How the World Sees the World

How the world sees the world.

Introduction How it works When we express a preference for French holidays, The Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index measures the German cars or Italian opera, when we instinctively power and appeal of a nation’s brand image, and tells trust the policies of the Swedish government, comment us how consumers around the world see the character on the ambition of the Japanese, the bluntness of the and personality of the brand. Americans or the courtesy of the British, when we avoid investing in Russia, favour Turkey’s entry into The nation brand is the sum of people’s perceptions Europe or admire the heritage of China and India, we of a country across six areas of national competence. are responding to brand images in exactly the same Together, these areas make the Nation Brand way as when we’re shopping for clothing or food. Hexagon:

But these are far bigger brands than Nike or Nestlé. They are the brands of nations.

Nation brand is an important concept in today’s world. Globalisation means that countries compete with each other for the attention, respect and trust of investors, tourists, consumers, donors, immigrants, the media, and the governments of other nations: so a powerful and positive nation brand provides a crucial competitive advantage. It is essential for countries to understand how they are seen by publics around the world; how their achievements and failures, their assets and their liabilities, their people and their products are reflected Fig 1: The Nation Brand Hexagon © Simon Anholt 2002 in their brand image. Every country has its brand strengths and weaknesses, The Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index is the first ana- so there is a different ‘winner’ for each point of the lytical ranking of the world’s nation brands. Each quar- hexagon: Italy, for example, has the most powerful ter, we poll our worldwide panel of consumers on their brand of our group in both the ‘Tourism’ and ‘Culture’ perceptions of the cultural, political, commercial and points, but the UK scores highest on ‘People’. human assets, investment potential and tourist appeal of several developed and developing countries. This The overall ‘Top Nation Brand’ is the one with the adds up to a clear index of national brand power, a highest marks across all points of the hexagon. unique barometer of global opinion.

1 And the winner is…. Sweden Another pleasant surprise (at least for me) was to We’ve heard so much recently about the decline of discover that the brand of my own country, the United Brand America , perhaps it should come as no surprise Kingdom, is in very good shape, coming second overall. that the United States doesn’t come out on top of the Clearly, our alliance with the United States during the first Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index. Iraq war hasn’t done as much damage to our international image as we fear (the UK government is But it was still as shock that the USA came fourth, described by our respondents as “trustworthy”, in stark together with Germany, in the league tables of the contrast to the American government which is world’s most powerful nation brands. And who knows, described as “dangerous” and “dishonest”). Although if the list had included countries like France, Canada, the UK still isn’t rated very highly as a producer of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Spain, products, it scores extremely well as a tourist destina- Switzerland or the Netherlands, the United States tion and as a producer of popular culture. The star might have ranked even lower. (More of these coun- asset of Brand Britain, however, is the British people, tries will be included in future editions of the Anholt- as we will see in Section 3. GMI Nation Brands Index, so watch this space). United Kingdom (Q1 2005)

Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index Overall Ranking (Q1 2005)

Exports

Sweden 2.83 United Kingdom 3.00 Italy 3.50 Tourism Governance Germany 4.33 United States 4.33 Japan 4.83 China 7.16 7.66 Investment and India People Immigration South Korea 9.00 Russia 9.16 Turkey 10.16 Culture and Heritage 1 3 5 7 9 11 Average Ranking Among All 11 Countries

Italy, of course, is one of the most loved and admired Top of our list came Sweden, with consistently high nation brands around – despite the generally derided scores all around the hexagon. This country is almost figure of Prime Minister Berlusconi and the presence universally admired, and its brand image boasts a rare of many negative elements within the brand: corrup- combination of stable and responsible governance, tion, organised crime and a generally disorganised soci- honest and trustworthy people, successful cultural ety. But because the country is effortlessly and almost exports, a prime location for investment, and yet isn’t universally associated with quality of life, impeccable seen as boring or predictable, but young and dynamic. style and cultural riches, Italy will always score very Few other countries manage to maintain such a healthy high as a nation brand, at least on the ‘leisure’ side of balance between basic reassurance and a touch of things. vibrancy, adventure and youthful spirit.

Sweden (Q1 2005) Italy (Q1 2005)

Exports Exports

Tourism Governance Tourism Governance

Investment and Investment and People People Immigration Immigration

Culture and Heritage Culture and Heritage

2 For Italian professionals and business people, however, Russia (Q1 2005) the country’s poor image in business and international affairs is an irritation and a handicap. So powerful is the ‘holiday’ element of the national brand, it tends to Exports override and cancel out any attempt to present an image of Italian people and organisations as serious- Tourism Governance minded, hard working, competent or reliable. In business and industry, at least, a more positive image would Investment and People be entirely deserved: but such is the nature of nation Immigration brands. They are essentially clichés, the simple short- Culture and Heritage hand for national identity which all of us adopt, simply in order to navigate more quickly and more efficiently through the complexities of life in a globalised world. Both countries have a long way to go before they can improve their international reputations. Turkey has a The other surprise on the list is that South Korea lot to prove, a process which is likely to be much comes so low on the list (below China and India), helped in the future by EU accession, whereas Russia although this is mainly because respondents in many has a great deal to disprove before it can even start countries appear to confuse it with its Northern neigh- acquiring positive brand attributes. bour, as we shall see later on. Brands and Products The struggling brands in our list are Turkey and The unrequited love affair of poor-country consumers Russia. Turkey’s overall low score, however, is mainly for rich-country brands; America still on top, but for the result of it failing to achieve high scores in any cat- how long? A bleak picture for Russia. egory (and arguably this is partly because so few peo- Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index Brands/Products Ranking ple have any direct experience of the country, its peo- (Q1 2005) ple or products, and spend relatively little time thinking about it), whereas Russia’s is the result of extreme- United States 4.915 ly low scores in several crucial categories. Looking at Japan 4.874 the data, Turkey appears to be more of a ‘blank can- Germany 4.865 Sweden 4.744 vas’, a country about which most people have few Italy 4.684 opinions; on the other hand, almost everybody has an United Kingdom 4.590 4.469 opinion about Russia, and it is likely to be a poor one. South Korea China 3.826 India 3.822 South Korea (Q1 2005) Russia 3.720 Turkey 3.685 0 1 2 3 4 5 Exports 1-7 Scale: 7 = Best Score Possible

In this point of the hexagon, we asked consumers Tourism Governance about their level of satisfaction with products and services produced in each country, and also about their ten- dency to actively seek out or actively avoid products

Investment and from each country. These two questions allow us to People Immigration measure any difference between the appeal of each country’s “Made In….” label and the reality of the Culture and Heritage products produced there. We also asked what kinds of products people would expect to be produced in each country.

Of all our respondents, Indian consumers are most strongly motivated by the country of origin of the products they buy, claiming a marked preference for products produced in the US, UK, Germany, Italy,

3 Sweden, Japan and Korea; Chinese consumers are also only associate this country with textiles. Italy, as one powerfully affected by the glamour of first-world pro- would expect, is strongly linked to food and fashion. ducers. But in both cases this affection is sadly unrequited: around a quarter of respondents around the Governance world claim to ‘actively avoid’ Indian-made and Worrying signs for Brand America, and a grave identity Chinese-made products, so clearly both countries have problem for South Korea. Sweden the undoubted brand a long way to go before they can achieve a Japanese- champion; UK’s image apparently unharmed by Iraq. style turnaround in their image as desirable, high-quali- Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index Governance Ranking ty producers of products. (Q1 2005)

Despite many surveys reporting ‘protest’ behaviour on Sweden 6.468 Germany 6.184 the part of consumers in various countries (as shown in United Kingdom 6.178 Italy 5.282 the 2004 GMI survey – reference), the US still has the United States 5.003 best image as a producer of products, with Japan a Japan 4.987 India 3.682 close runner-up. In this respect, at least, Brand South Korea 3.623 Turkey 3.574 America appears to be in good health – but it should Russia 3.495 be remembered that most of the respondents in our China 3.082 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 survey are from countries which are allies and/or trad- 1-7 Scale: 7 = Best Score Possible ing partners of the US. Here, we asked respondents to rank countries accord- It’s interesting how most people rank Japanese prod- ing to how competently and fairly they are governed ucts first in terms of their satisfaction but claim not to (domestic policy) and how far they trust them to make seek them out deliberately – this suggests that Japan’s responsible decisions which uphold international peace image as a producer of desirable products still lags and security (foreign policy). We also asked for an somewhat behind its actual competence and market adjective which best described the government in each presence and people’s positive experience of its prod- country. ucts, while ‘Brand America’ still retains a stronger and wider appeal. But even if fewer people actively seek One of the most surprising results here were the very out Japanese products than one might expect, nobody poor scores of South Korea. A large number of respon- deliberately avoids them apart from a very noticeable dents from several countries (especially in Denmark 8% of Korean and 20% of Chinese consumers. Political and the United States) even went as far as to describe feelings appear to impact purchase decisions more the South Korean government as ‘dangerous’, ‘sinister’ strongly in these markets than is the case in Europe or and ‘unstable’; and over a third of respondents in some North America. countries used the term ‘unpredictable’. South Korea’s nearer neighbours in Japan and China use no such Korean consumers are strikingly critical of other coun- terms, and the only possible explanation for this is that tries’ products, and very few of them describe them- people in Europe and North America are not clear in selves as ‘highly satisfied’ with any foreign products at their minds about the distinction between North and all. Two-thirds of them claim to deliberately avoid South Korea. Clearly, if this is the case, it represents a Chinese products. major image problem for South Korea and suggests that its neighbour is even more of a liability to the The UK’s pre-eminence in the financial sector appears country’s progress than the purely economic, political to be well recognised, although interestingly the ‘cre- and social issues imply: it is actually contaminating the ative industries’ like advertising are still more strongly country’s brand. associated with the United States. Consumers appear to have difficulty associating Russia with anything they No such confusion, however, can be blamed for India’s might actually want to buy: heavy industry, oil and poor governance rating: the government’s international arms are the only categories which they spontaneously decision-making capability is widely characterised as link to Russia, spelling difficulties for any Russian ‘unpredictable’ and even ‘unstable’, placing the country manufacturers who might be planning to launch explic- third from the bottom of the list overall, only marginal- itly Russian products in overseas markets. And despite ly ahead of Russia and China. India’s remarkable successes in technology, our panel

4 Most striking of all in this area, however, is the fact To understand how the ‘human capital’ of each country that over 10% of our respondents described the US is viewed, we asked a ‘business-to-business’ question government as ‘unpredictable’; 7% describe it as ‘sinis- (“Imagine you are a manager and need to make an ter’ and over 10% actually use the adjective ‘danger- important hiring. Please rank the following countries in ous’ (this figure includes around a quarter of the order of your preference for the nationality of your French, British and German respondents and a fifth of candidate”) and a ‘non-business’ question (“Please the Danish; the only country where virtually no rank how hospitable the people are in the following respondents selected this particular adjective was countries”) – this aspect of the ‘human’ dimension is Japan). Even in a group of countries which are, by and also of critical importance when considering the large, allies of the US, disapproval of US foreign policy tourism potential of each country. Respondents were still runs very deep. also asked to select the adjective which best describes the people in each country. Brand Britain seems to have escaped damage better than might have been expected from its close and pub- The British people are ranked higher than any other lic alliance with the US during the Iraq conflict: the nationality, and score exceptionally well on qualities UK government is ranked third overall for ‘upholding such as “educated”, “polite”, “honest”, “trustworthy” international peace and security’, and is described by and “intelligent” (although they are also described as 27% of the panel as “trustworthy”. “boring” more often than any other country!). They are by a wide margin everybody’s preferred nationality Sweden scores extremely well in this category, earning for hiring, and don’t even score too badly on hospitali- almost universal approval from our respondents: its ty (fourth, just behind Japan). Sweden, rather unex- government is described by more respondents as ‘trust- pectedly although by no means undeservedly, wins the worthy’ than any other country on the list, and indeed top mark for hospitality; Italy comes second. this is the adjective most often used to describe it. It is unlikely that many of our respondents would be able In the week when the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister to name a member of the Swedish government, or described relations between China and Japan as being identify the party currently in power: these scores are at their lowest ebb since the establishment of diplo- almost certainly pure brand image, and appear to matic ties in 1972, it is perhaps not surprising that in require little substantiation. That Sweden is a fairly, our survey 33% of the Chinese put Japan at the bot- wisely and peacefully governed country is, quite simply, tom of their hiring list, and 45% of the Japanese put a deeply-rooted and almost universal belief. China at the bottom of theirs. Interestingly, 17% of the Japanese describe the Chinese as ‘skilful’, yet 16% also People describe them as ‘unreliable’. With this one exception, Britain’s people are its most admired export; the both nations refrain from applying unequivocally nega- Germans rate the Turks as hosts but not much else. tive adjectives to each other (such as ‘ignorant’, ‘rude’, “Ugly Americans” is still the dominant cliché; and more ‘violent’, etc.), but it is noticeable that less than 2% of problems for Russia. either nationality uses positive adjectives like ‘honest’, ‘trustworthy’ or ‘educated’ to describe the other. Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index People Ranking (Q1 2005) Turkey scores poorly in this area, although there are

United Kingdom 6.036 some interesting exceptions: 11% of Koreans, for Sweden 5.900 example, consider the Turks to be ‘fun’; and although 5.869 Germany the Germans aren’t keen on hiring Turks and aren’t United States 5.612 Japan 5.366 very complimentary about their education or their Italy 5.329 manners, well over a half of our German sample rate China 4.400 India 4.369 the Turks as ‘very hospitable’ or ‘extremely hospitable’ Russia 4.050 – presumably the result of a great many Turkish holi- 4.037 South Korea days. Turkey 3.868 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1-7 Scale: 7 = Best Score Possible And again, the picture for Russia is pretty bleak: the adjectives most frequently applied to Russians are ‘violent’, ‘unreliable’ and ‘dishonest’ – but, in common with

5 most other nations, they are also acknowledged as Again, the cultural aspects of the nation brand are very ‘hard working’. closely linked with the country’s tourism assets, and where there is a strong consumer perception of cultur- The mutual respect (or otherwise) of friends and allies al wealth there is likely to be a strong tourist industry, is a source of endless fascination: for example, 15% of or at least the potential for building it. British respondents think the Americans are ignorant, but only 2% of Americans think the same of the Not surprisingly, most countries tend to score well on British. 13% of Americans consider the British trust- one side of this axis or the other. China and India, for worthy, but only 4% of British respondents think the example, are in first and second place for richness of same of the Americans. cultural heritage, but are also the two countries whose cultural activities or offerings people feel they are least In other countries, the image of the ‘ugly American’ likely to actually engage with. This may be because few persists: the adjective ‘rude’ is applied to the of their cultural ‘products’ are on offer or available to Americans twice as often as to any other nationality. overseas consumers (China is strongly associated with the circus and India with cinema in our survey, but few In general, however, the most noticeable thing about foreigners readily picture themselves actually ‘consum- the qualitative part of this section is how mild most ing’ these entertainments). people’s feelings are about most other people. It is rare for more than 10% of the entire sample to ascribe any Two notable exceptions here are the United Kingdom adjective other than ‘hard working’ to any other race, and Italy. The UK is voted fifth for ‘cultural heritage’ apart from two exceptions: 20% of people consider the and first when people deliberately seek out cultural Italians “fun” – this cliché appears to be more or less products or activities: the result of a rich and well-mar- universal – and anywhere between 10% and 17% con- keted cultural heritage combined with a highly success- sider the Swedes and the Germans to be intelligent, ful pop industry. Italy does a similar trick but with even trustworthy, hard working and honest. more success in brand terms: its culture transitions seamlessly from ancient to modern, from highbrow to

Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index Culture Ranking commercial. (Q1 2005) Culture The scores for American cultural heritage display a fas- Only Britain and Italy manage to combine heritage an Italy 4.983 cinatingly complex picture: in several countries, people popularUnited Kingdom culture. More prejudice4.889 between Japan, China 4.768 respond to the question in dramatically different ways and KoreaChina even in perceptions of each other’s culture; India 4.691 depending on their age, income and sex. In France, for and absolutely nobody agrees 4.686on whether America is Japan example, a country which is notorious for its mixed rich in cultureSweden , or quite the opposite4.622 . Germany 4.584 views about America and all things American, almost Russia 4.416 the same number of people state “this country lacks Turkey 4.358 South Korea 4.248 culture” as state “this country is rich in culture”. If you United States 4.203 study the data in more detail, it turns out that in 1 2 3 4 5 France, acknowledgement of American cultural her- 1-7 Scale: 7 = Best Score Possible itage is in inverse proportion to income, and also sexu- ally determined: French women and poorer French In this point of the hexagon, we ask two questions people are more likely to rate America as being rich in which are designed to measure perceptions of the culture, while French men and richer French people country’s cultural heritage (“How would you rank the are more likely to consider America a culture-free cultural heritage of this country”) and appreciation of zone. or intention to consume its popular, more commercial cultural products and activities (“Do you avoid or seek America’s overall scores on this point of the hexagon out cultural activities that originate in the following are dramatically polarised: the USA ranks bottom of countries (for example, buying a record or going to a the list for cultural heritage, well below Turkey, South concert or show)?”) . In addition, we ask respondents Korea and Russia; and a close second to the UK when to name what kind of cultural activity they most expect it comes to active selection of cultural products or to find in each country, in order to understand how activities. Some Indians, some Japanese and some they perceive the country’s main cultural strengths. Canadians are fairly polite about America’s cultural

6 heritage, but they are all heavily outnumbered by other Tourism respondents from their own country who put America Sweden defies all expectations; Italy the ultimate destina- right at the bottom of the scale. tion. More confusion about Korea.

Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index Travel Ranking Local hostilities in Asia emerge here, again: Japanese (Q1 2005) culture is ranked extremely highly by the respondents in every country except the Chinese and the Koreans: Italy 5.461 5.145 nearly a quarter of the Chinese declare unequivocally Sweden United Kingdom 5.128 that Japan ‘lacks culture’. In fact, without the Chinese United States 5.053 and Korean scores, Japan would have come second on Japan 4.606 Germany 4.601 the list for ‘cultural heritage’, after China itself, rather China 4.172 than fourth. Similarly, respondents in most countries India 3.939 state that they ‘neither seek out nor deliberately avoid’ Russia 3.757 Turkey 3.702 cultural products or activities from Japan, but around a South Korea 3.467 fifth of the Chinese and the Koreans state that they 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 would deliberately avoid Japanese cultural products 1-7 Scale: 7 = Best Score Possible and activities. Again, with the Chinese and Korean scores excluded, Japan would have come significantly Tourism is often the most visibly promoted aspect of higher on the list, and quite probably beaten China to the nation brand, since most tourist boards spend lots third place in the overall culture rankings. of money on ‘selling’ the country around the world. Blue skies and golden sands or snow-capped moun- In cases like this where a country-specific prejudice tains are only a tiny part of the reality of a country, but exists, the important question is whether the country in because these images are often so aggressively promot- question is an important audience for the nation brand ed, they have a disproportionate effect on people’s per- or not. It may well be that Japan does not consider ceptions of the country as a whole. either China or Korea to be important markets for its cultural exports, in which case the prejudice is of little For this point of the hexagon, we simply asked people consequence. However, it is a flaw in the global brand to rank countries according to which they would most image of Japan, which ultimately affects its internation- like to visit, if money was not a factor. They were also al performance. asked to select the adjective which in their opinion best describes the experience of visiting each country Perceptions of national culture may or may not trans- as a tourist. We also asked the panel to identify in late directly into foreign income (they certainly do in which country a number of major tourist attractions the case of America, but less so for China), but they were to be found, in order to test recognition and are still of critical importance to the nation brand as a familiarity with each country as a tourist destination. whole, and have an impact on most other points of the hexagon. A strong cultural heritage adds depth and The results in this category show little correlation with richness to the ‘country of origin effect’ for exported the actual shape of the worldwide tourism market – brands (Italian brands like Armani, Ferrari and Gucci, partly because the world’s two top tourist destinations, for example, unquestionably profit from positive per- France and Spain, do not appear in this issue of the ceptions of Italy’s artistic heritage, just as upmarket Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index. Sweden, on the British brands like Dunhill, Asprey, Jaguar and other hand, has a tiny share of the world tourism mar- Burberry benefit from Britain’s literary heritage). A ket compared to all the other countries in our list; yet reputation for culture is, as I mentioned earlier, an our respondents described it as ‘exciting’, ‘fascinating’, obvious magnet for tourism; it affects our perceptions ‘romantic’, and put it in second place. There was even of the country’s people and their character and ability; fairly high recognition of the Ice Hotel, a recent (but it conveys a sense of quality of life which directly well publicised) Swedish tourist attraction. impacts on inward investment and immigration; and when the heritage is linked to a distinguished history, it The winner in this category was Italy, and was over- even affects our perceptions of the country’s abilities whelmingly associated with the adjective ‘romantic’. in foreign affairs and governance. People in all countries had little trouble identifying

7 well-known Italian tourist attractions like the Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index Investment Ranking Coliseum and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. (Q1 2005)

Asking people to identify famous attractions produces United States 4.874 Sweden 4.871 some interesting results. Nearly 4% of Americans think United Kingdom 4.816 that Trafalgar Square is in China; 6% don’t know Italy 4.715 4.378 where the Statue of Liberty is, and 9% don’t know Germany Japan 4.112z where Mount Rushmore is. The best-known attraction China 3.419 overall is the Great Wall, correctly identified by 92% South Korea 3.383 Russia 3.172 of respondents, followed by the Statue of Liberty, iden- India 3.165 tified by 90%. The least known is India’s Red Fort Turkey 3.104 (which a surprising 92% of Koreans think is in China). 0 1 2 3 4 5 1-7 Scale: 7 - Best Score Possible

People have mixed feelings about visiting India. Whilst This point of the hexagon looks at the ‘business-to- 20-30% of respondents describe visiting the country as business’ aspect of the nation brand, asking respon- ‘fascinating’ and ‘exciting’, some 15% (in the US, UK, dents about their personal willingness to live and work Canada and Korea) describe it as ‘unpleasant’. in each country for a substantial period, and their Germany, too, is described as ‘exciting’ and ‘pre- views on which country would be most suitable for set- dictable’ by about the same number of people – in ting up an overseas branch of their company. We also many cases, people from the same countries. ask for an adjective which best describes the current economic and social condition. The Japanese are generally positive about the idea of visiting China as tourists (‘exciting’ and ‘fascinating’ The US is champion here, completing its dominance of are adjectives which recur), but they are also rather the ‘trade’ side of the hexagon in exports and invest- apprehensive about it: ‘risky’ was the adjective chosen ment. Although the question about people’s willingness by nearly a quarter of those asked. The Chinese are far to live and work there for a long period creates very more negative about visiting Japan: ‘depressing’, ‘pre- mixed responses in most of the countries in our panel, dictable’ and ‘unpleasant’ occur as frequently as ‘excit- nobody seems in any doubt that the US is the best ing’ and ‘fascinating’. Many respondents in all coun- place to set up a business in. Only in France do a sig- tries agree that Turkey would be an ‘exciting’ place to nificant number of respondents (just over 10%) visit, but ‘risky’ gets virtually the same number of votes declare that they would definitely not set up an office from the same people (apart from the Japanese and in the USA; almost a third of respondents overall the Koreans who seem blissfully unaware of whatever would definitely set up there (and a half of the Indians those risks are perceived to be). asked). And, once again, South Korea appears to be suffering The ill-feeling between the Chinese and the Japanese is from an unfortunate case of mistaken identity: visiting at least balanced on this occasion: 16% of the Chinese this delightful country is described as “risky” by large respondents would definitely not set up in Japan, and percentages of American, British, German, Canadian, 16% of the Japanese would definitely not set up in French and Danish respondents. China. Investment Turkey’s current economic and social condition is America is perceived as the best place to do business, described by a number of respondents as “irrelevant” although Sweden is preferred as a place to live and and “backward”, and is most frequently cited as the work; Russia seen as more submerging than emerging. country where they would definitely not set up an office. South Korea also scores very low here, although it’s difficult to know to what extent this is once again due to confusion with North Korea or whether it’s simply because the perception of tough language and cultural barriers acting as a disincentive to investing in an otherwise promising market: it is also described by sig- nificant numbers of respondents as a ‘developing’, ‘for-

8 ward-thinking’, ‘modern’, ‘ambitious’ and ‘promising’ ed in future editions of the NBI)? Plainly, it’s the deep market. unpopularity of US foreign policy which is dragging down what are still pretty positive results in the areas There are poor results again for Russia; and the adjec- of trade, exports, investment and popular culture. Many tive most frequently applied to this country is ‘declining’. (including myself) have predicted that if the poor image of US policy persists, it may begin to have an Conclusions effect on people’s acceptance of US products, US cul- This first edition of the Anholt-GMI Nation Brands ture, US tourism and other points of the hexagon. This Index raises some fascinating questions. is one effect we will be watching closely in successive editions of the NBI to see which way the figures move. First of all, how does one account for the relatively low ranking of ‘Brand America’ (which might very well “Temperature Chart” showing global attitudes towards prove to be lower still when other countries are includ- Brand America

The extraordinary power of Brand Sweden is perhaps entire countries; and global public perception, as never not so hard to understand. We are living in dangerous before, determines to a great extent how nations sur- times, faced by new and unimaginable threats and mas- vive and prosper in today’s world. sive political and economic instability. In such times, it is hardly surprising if the nation-brands which people A nation’s brand image is its most valuable asset: it is (at least in the West) find most attractive are the ones national identity made robust, tangible, communicable, which seem to communicate stability, reliability, probi- and – at its best – made useful. America’s extraordinar- ty, integrity, trustworthiness and social justice. Sweden ily powerful brand is one of the factors which has built is, par excellence, the nation brand which stands for America’s economy. these values: it is a still point in a turbulent world. I believe that the very respectable scores of Germany It would be a wonderful thing if some of the countries and the United Kingdom can be partly ascribed to the which now most need growth and progress were able same mood, and it suggests that Germany’s attempts to to harness and take control of their own images, and ‘update’ and ‘lighten up’ its rather serious brand image use them to similar effect in the chaotic and highly may be ill-advised. To be perceived as predictable, seri- competitive marketplace of today’s globalised world. ous-minded, even boring in such a world is not such a Looking at the results of Russia and Turkey makes one bad thing after all. realise how serious a barrier to progress a poor image can be, obscuring and even obstructing the real Whatever the mood of the times, the concept of nation progress made by such countries, and what a long way as brand is here to stay. No other model adequately such countries still have to go before they can really captures the complexity of global public perception of prosper in the global ‘marketplace’ for tourists,

9 investors, consumers, immigrants and for the respect ensure that their nation brands keep pace with the real and attention of the world’s media and other govern- progress that they are making. Not least, an improve- ments. ment in the nation-brand of some poorer countries will help to confirm that the investments made by the It is my hope that in future editions of the Anholt- international community are paying off in terms of GMI Nation Brands Index, we will witness the rise of improved perceptions – which in the marketplace so some developing countries as they increasingly take often predicts improved success. control of their own reputations and learn how to

About the Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index Simon Anholt developed the concept of the Nation Brands Index in 2005 and the first Index was published in April 2005. He is recognised as one of the world’s leading authorities on the branding of countries, regions and cities. He advises a number of national governments including the UK government and UN agencies on brand strategy, public diplomacy, cultural relations, investment and export promotion, tourism and economic development. He is editor of the quarterly journal, Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, and the author of Brand New Justice, Brand America and several other books.

GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) is a Seattle-based firm which provides e-Business solutions for global market research offering a range of software applications and database services. Founded in 1999, GMI has a staff of 180+ talented professionals located on 5 continents, serving customers in more than 40 countries. With operations in Europe, Asia and the Americas GMI serves many of the largest and most successful market research firms and companies in the world. This includes such names as AC Nielsen, Colgate-Palmolive, Gartner Research, Datamonitor, Ernest & Julio Gallo Winery, and Forrester Research.

Survey Methodology: Consumers in the following countries were polled about their opinion on these nation brands: Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Japan, South Korea, United Kingdom, and the United States. Representative samples of 1000 consumers (3% margin of error) were collected in each country for a total of 10,000 consumers surveyed. Consumers were not asked questions about their own country.