Nations Leverage Brand Management as a Crucial Foreign Policy Tool. Free Essay

Brand management has been considered one of the essential tools for many countries in the 21st century. With the world that is changing and with the increased globalization, nations are integrating the cultures of the corporate world to make sure that they look more appealing to the world and attractive for business and investment.

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Why do nation-states consider brand management for nations such a vital foreign policy tool?

To begin with, one of the reasons why nations consider brand management as a very vital foreign policy tool is that nations can combine the potential of the private and the public sector so that the country can be able to compete comfortably in the international arena. The nation can combine the resources of the private and the public sector to get an economic advantage. When the nation can combine private and public resources, the nation can compete for global resources is sectors such as tourism, foreign direct investment, higher education, and import-export trade sectors. So the quality of national branding might go a long way in determining the national income of a country and the level of economic development of the country with the successful implementation of the right image out there.

The second reason why countries consider national branding to be crucial as a foreign policy tool is that they want to uphold an image of legitimacy and authority in international diplomatic arenas. In order to earn the attention of other state leaders and authorities, not to mention to be relevant in the high table where world decisions are being made, countries are looking to have a positive image about their nations ("Nation and Brand: Keywords for the Twenty-First Century", 2013, p. 25). They want people around the world to look at their nation and think that nation is ideal for investment and tourism. Thirdly, national branding serves the recursive function. National leaders want a good and positive image about their nation internationally so that when they get back home, they will be able to get domestic consensus from the citizens, and admiration. The leaders want their citizens to be proud of their nation and patriotic to the leadership in place because their image out there is appealing to the world. Moreover, that is what every citizen wants; they want their nation to be viewed with admiration by the rest of the world, a leader that can manage to do that, then they get domestic support.

Which (recent) developments lead to the growing importance of nation branding?

The article is of the view that globalization is a recent development that has happened in the world that even stresses further the significance of national branding. It was until the 1970s and 1980s that we saw people moving a lot around the countries. Before then, branding was not there because people did not move around the world often. Today people are moving from country to country on a daily basis. They can see what governments are trying to hide. It is also clear that a brand today is considered as an asset, before the 1970s, stakeholders in a company only considered the physical elements of a company, they did not consider the reputation of a company as an asset that can bring back more money making the company a good investment. Globalization also attracts foreign direct investment.

How do the preconceptions of nation and nationalism fit into the concept of national identity?

National identity is simply the citizens of that nation being proud of their nation based on the cultures and what makes them different. Nationalism is instilled in the people by the leaders when the manage to make the people feel proud of their nation when the rest of the world can look at that country and identify something that makes that country to excel. Excelling in sports is one of the factors that can make a nation to appear different from the rest; wildlife can also stand as a landmark. Some African countries are known for great world life, and that is a factor that promotes nationalism with that nation. It is a factor that gives them a sense of national identity.

In conclusion, therefore, it is clear that the world is changing, nations are now operating like corporations, and the appearance of a nation is an asset that can determine economic growth through tourism. Branding puts the nation in a platform where foreign direct investment can be maximized.

References

Nation and Brand: Keywords for the Twenty-First Century. (2013). Branding the Nation, 15-33. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199752164.003.0002