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Nation Branding

Article  in  Journal of Marketing · May 2009

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Marc Fetscherin
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Journal of Marketing, xxx 2009, Volume x, Number x: Book Review

Nation Branding

Fetscherin, Marc, Crummer Graduate School of Business, Rollins College

Nation Branding: Concepts, Issues, Practice by Keith Dinnie (Dutton: Butterworth-Heinemann,

2008, 288 pp., $ 43.15).

It is not unusual today to find countries in vigorous competition with one another where previously
such activities were the province of for-profit companies. Governments are turning to branding
techniques to differentiate their nations on the global stage and to give themselves a competitive
edge over “rival” countries. A positive country brand provides a crucial advantage by helping to
restore lapsed international credibility. Branding may also increase international political influence
and facilitate stronger international partnerships. Countries have thus become increasingly aware
of the importance of their nation brand and nation branding. Nation branding refers to a country’s
whole image, including political, economic, social, environmental, historical, and cultural issues.
Since there is little theory on the subject but a substantial amount of real world activity and
multiple examples, the possibilities for the field are wide open. But it is complex because it
encompasses multiple dimensions, levels and disciplines beyond conventional branding and is a
highly politicized activity that generates conflicting viewpoints, opinions and it has also become to
some extend controversial as some associate it more with marketing and branding where others
more with international relations and public diplomacy.

In that context, Keith Dinnie’s book, Nation Branding: Concepts, Issues, Practice, is both timely
and relevant. Dinnie, an Associate Professor at Temple University - Japan Campus (TUJ), a
branch campus of its counterpart in Philadelphia, U.S., explains the intricacies of nation branding
and shows how nations can apply conventional brand management techniques. With plenty of
information on the context and nature of nation branding, his book makes a valuable contribution
to the emerging literature on nation branding.

The book has ten chapters and is divided into four main parts: scope and scale of nation branding;
conceptual roots of nation branding; ethical and pragmatic issues in nation branding; and current
practice and future horizons for nation branding. Each part consists of two or three chapters and
most begin with a country case study. Dinnie weaves in contributions from 20 experts on branding
who comment on academic and practitioner aspects of the subject in short essays. For example, he
has Klaus-Peter Weidmann, a professor in Germany, and co-author Gianfranco Walsh writing
about nation branding in Germany; Dipak Pant, a Nepalese professor in Italy, on repositioning
Nepal; and Anthony Gortzis on Greek olive oil and nation branding and the relationship between
product and nation branding. Dinnie does an excellent job integrating the chapters by cross-
referencing. The updated literature at the end of each chapter is very useful for those interested in
exploring the topic further.

Scope and Scale of Nation Branding

The book opens with a case study of South Africa and shows how the country applied nation
branding techniques to attract trade, tourism and investments. Chapter 1 continues with a
definition of nation branding and discusses how to adapt brand theory to nation branding. It should
be noted that there is a definition disconnect as a clear definition and view on nation branding is
not established yet and what some regard as nation branding is simply different from the views of
others in the discipline. The book gives an overview of initiatives in a number of countries. The
case of Egypt that opens chapter 2 illustrates how that country tried to improve its image to attract
more business. Dinnie also discusses such key elements of branding theory as brand identity,
brand image, and brand positioning and how these concepts apply to nation branding. Chapter 3
begins with a case discussing the effects of country of origin (COO) and nation branding on
Chile’s wine industry. The author describes how brand equity concepts can be applied to nation
brands and examines the potential sources and dimensions of a nation’s brand equity.

Unfortunately there is only a limited discussion of how nation branding “fits” into the current
branding literature. How is it similar to or different from product branding, corporate branding and
destination branding? Although the book includes a simplistic model of nation brand equity, I
missed a more detailed explanation of why this is important. How might one evaluate such brand
equity and how does it differ from current brand equity approaches?

Conceptual Roots of Nation Branding

The second part of the book investigates the roots of nation branding. In chapter 4 the country case
of Switzerland shows the image promotion of Switzerland by means of a federal administered
office which coordinates the activities of other organizations in that particular field. In this chapter
Dinnie also reviews the main themes in the field of COO and relates them to nation branding.
Chapter 5 outlines the country case of Russia which describes how nation branding was applied to
shape and promote the nation’s identity internally. This chapter also reviews the basic features of
national identity with a special focus on the cultural elements and how they relate to nation
branding. The country case in chapter 6 is about Brazil and illustrates how a nation can promote an
economic sector that does not necessarily coincide with existing stereotypes of a nation. This
chapter presents a framework of how COO and national identity both underpin the concept of
nation branding.

Unfortunately, Dinnie gives little attention to other possible roots of nation branding such as
destination branding. Country identity (Chapter 5) is the internal perspective and country image
(Chapter 2) the external perspective, but I believe parts of chapter 2 would be better included in
chapter 5. Along the same line, chapter 6 presents a framework which shows that country of origin
and national identity are two related fields underpinning the concept of nation branding. I agree
with that, but since destination branding and country image are also related fields underpinning
nation branding, they should be added to the framework.

Ethical and Pragmatic Issues in Nation Branding

Part three opens in chapter 7 with the country case of Bolivia and traces how nation branding can
overcome a negative image in order to attract tourism. Dinnie talks here about the key ethical
imperatives related to nation branding such as who has the right to be a nation brand manager. The
country case in chapter 8 is about Iceland and describes the establishment of an umbrella brand for
multiple industries. This chapter also reviews the extent of stakeholder participation, the
coordination of nation-brand initiatives, and a simple nation brand architecture. It shows that the
nation brand represents the umbrella brand, at the next level down can be found the endorsed
brands such as the nation’s tourism, exports, inward investment, talent attraction and sports; whilst
the third level consists of standalone brands such as regions, cities or landmarks for tourism,
products and services for exports or national teams or Clubs for sports for example.
However, what was missing was an in-depth discussion about product safety, labor issues,
corporate social responsibility, and human rights and their relationship to nation branding. While
there is a brief discussion of nation branding as a political activity, it would have been interesting
to learn more about that and the connection between nation branding and public diplomacy and
international relations. For example, the author could have included a discussion about nation
branding as a means to enforce “soft power”.

Current Practice and Future Horizons for Nation Branding

The country case of Japan opens chapter 9 and shows how that country has gone about developing
a nation branding strategy. It discusses the principles of nation brand strategy and provides
guidelines on how to conduct an internal analysis of a country’s existing competitive position and
an external analysis of competitors from a nation branding point of view. Chapter 10 begins with
the country case of France which wraps up the cases, describes how nation branding can contribute
to attracting foreign direct investment to a country. Dinnie concludes his study with a discussion of
future directions for nation branding such as online nation branding, internal nation branding, and
sonic nation branding.

If something else is missing from the book it would have be an overall framework to guide the
reader and connect the different parts and chapters better. This would also help our understanding
of the “big picture” of nation branding, especially since the topic is complex and includes multiple
levels, components and disciplines. Although Dinnie cross-references the chapters very
effectively, there are no introductory and conclusion chapters. While the country cases were well
chosen and interesting to read, I felt there was a disconnect between the cases and the
commentaries that followed in each chapter. Maybe a more conventional structure of first
discussing the theory and issues and then including one or two country cases at the end of each
chapter might overcome this disconnect.

Overall, I applaud Keith Dinnie for researching and editing this book, the first overview of its kind
on nation branding. It makes a thoughtful contribution for marketing scholars and practitioners.
For scholars, it may either broaden their perspective on the discipline of branding or serve as a
starting point for additional research. The book also offers worthwhile supplemental reading for
any undergraduate or graduate course on marketing, branding, international business, public
diplomacy, and international relations. For scholars interested in creating a seminar or teaching a
course about nation branding, this book is a “must buy”. The work of Kothler et al. (1997) and,
more recently, Anholt’s (2007) Competitive Identity: The New Brand Management for Nations,
Cities and Regions are useful complementary readings. For practitioners and especially
government officials and policy makers in economic development and export promotion agencies
as well as tourism organizations, this book includes many hands-on examples and useful
information.

REFERENCES

Anholt, Simon (2007), Competitive Identity: The New Brand Management for Nations, Cities and
Regions: Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
 Dinnie, Keith (2008), Nation Branding: Concepts, Issues, Practice: Oxford, UK: Butterworth-
Heinemann (An imprint of Elsevier).

Kotler, Philip, Jatusripitak, Somkid, Maesincee, Suvit (1997), The Marketing of Nations: A
Strategic Approach to Building National Wealth, New York, NY: The Free Press.

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