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Sustainable tourism in a
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Destination branding in a
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10th January 2020

Two countries that prove nation branding works

Estonia and Costa Rica have learned how to turn nation and place branding theory into practice: the
evolution of their strategies, and of their reputation on the world stage, provide positive proof of the
opportunities for nations to change and build brand perceptions in a proactive way.

These countries are different for obvious reasons, from location to language, from history to culture, and
with different social and economic conditions. And each has a different story to tell and its own path to
follow, through a unique identity that will allow them to reach a specific audience and achieve the goals
set for the needs identified.

But the cases of Estonia and Costa Rica have more things in common with each other than the things
that divide them: they both have the foundations for a successful nation brand.

FOUR ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL NATION 

BRANDING STRATEGY
1. A brand strategy based on a central idea
Firstly, these two countries wanted to manage their reputation and establish a specific perception:
Estonia wanted to be perceived as a digital society and Costa Rica as a global role model.

This centralcontent
Related idea provides the foundation for a coherent, consistent and realistic strategy capable of
structuring the entire brand.  All actions, activities, measures and policies are aligned with this concept,
The
making it possible power
to change of collaboration
perceptions and manage their reputation.
in place branding
2. The right organisational structure
Brand
Estonia has Enterprise ambassadors
Estonia and Costa Rica and
has Essential Costa Rica. Both are organisational
citizen
structures created engagement:
from scratch with the sole purpose of managing the nation brand. These are
Discover
comprised of official, resilient,Harlow's
non-partisanplace
and independent teams capable of surviving political and
brandand
governmental changes journey
keeping the strategy working, always in collaboration with key stakeholders
and all entities involved.
Job #1: Building confidence
3. Clear KPIs and measurement processes
The two nations have been monitoring the country brand’s actions and policies and measuring the
Sustainable tourism in a
results, a process that has direct influence on the success of their strategies. We cannot know if it works,
post-COVID-19 world
if we don’t measure it:  Estonia and Costa Rica both have specific nation brand tools to ensure key
indicators and measure how relevant the strategy has been in terms of meeting specified goals.
Destination branding in a
timeofof
4. Management lockdown
digital identity
Finally, these twoNow iswere
nations theable
time to rethink
to identify a factor of extreme importance, given the influence and
our
impact it can have on communities
the remaining components of a country brand: its digital identity. They have
demonstrated their understanding that the offline and online world are intrinsically linked, and that what
Leveraging
happens in one influences your
the other. place
I have looked in more depth at the importance of the digital identity
brand
of nation and place toincreate
brands my recentabook “Nation Brand Builders”, where I address Nation Branding
2.0. framework for recovery
Let’s take a closer look at these two case study examples that prove that nation and place branding
strategies work.

ESTONIA: the most digital country in the world


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The power of collaboration

in place branding
Brand ambassadors and
citizen engagement:
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Job #1: Building confidence
© Enterprise Estonia

Sustainable tourism in a
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After the restored independence in 1991, Estonia has come a long way to find its place on Europe’s and
the world’s map.Destination branding
This northern European inwith
Country, a half of its territory “occupied” by forests and
time of
wilderness, has worked hardlockdown
to build its economy and position itself as an innovative and technological
country.
Now is the time to rethink
With a clear vision of the future as a digital society, Estonia invested heavily in digital infrastructure,
our communities
becoming the first e-State by creating digital solutions to make life easier for its citizens with the e-
Leveraging
Estonia programme. This means your place
that 99% of public services are digitally managed and accessible online,
cutting red tape brand to create
in state processes. Andathis is when the brand strategy began.

framework for recovery

Creating Enterprise Estonia

The government’s continued commitment to digital initiatives ensured that Estonia began to be perceived
as the most advanced digital society in the world. Established in 2000, Enterprise Estonia was created as
the institution briefed with fulfilling the strategic objectives of the Estonian nation brand in terms of
providing financing and training to encourage entrepreneurship.  

Capitalising on the country’s growing reputation for digital expertise, Enterprise Estonia introduced the e-
Residency programme in 2014 to grow Estonia's community and economy by inviting foreign citizens to
open businesses in Estonia. The transnational digital identity they pioneered is available to anyone in the
world interested in running an online business. This enables Estonia to stand out clearly in the
international arena, generating more domestic revenue through exclusively digital companies. This is
extremely important for a country of only 1.3 million inhabitants.

In fact, the Republic of Estonia has become the ideal place for remote digital nomads and international
entrepreneurs planning to host a company in the European Union; by ensuring that these digital services
convey security, credibility and trust, Estonia has succeeded in creating new opportunities across 
borders.
Real world impacts
All these policies are examples of how measures driven by a central idea can become extremely visible
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and tangible. Estonia is also the benchmark for a country that promotes its digital identity, having
invested in their digital presence early on. Try searching "Estonia" in a search engine. Everything that
appears reflectsThe power
its central idea. of
Thecollaboration
digital perception of the country reflects its intended one, and this
in place
perception  corresponds branding
to what is relevant in the real world.

Brand ambassadors
This consistent implementation andof Estonia’s nation brand has resulted in changing and
of the central idea
building the rightcitizen engagement:
reputation among internal and external audiences. And this is seen in Estonia’s
Discover
performance in various Harlow's
international place
rankings.
brand journey
According to the 2019 edition of the European Commission’s Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) -
which monitors progress
Job #1: made by EU countries
Building in terms of digitalisation - Estonia ranks 8th among the
confidence
28 Member States and is one of the European leaders when it comes to digital public services. In
addition, it is the best rated country in the 2018 Digital Life Abroad, given the availability of online
Sustainable
administrative and tourism
government services. It alsoinranks
a high on the 2018 Internet Freedom House Index.
post-COVID-19 world
Often ranked as one of the most competitive, open and transparent economies in the world (ranked 7th
in the 2018 Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom), the simple and agile business
Destination branding in a
environment is one of its main drivers.
time of lockdown
Now is the time to rethink
our communities
Proofs that it works
Leveraging
A further indicator your brand
that Estonia’s nation place
strategy is working - and that all the policies that were
brand
adopted along with to create
it are having a
a real impact on public perception - is the result in digital searches.
framework for recovery
As a performance metric for nation and place brands, online searches show how a country, region or city
is doing in terms of appeal and how much proactive interest is being generated in the desired
international audiences. The more searched a country, region or city is for the right reasons, the more
interesting it is for its audience. Online searches are a true indicator of how a place is perceived by
international stakeholders. What people search about a place is what they associate with it. In other
words, if a country, region or city is searched digitally for positive keywords, it has a strong and relevant
brand.

In order to assess and analyse the digital performance of Estonia, we used the Digital Demand – D2©
software, an intelligence tool that allows understanding the appeal of nation and place brands while
providing us with an overview of the most searched topics (or brandtags, as we call it) in five different
dimensions, such as talent, tourism, exports, investment, and prominence.

Entrepreneurship and talent attraction in Estonia

When it comes to Estonia, it is the fastest growing country in Europe in the last three years, for searches
related with “entrepreneurship”, a brandtag clearly linked to Estonia’s central idea. With an average 
growth of 83% in Digital Demand – D2©, Estonia’s growth is ten times higher than the world's average
growth (8.7%).

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Graph 1. Global Searches for Estonia - Digital Demand - D2©

The power of collaboration

in place branding
Brand ambassadors and
citizen engagement:
Discover Harlow's place
brand journey
Job #1: Building confidence

Sustainable tourism in a
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Destination branding in a
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Evolution of brandtag “Entrepreneurship”, December 2015 - October 2018
Now is the time to rethink
our communities
Estonia is also one of the fastest growing European countries in terms of attracting talent, another topic
Leveraging
that is directly associated your
with the place
central idea. Following the implementation of programmes like e-
brand
Residency and other to create
policies a the country’s central idea (2016-2018), Estonia is the country
aligned with
framework
brand with the third for
largest growth raterecovery
in terms of “work” brandtag searches in Europe, in Digital
Demand – D2©. The strategy has succeeded in aligning the central idea and reality of the country brand
with international perceptions.

Estonia is not only the number one in Europe for average growth in entrepreneurship searches, but also
managed to be number seven in the world, ahead of countries like Hong Kong, Chile and United Kingdom.

Table 1. World Ranking for “Entrepreneurship” - Digital Demand - D2©

Global searches (2018)


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The power of collaboration

in place branding
Brand ambassadors and
citizen engagement:
Discover Harlow's place
brand journey
Job #1: Building confidence
* an average growth December 2015 - November 2018

Sustainable tourism in a
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COSTA RICA: Much more
Destination thaninnature
branding a
time of lockdown
Now is the time to rethink
our communities
Leveraging your place
brand to create a
framework for recovery

© PROCOMER

World renowned for its fauna and flora, Costa Rica is an oasis in the heart of the American continent.
Bathed by the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, it has 25% of its territory covered by parks and
natural reserves and wildlife refuges and contains 5% of global biodiversity, with around 750,000 different
species of insects and plants.

The intrinsic link with nature is, in fact, one of the strongest aspects in Costa Rica's image, but with the
development of the country brand strategy this Central American territory showed that it is much more
than that.

Initially, every effort was made to make Costa Rica a tourist destination. However, with the structuring of
a nation brand strategy, it was possible to create a broader approach that included talent attraction,
promotion of exports and improvement of general reputation in order to establish the country's
differentiation and competitive advantages at a global level.

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The power of collaboration

Managing a complete and independent country brand
in place branding
An independent committee of state governments has been set up, responsible for the management of
Brand
the Essential Costa ambassadors
Rica Country Brand, whoseand
tasks include collaboration and involvement of public and
citizen
private stakeholders, engagement:
as well as the citizens themselves. This organisation is autonomous from the
Discover
executive governments Harlow's
who succeed place
each other in the governance of the country, which guarantees it a
brand
non-partisan position andjourney
is exempt from political results, although it operates in natural articulation with
the administrations in office.
Job #1: Building confidence
The commitment of tourism policies to the environment contributed positively to the perception of Costa
Rica, together with other key policies: the promotion of education (the literacy rate is 96%), culture (all
Sustainable
children are encouraged tourism
to learn how to play anininstrument,
a for example), peace (it is the headquarters of
post-COVID-19
the United Nations world
University for Peace), access to the health system (free national service) and the
development of industries (export of technology and food products to 157 countries).
Destination branding in a
time of lockdown
Sustainability Now at is
thetheheart
timeoftothe Costa Rican place brand
rethink
ourone
In addition to being communities
of the most stable democracies in Latin America, Costa Rica is one of the few
countries in the world without an army, having abolished the armed forces over 70 years ago to allocate
Leveraging your place
its budget to education and culture. This is one of the reasons why it is a key member of the Wellbeing
brand
Alliance, in addition to its to create
concern a well-being and quality of life of the population, which is globally
for the
considered to beframework forHappy
the happiest (2019 recovery
Planet Index,).

Thanks to the reinterpretation of the pre-existing values of sustainability, excellence, innovation, social
progress and pride in Costa Rican origins, our team at Bloom Consulting reaffirmed the strategy and
established a model for the management of the nation brand that allowed the alignment of all actions,
measures and policies with the central idea.

Its role in protecting nature and its commitment to combat climate change are reflected in the
government's commitment to ambitious policies aimed at green energy. Currently 99% of electricity is
generated by renewable energies and Costa Rica wants to become the first country free of plastic and
carbon in 2021, whilst aiming to achieve zero emissions by 2050. These ambitions sustain Costa Rica’s
country brand as a global “role model”.

Proofs that it works

The performance of Costa Rica’s country brand has been growing, providing proof of how nation
branding works effectively when it is well structured and implemented.

In November 2019, the Essential Costa Rica Country Brand received the Place Brand of the Year award at
the City Nation Place Global event in London, "for its commitment to a sustainable and multifaceted
strategy and its belief in the potential for the place brand to unite an entire nation”. This extremely
important recognition of the values of preservation, sustainability, and inclusion of citizens, serves as an
example for other country brands.
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Added to that, the evolution of Costa Rica through the annual editions of the Bloom Consulting Country
The power of collaboration
Brand Ranking©, is remarkable! In tourism, it has risen significantly from 11th to 5th regional position
in place branding
since 2013. This meteoric rise is thanks to increased tourism revenues, online performance and strategy
efficiency, and it has also secured its place in the World Top 30 – an extraordinary achievement for a
Brand ambassadors and
country of its size.
citizen engagement:
Discover
In the trade dimension Harlow's
of the same ranking,place
it provides living proof that sustainability can be the engine
of the economy brand journey
and provide a financial return. It currently ranks 10th in the American ranking. The latest
Digital Country Index© also puts Costa Rica on the verge of the top 50 most sought-after countries by
Job
export and the top #1:
30 by Building
talent confidence
(living, working, studying).

But the most important metric of how Costa Rica’s country brand strategy is having a legacy effect is
Sustainable
how searches skyrocketed tourism
after the in a of renewable energy policies. The average growth in
implementation
post-COVID-19
the last two years jumped 858%! As youworld
can see in the graph below, after November 2014 - the period of
the implementation - the number of searches for “renewable energy” reached an unprecedented peak. A
strong indicator Destination
that Costa Rica’s branding in a put the country on the “green” map.
nation brand strategy
time of lockdown
Now is the time to rethink
Graph 2. Global Searches for Costa Rica - Digital Demand - D2©
our communities
Leveraging your place
brand to create a
framework for recovery

Evolution of brandtag “Renewable Energy”, October 2012-June 2019

With this type of improvement, it is not surprising that Costa Rica belongs to the top 10 most searched
online countries worldwide for “renewable energy”. Environmental sustainability is at the core of Costa
Rica’s country brand. It’s clear that the strategy’s implementation is building positive reputation and
aligning perceptions with the central idea.

Table 2. World Ranking for “Renewable Energy” - Digital Demand - D2©

Global searches (2018)

Related content

The power of collaboration

in place branding
Brand ambassadors and
citizen engagement:
Discover Harlow's place
brand journey
Job #1: Building confidence

Sustainable tourism in a
post-COVID-19 world
Destination branding in a
time of
Demonstrating lockdown
nation branding
Now is
There are many country the time
marketing to rethink
campaigns that can demonstrate ROI for attracting tourism, or
our communities
attracting investment, but this is different, this is nation branding. What connects these two nation
branding case studies is the breadth and impact in shifting perceptions that results from having a central
Leveraging
idea, the right organisational yourtoplace
structure provide consistent support to the brand strategy, clear KPIs and
brand to
measurement processes, andcreate a
an understanding of the power of digital reputation.
framework for recovery

Further reading / tips:

Open source place branding - the ESTonia case

Estonia - Best Use of Design Finalist 2018

Our Brand Essence: Costa Rica - Winner of the Place Brand of the Year award 2019

The digital appeal of Latin America

Creating the ideal structure to manage a nation's brand

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About
City Nation Place provides information and inspiration to place branding teams around the world – whether
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you are working to promote the reputation of your city, region or nation, to promote tourism, attract talent or
investment, or increase economic competitiveness.
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