<p>In these days of globalization, with a higher level of openness and interaction over geographical, cultural and economical borders, the importance of the company’s intangible asset, its brand, is gaining importance as a differentiating factor. </p><p>Building a strong brand and the emphasis on strategic brand management is something that before was given less attention in firms but today we can see a general increase in awareness and relative emphasis in the strategic work of companies.</p><p>Countries as brands: Is it possible to consider a nation or a country as a brand the same way you consider a product? Well, looking in to the subject it seems to be a rather complex matter and there are many questions to be asked and answer. Nations around the globe are indeed marketing and positioning themselves for several purposes. It can be for example to attract tourists, investments and venture capital, qualified labour and business in general. So nations as brands do exist and it is of importance for the individual country to handle this valuable asset consciously. </p><p>There are many factors contributing to the image of a nation and how others consider a nation image to be. It is also different according to whom and where you ask.</p><p>The contributors to the image may be different channels of the mass media, famous persons and events, tourists visiting the country, national promotion agencies and also the main character in this study, the companies.</p><p>The nature of nation branding is inert and complex so there is of importance that the contributors mentioned above have a mutual and homogeneous vision for the nations image and are working together. </p><p>Companies tend to both contribute to and take advantage of the set of values that are more easily connected to a nation than others. Some companies do this more than others. The company should have: </p><p>The awareness of the individual company of what they want its brand to be and stand for.</p><p>The awareness of what the nation brand of Sweden stands for.</p><p>The ability to choose between weather to consciously connect their brand to Swedish values or not. </p><p>Accordingly, the main factor here is the awareness of the company in its strategic brand management. A nations image consists of a complex set of values and it is hard or maybe impossible to avoid some connection with this image but to a large extend the company can choose its positioned brand values. </p><p>And the final question to be asked here is weather there can be found factors that indicates that some business or products can have a greater use or advantage of its connections with its nations brand image than others. </p><p>The study</p><p>My first intention was to carry out this study by including large and well-known Swedish companies like IKEA and Volvo, investigating their strategical brand management concerning my core-questions. </p><p>This was not possible so the empirical part of this study was carried out by conducting interviews at two midsized companies in Arvika, Sweden. The first participating company is Klässbols Linneväveri, (Klässbols´ Linen mill), a recognized, successful textile company and the second one is Thermia AB a manufacturer of high quality, energy efficient heat pumps. I consider this inclusion of smaller companies to be even more interesting and rewarding when there is less to explore considering the big Swedish profile-companies. </p><p>The main criteria’s was that the respondent companies should belong to different fields of business and that they should have presence abroad through export. </p><p>For this particular study the most appropriate method and the one giving the richest and most valid image of the core question is the semi-structured interview. The actual interview took place at the locality of the two respondent companies. The persons chosen for the interviews at each company were picked by their position within the companies and were the ones most suitable and able to make the best possible contribution to this study.</p><p> </p><p>The main results found in this study are: </p><p>It is natural that companies connect their brand to the image of country, being the nation of origin or a nation of choice. Having a country name included in a brand name helps customers to evaluate the product and make purchase decisions.</p><p>The product or business of the company matters in the decision whether or not you should associate to the nations values or not. Sweden is associated with a set of values that you more easily can connect with certain businesses and products than others. </p><p>It is of importance that the product is designed in Sweden and that this origin is emphasized in the market communication. In comparison, the country were the product is produced is on a relatively lower level of importance, although this level depends on which business it considers. </p><p>Knowledge is power! To be able to make a conscious choice whether to connect to Swedish values or not, the individual company has to be aware of its own values and how they want to be seen as a brand.</p><p>As long as the choice to include Swedish values is strategical, and conscious and the company can live up to these values, it is right. But it is also evenly right to choose not to include the same values.</p>

In these days of globalization, with a higher level of openness and interaction over geographical, cultural and economical borders, the importance of the company’s intangible asset, its brand, is gaining importance as a differentiating factor. Building a strong brand and the emphasis on strategic brand management is something that before was given less attention in firms but today we can see a general increase in awareness and relative emphasis in the strategic work of companies. Countries as brands: Is it possible to consider a nation or a country as a brand the same way you consider a product? Well, looking in to the subject it seems to be a rather complex matter and there are many questions to be asked and answer. Nations around the globe are indeed marketing and positioning themselves for several purposes. It can be for example to attract tourists, investments and venture capital, qualified labour and business in general. So nations as brands do exist and it is of importance for the individual country to handle this valuable asset consciously. There are many factors contributing to the image of a nation and how others consider a nation image to be. It is also different according to whom and where you ask. The contributors to the image may be different channels of the mass media, famous persons and events, tourists visiting the country, national promotion agencies and also the main character in this study, the companies. The nature of nation branding is inert and complex so there is of importance that the contributors mentioned above have a mutual and homogeneous vision for the nations image and are working together. Companies tend to both contribute to and take advantage of the set of values that are more easily connected to a nation than others. Some companies do this more than others. The company should have: The awareness of the individual company of what they want its brand to be and stand for. The awareness of what the nation brand of Sweden stands for. The ability to choose between weather to consciously connect their brand to Swedish values or not. Accordingly, the main factor here is the awareness of the company in its strategic brand management. A nations image consists of a complex set of values and it is hard or maybe impossible to avoid some connection with this image but to a large extend the company can choose its positioned brand values. And the final question to be asked here is weather there can be found factors that indicates that some business or products can have a greater use or advantage of its connections with its nations brand image than others. The study My first intention was to carry out this study by including large and well-known Swedish companies like IKEA and Volvo, investigating their strategical brand management concerning my core-questions. This was not possible so the empirical part of this study was carried out by conducting interviews at two midsized companies in Arvika, Sweden. The first participating company is Klässbols Linneväveri, (Klässbols´ Linen mill), a recognized, successful textile company and the second one is Thermia AB a manufacturer of high quality, energy efficient heat pumps. I consider this inclusion of smaller companies to be even more interesting and rewarding when there is less to explore considering the big Swedish profile-companies. The main criteria’s was that the respondent companies should belong to different fields of business and that they should have presence abroad through export. For this particular study the most appropriate method and the one giving the richest and most valid image of the core question is the semi-structured interview. The actual interview took place at the locality of the two respondent companies. The persons chosen for the interviews at each company were picked by their position within the companies and were the ones most suitable and able to make the best possible contribution to this study. The main results found in this study are: It is natural that companies connect their brand to the image of country, being the nation of origin or a nation of choice. Having a country name included in a brand name helps customers to evaluate the product and make purchase decisions. The product or business of the company matters in the decision whether or not you should associate to the nations values or not. Sweden is associated with a set of values that you more easily can connect with certain businesses and products than others. It is of importance that the product is designed in Sweden and that this origin is emphasized in the market communication. In comparison, the country were the product is produced is on a relatively lower level of importance, although this level depends on which business it considers. Knowledge is power! To be able to make a conscious choice whether to connect to Swedish values or not, the individual company has to be aware of its own values and how they want to be seen as a brand. As long as the choice to include Swedish values is strategical, and conscious and the company can live up to these values, it is right. But it is also evenly right to choose not to include the same values.

This thesis critically analyzes the phenomenon of nation branding as a technique of neocolonial governmentality. The study focuses on Brand India - postcolonial India’s attempt to imagine the nation and its people through the discourse of branding. I argue that India’s nation branding exercise hollows out the postcolonial imagination so that the nation can now only be imagined through a language and within a framework ‘always-already’ constituted for the postcolony. This thesis builds on Michel Foucault’s analysis of governmentality and utilizes a postcolonial framework, to show that when the practice of nation branding is applied to a postcolonial nation, it works to reinscribe the colonial legacy and reaffirm colonial power relations

This thesis critically analyzes the phenomenon of nation branding as a technique of neocolonial governmentality. The study focuses on Brand India - postcolonial India’s attempt to imagine the nation and its people through the discourse of branding. I argue that India’s nation branding exercise hollows out the postcolonial imagination so that the nation can now only be imagined through a language and within a framework ‘always-already’ constituted for the postcolony. This thesis builds on Michel Foucault’s analysis of governmentality and utilizes a postcolonial framework, to show that when the practice of nation branding is applied to a postcolonial nation, it works to reinscribe the colonial legacy and reaffirm colonial power relations

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the existence of the discipline Design Thinking in a project that aims to strengthen Sweden as a brand. The study will generate knowledge about Design Thinking, with the purpose to increase the understanding of how the discipline can be used as a strategic tool in the processes of strengthening Nation Branding. The authors have used a descriptive and qualitative approach where the Shanghai World Expo in 2010 was examined. The theoretical framework contains previous research in the field, data has been analysed in relation to Lockwood's ten principles of how an organization can become more design-minded and Anholt’s hexagon, which features the parameters that creates a country's Nation Branding. The authors have used Montaña’s et al. Brand design management model to discern connections between a country's brand and the discipline of Design Thinking. The authors could determine that the organization of the Shanghai World Expo in 2010 applied Design Thinking to their mindset and that the discipline contributed to the strengthening of Sweden as a brand. However, it is clear that the discipline wasn’t only used as a strategic tool, but also unconsciously. The study has contributed to an increased understanding of the discipline Design Thinking and how it can be used in a more strategic way, in a context where the purpose is to strengthen a nation’s brand. / Perspektivet i denna studie grundar sig i disciplinen Design Thinking då tankarna bakom och nyfikenheten kring disciplinen växer sig allt starkare idag. Trots en upptrappad medvetenhet om disciplinens ökade relevans känner få till hur Design Thinking kan omsättas i praktiken och hur en organisation kan bli mer design-minded. Ytterligare har relativt lite uppmärksamhet lagts på hur design kan berika varumärkesskapande. Syftet med studien är att utreda existensen av disciplinen Design Thinking i stärkandet av ett lands Nation Branding. Studien avser att generera kunskap om Design Thinking, med avsikten att öka förståelsen för hur disciplinen kan användas som strategiskt verktyg. Författarna har använt sig av ett deskriptivt och kvalitativt tillvägagångssätt där Världsutställningen i Shanghai 2010 har använts som studiens plattform. Åtta stycken personer med anknytning till Världsutställningen eller till arbetet i stärkandet av Sveriges varumärke har intervjuats och sekundärkällor har analyserats. Data har tolkats i relation till Lockwoods tio principer för hur en organisation kan komma att bli mer design-minded, samt Anholts hexagon om vilka parametrar som skapar ett lands Nation Branding. Författarna har använt Montañas et al. Brand design management model för att kunna urskilja kopplingar mellan ett lands varumärke och disciplinen Design Thinking. Studien visade att organisationen för Världsutställningen i Shanghai 2010 tillämpade Design Thinking i sitt arbetssätt och att disciplinen har bidragit till stärkandet av Sveriges varumärke. Dock har det konstaterats att design inte enbart användes som strategiskt verktyg utan även omedvetet eller av nödvändighet. Studien har bidragit till ökad förståelse för disciplinen och genererat kunskap hur den kan komma till användning som strategiskt verktyg.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the nation branding process deployed by a host country organizing committee. Three research questions helped guide this study: (1) How does the organizing committee see the opportunity of hosting a sport-mega event (SME) as a nation branding tool? (2) What aspects of the FIFA World Cup (FWC) do people working with the organizing committee believe, create such nation branding opportunities? (3) How do event organizers leverage a nation branding legacy from the FWC? A single case study was built using 1,669 document pages, and nine semi-structured interviews and data were thematically analyzed. The study investigated relevant organizational documents and the event organizers’ perspectives to determine the nation branding processes. Results revealed the organization's approach to nation branding involved assessing their external image, creating a country narrative based on the population's characteristics and values, and depicting a unique identity by showcasing their cultural heritage to increase the attraction of the nation brand. Findings highlight that nation branding through the FWC requires the LOC’s strategic coordination through nation brand stakeholders, nation brand ambassadors, important organizations as well as the leadership of the nation in order to build brand equity.

In my thesis I will compare the public diplomacy and national branding of the Czech Republic and Switzerland. The goal of the thesis is to define, explore and evaluate these fields for both countries. This paper will focus on identifying different aspects of nation branding in these two countries and will aim to evaluate the strategy and sketch the recommendations. The thesis is divided into 3 parts. In the first part the author defines and describes public diplomacy as general term. The second part is dedicated to the public diplomacy of small and medium states. The last chapter focuses on the comparison of public diplomacy and nation branding of the Czech Republic and lesson that could be learned from Switzerland. The goals of this chapter are as follows. To compare aspects and specifics of these two states and evaluate specific activities developed by governments to improve the perception of their country by the foreign public.

Die professionalisierte Kommunikation komplexer Gebilde wie Staaten und Nationen, die ihre Hinwendung politischer Fragestellungen in die Sphären von Image und Einfluss verlegt, kommt vor dem Hintergrund wachsenden Wettbewerbs an der Bedeutung der Reputation nicht vorbei. Denn neben ihrer ökonomischen Bedeutung legitimiert Reputation als mittel- oder langfristiges öffentliches Ansehen, das ihren Trägern Definitions- und Überzeugungsmacht verschafft, Macht- und Herrschaftspositionen. In einer mediatisierten Gesellschaft wächst die Bedeutung der Kommunikation mit der Öffentlichkeit sowohl für Erwerb und Erhalt von Reputation – wie auch für deren Aberkennung. Dabei spielt eine zunehmende Skandalisierung als Eigenheit der Mediengesellschaft eine Rolle, die eine erhöhte Fragilisierung der Reputation zur Folge hat und als wirksamster Mechanismus bei der Aberkennung von Reputation gilt, wie das Beispiel der dänischen „Karikaturen-Affäre“ veranschaulicht. In einer kommunikativ schnelllebigen Welt, zunehmend frei verfügbarer Information, geistern durch die Außenministerien des Global Village Begriffe wie Public Diplomacy, Nation Branding, Country Branding oder Place Branding, deren gemeinsamer Nenner zunächst die nach außen gerichtete Kommunikation ist. Aber schon die Frage nach Absender und Adressat, nach Akteur und Rezipient, Botschaften und Zielgruppen verweist auf die Komplexität der Kommunikation eines Landes. Ziel der Untersuchung ist es in den Kommunikationsbemühungen von Ländern, Faktoren zu identifizieren, die Image und Reputation nachhaltig beeinflussen können. Dabei stehen die folgenden Fragen im Mittelpunkt der Untersuchung: Wie werden Länder wahrgenommen und Reputation gebildet? Können die Bezugsgruppen eines Landes durch die Stakeholdertheorie (Freeman 1984) beschrieben werden – und wenn ja, welche Konsequenzen hat eine solche Berücksichtigung der Anspruchs- und Adressatengruppen auf die Kommunikation eines Landes? Welche Aspekte der theoretischen Ansätze können für die Kommunikation von Ländern als zentral bewertet werden? Und schließlich: Kann die Reflexion durch die Praxis, am Fallbeispiel der Schweiz, die Relevanz der eruierten Aspekte bestätigen bzw. um weitere Aspekte ergänzen und können auf dieser Grundlage Erfolgsfaktoren identifiziert und geeignete Instrumente für die Reputationskommunikation aufgezeigt werden? / A country’s reputation becomes essential, in the realm of growing global competition. The change of political paradigm towards image and influence leads to reputation as a kind of public prestige that procures power to its holders. Public communication becomes more and more essential in a media society: to gain reputation – and to keep reputation. Reputation is fragile, due to soaring scandalisation, as the case of the Danish „cartoon-afair“ demonstrates. In a world of rapid communication and ubiquitous information the notions of “Public Diplomacy” or “Nation- /Place Branding” are entering the departments of foreign affairs all over the world. Their common denominator is in the first instance the communication of a country abroad. But already asking about the different stakeholder and recipients, about sender and receiver, message or target group shows the high complexity of a country’s communication. The intention of the present research is to identify factors that are able to influence image and reputation within the communication efforts of a country.

No description available.

<p>Research Question: What is it that determines if large companies in the same country and industry use their Country of Origin or not when they want to attract new customers abroad?</p><p>Purpose: Our purpose with this Minor Field Study is to find out if companies within the Brazilian textile industry are using their COO and identify which factors that determine why they use it or not. By analyzing these factors, if and why they are important or not, we can develop a model with the purpose to give companies an idea of how close they are from to being able to use their COO. </p><p>Method: We have worked with a qualitative research method where we interviewed two Brazilian companies, CI Hering and Karsten, which is working within the Brazilian textile industry.</p><p>Theoretical framework: Our theories are mainly concerning the subjects of branding, nation brands, COO and competitive identity. We have also studied the so called Nation Brands Index and its hexagon. We will use theories of nation branding and COO to illustrate their importance to a country’s international companies. </p><p>Empirical framework: This part will show the outcome of our interviews with Hering and Karsten but also present some data on the nation brand of Brazil and activities linked to it.</p><p>Conclusion: We have found that there are six factors that mainly determine if a company will use its COO when trying to attract new customers abroad, and how appropriate this will be. The six factors are: Strong identity/image, brand awareness, knowledge, consistent and strong nation brand, research and willingness. Our final conclusions are that international companies that want to manage their reputation can benefit from relating their identity to some of the aspects in the national identity of their country. Associating to your COO is a way of doing this that aligns your company´s image to the image of your home country.</p>