GCWORLD MIDTERMS

• European Union = 27 different countries

  
• European identity


  More than a geographical unit - Shared values, common culture
• Europe as a brand


  And its countries as brands
• National culture reflected in brand building
• Different nations, different cultures but united continent
• Europe as a brand = EU identity
• European countries as brands = country identity = EU diversity
• Why do we talk about countries as brands?


  • We live in a branded world
  • We think about countries as brands
  • Countries behave like brands
• Why a good country brand is important?

  The impact of a good country brand
• It's not only about money
• The "competition" is stronger and stronger
• 3 types of countries

  • "Is that a country?" (Nobody knows it and nobody really cares)
  • "Top-county", real brand (Everybody knows it)
  • "Caricature country" (One clear stereotype)
• How can we measure the value of a country brand?

  Anholt Nation Brands IndexSM
• Nation Brand Hexagon


  • Export
  • Governance
  • Culture
  • People
  • Tourism
  • Investment and immigration
• The case of Scotland
• How the country brand is formed?

  • COUNTRY BRAND (a person's gut feeling about a country)
  • COUNTRY BRANDING (Conscious process – creating and highlighting some particular characteristics)
  • COUNTRY (objective)
  • Other elements in the consumer's perception
• The origin of branding
• The modern branding


  Into the minds
• The positioning triangle


  • 1. What are we good at?
  • 2. What are in the minds about the country?
  • 3. What is unique or not told by any other country?
• Sometimes the first step is NOT the positioning
• • In case of Central-Eastern European countries: 1st phase: We are here!
  • 2nd phase: We are normal!
  • 3rd phase: We are special!
• Building the country brand

  • Country branding helps
  • Ensure that whenever there is an opportunity for a country to express itself, the key messages and tone of voice come across with strength and consistency
• Visual and verbal identity


  • name
  • logo
  • slogan
• The brand name


  • Changing the name for political reasons
  • Changing the name for marketing reasons
  • Using two names together
• The slogan


  • What won't work
  • "The land of contrasts"
• The logo
• High context cultures


  • Indirect
  • Speak one after another in an orderly, linear fashion
  • Disagreements are personally threatening
  • Physical space is considered more communal
  • Standing very close to others is a common practice
  • Speakers often talk around a point (instead of directly to it)
  • Time spent to do something is not important, the outcome of learning from it is
• Low context cultures


  • Open and direct
  • Words are highly valued
  • Disagreements are depersonalized
  • Privacy and personal space are highly valued
  • Verbal messages are explicit and direct
  • Speed is valued
  • How efficiently something is done is important
• Diversity means understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizing our individual differences... It is about understanding each other and moving beyond simple tolerance to embracing and celebrating the rich dimensions of diversity contained within each individual.
• Race


  Physical appearance
• Ethnicity


  The way in which social and cultural difference, language, and ancestry combine as a dimension of social action and social organization, and form a socially reproduced system of classification
• The most fundamental fact of ethnicity is the application of a systematic distinction between 'we' and 'the others'
• The extent to which ethnic identities are primordially given or constructed varies across locations
• Migration


  Moving from one place to another
• Transnationalism


  Beyond national borders
• Globalisation


  Ideas, meanings, values that is everything related to culture traveling around the world
• Minorities


  People in a specific country who are culturally, ethnically, or racially distinct, usually have specific rights
• Diasporas


  Migrants or further generations of migrants, have a homeland orientation, a desire or dream to return back to the homeland, protect their boundaries with other cultural groups
• Subcultures


  A group that operates by distinctive set of standards and behaviour patterns within a larger society, not lesser status but less in numbers
• Subcultures


  • Participation: No formal leaders, informal, not exclusive
  • Shared distinct meanings: values, objects, practices
  • Collective and shared identity unifies
  • Resistance and marginalisation
  • Specialised vocabulary