Posts by Zia Daniell Wigder from September 25, 2008

Zia Daniell Wigder | September 25, 2008, 03:02 PM
Germany or Australia?

Having just completed a report that looks at how companies are leveraging the Internet to build their global brands, I've been spending time recently looking at global perceptions of certain brands. I was therefore interested to read Anholt-Gfk Roper's most recent Nation Brands Index (NBI) report. The index, which is based on a series of interviews/surveys in 20 countries, assesses country brands along six factors: exports, governance, culture and heritage, people, tourism, immigration/investment. Overall, Germany comes out on top, although it doesn’t lead in any one category: those honors go to Canada (people and immigration/investment), Japan (exports), Switzerland (governance), France (culture) and Italy (tourism).

The results contrast somewhat starkly with the other major country branding index, FutureBrand’s Country Brand Index, which measures country brands along eight dimensions: geography, attractions, infrastructure, authenticity, governance, culture, economy and ethos. The biggest difference in FutureBrand’s results from November 2007 as compared to Anholt’s recent ranking: Australia.

Australia tops FutureBrand’s list for the second year in a row and scores well in five out of eight categories according to FutureBrand’s study (geography, attractions, authenticity, governance and economy). By contrast, the country doesn’t make it into the top three for any category on Anholt’s NBI list. And at #2, the US also does far more favorably on FutureBrand’s list as compared to Anholt’s placement of the US at #7. Germany doesn’t make it onto FutureBrand’s top 10 list at all.

While hours could be spent debating which countries should top the lists in various categories, the studies make some interesting points: FutureBrand’s, for example, identifies which countries have done a good job of promoting their national brands (Australia, Singapore, Spain) as well those that leave room for improvement (China, US, Brazil). Indeed, despite some different conclusions, the rankings always help stir some healthy international competition.