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Abstract:

Nation branding is fast assuming a place as a relevant theme in global brand management as it could be argued that the totality of perception around a product or company's brand across its territorial boundaries touches on some core country of origin considerations.

But, Nation branding is not a stand alone. It is a marriage of a number of constituents, each receiving its rightful attention. Building a nation brand in a way entails attaching premium on local capacity development and knowledge. Thus, a coordinated approach with mutual understanding from all players in the game is paramount.

Keywords: Nation Branding, Internal buy-in. Nation brand equity model

1.0 Nation branding: background & context setting

1.1 The concept & relevance of Nation branding

Branding as a practice has gained increasing attention over the years arising from the background of compelling images of worldwide signatures such as Coca Cola, reputed as a "global club with a mere membership fee of fifty cents" to MacDonald's penetration across the world through franchising. Even in the face of established regional income differentials, these brands, be it Google, Wal-Mart or Marlboro have not only sustained the steam but continuously commanded consumers patronage or bonding over time by concentrating on the key dynamics that differentiates them from others, focusing on the big global stage, and acting locally. Nation branding has become a popular phrase ever since Simon Anholt coined the phrase in 1996. Anholt, S (1998) attempts to draw a connection between really successful international brands and the country of origin of such products given that countries such as Japan (Toyota and Sony); United States of America (Coca Cola, General Motors or the Wall Street) seem to have substantial influence over their brand imagery. This underscores the complexity of brands with respect to its attributes and provenance. Brymer, C (2003) observes that:

"Countries will compete daily with neighbors or block regions for tourism, inward investment and export sales, there's only so much business that can go around. Those countries that start with an unknown or poor reputation will be limited or marginalized. They cannot easily boost their commercial success".

There appear to be a strong link between branding and customers mental vision or as in the view of Feldwick, P (2002),...

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