French fashion and style, German engineering, and Japan's well-designed technology.
Clockwise from left: French fashion and style, German engineering, and Japan's well-designed technology. (AFP Photo / Joerg Koch)

(AFP Photo / Yoshikazu Tsuno)