NATION BRANDING
THE IMPORTANCE OF BRANDING A NATION BY KEREN OBARA
- Introduction
In an increasingly connected and technologically advancing world, nations must think critically and invest in learning about nation branding. The key fact is that a nation’s values, work ethic and ideologies can be manufactured just as they can be destroyed. In nations with high levels of obesity and fat epidemics, values of fitness can be instilled into the public sphere. In nations that struggle with laziness among youth, values of hard work can be reinforced with the media. In communities that have regressed backwards in evolution and have resigned to praising drugs dealers, rappers and school dropouts, values of education, discipline and normality can be instilled using nation branding.
Now more that ever, emerging economies need nation branding as a tool to govern the citizens into productivity. Without this tool, the citizens remain unproductive and unmotivated.
2. The importance of Nation Branding
Nation Branding is more than important in today’s globalized world. Governments across the globe recruit experts in place branding driven by a strong sense of compulsion, in a legitimized industry of country competitiveness (Cool Japan strategy 2012). A nation’s distinction is important. First, in gaining prestige over other nations. Second, in the utilization of policy advisers media to establish soft power. Nation Branding can be carried out by the Private Sector as well.
In the world we live in, people should think seriously about the way they present content from their countries and be very specific/ strategic in what they wish to show/ not show. In media, Nation Branding goes even beyond politics and crosses into science fiction. In my work, I choose to portray this in the most authentic and raw way to show that our perception of the world and race is nit just limited to present shallow understanding but can be enhanced through active imagination.
Practices of Nation Branding create an image of an appealing nation, no matter what state the surrounding continent is (Valvaskivi, 2016, Aronczyk 2013). Both instrumental and expressive aspects create, demonstrate to, and convince others of a nation’s appeal and authenticity. Expressive features are often tamed into a “lite” version of exoticism, commodified, and marketed, increasing media ranking and social imagination. A nation or a place can very much paint its own picture of its own appeal. This is part of “spin” or what is commonly termed as “public relations”.
3. National Identity Lite: Culture must be watered down, or entirely abandoned.
Culture must be watered down, or entirely abandoned to be repackaged with only the globally digestible and appealing parts of a nation’s identity. National Identity Lite decontextualized, a historical, and depoliticized frame through which commodification is carried out for nation branding (Popescu 2011). This criterion is needed to build or image suitable for global consumption, easily digestible and compatible with the rest of the world. For things to travel, they must be light (not too heavily attached to a culture or one group’s ideologies). For the purpose of nation branding, the expressive culture must be tamed into commodified and familiar forms (Iwabuchi 2007).
This process then affects the expressive culture and perception of identity within the nation, community, or any other group involved in the branding. Thus, entire identities can be formed by nation branding and can be used to advance the nation forward. Similarly, entire identities, ideologies, and groups of people can be suppressed, or eradicated completely through nation branding.
Certain aspects of culture do not travel well and fail to grasp the attention of the collective for long. Finland for example, focuses on innovation and functionality. It is best to package what fits best with and relates to the rest of the world to achieve nation branding success.
4. Manufacturing Authenticity
The priority of nation branding should be to seek the right kind of international attention and recognition (Valaskivi 2016). When strategized properly, this attention and recognition should turn to competitiveness and soft power. For as long as there have been nations, there has been prestige and power of both soft and means. African governments and private sectors should therefore get a grab on their media industries so as to reduce the astronomical amount at which troubled parts of the continent are shown and regulate these industries in accordance with what can be shown, and what can’t be shown.
In addition to this, the beauty and nature rich areas of the continent that bring in numerous tourists should be a main focus selling point and should be showcased at a higher amount. The media must be able to shift the collective psyche from a bestial mental state to a stimulated mental state. Education, creativity, and learning must be prioritized. The Images of progress must be suggested into the minds of the collective. There are numerous nations and medieval kingdoms that used this mechanism.
Nation Branding creates a foreground of cashing in on the attention given to a country. After all, we are in the attention economy. The tourism sector will then thrive from this type of nation branding, paving the way for other industries to thrive.
References:
Aronczyk, M. (2013) Introduction: Cultures of Circulation. Poetics 40(2): 93–100
Iwabuchi, K. (2007) Bunka no taiwaryoku: Soft Power to brand Nationalism wo Koete. Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shinbun Shuppansha
Iwabuchi, K. (2008) East Asian Pop Culture: Analyzing the Korean Wave. Hong Kong. University of Hong Kong Press.
Valaskivi (, K. (2016) Cool Nations: Media and the social imaginary of the branded country. UK. Routledge.
