Branding for the Public Sector: Creating, Building and Managing Brands People Will Value

Chapter 3 The Nation Brand Effect and Brand Architecture

The previous chapter examined the different types of public sector branding and the importance of branding to organizations in this sector. In this chapter I will look at the bigger picture in terms of national identity and competitiveness and the link between these and brand imagery at public and private sector levels. I will explain how the Nation Brand Effect works in creating a virtuous brand-building circle between a nation and its corporations, the need for government support; and I’ll show how brand architecture plays its role in a national scenario and from a non-governmental perspective. The starting point for this discussion is the Nation Brand Effect and its link to the country-of-origin of companies and products.

The Nation Brand Effect (NBE) and Country-of-Origin (COO)

Branding certainly does not happen overnight and the larger the entity to be branded, the more likely it is to have taken a longer time to achieve any significant effect. This is particularly true of countries, most of which have a long and unique history. A country’s image is built over time and in a gradual way, and is influenced by a multitude of factors such as culture, heritage, governance, politics, products, and levels of economic development. Whilst most countries possess the age factor, emerging countries tend to be ranked lower than developed economies regarding many other factors.

On the positive side, culture and heritage occupy ...