Article
--- John Quelch, professor at Harvard Business School
What do people outside of China think of the country? Can we compare the popularity of different nations? UK government advisor Simon Anholt developed the Nation Brands Index (NBI) in 2005 as a way to measure the image and reputation of nations across the world.
Published on an annual base, the NBI measures the images of 50 countries by interviewing over 20,000 people in 20 different countries. Many countries put great stock in the ranking. Recently, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak announced a plan to try and raise Korea’s rank from 33 to 15 by the end of 2013.
Looking back through history, international events are coveted by their host countries to promote their nations’brands. The Olympics had successfully repositioned Greece and Spain as attractive nations. And the 1933 Chicago Expo is regarded as a marker for the US recovery from the recession.
With the 2010 World Expo on Shanghai’s horizon, can China’s rank improve on a global stage? What does China need to do to take full advantage of the opportunity?
Guest intro
John Quelch is a professor at Harvard Business School. Professor Quelch's research focus is on global marketing and branding. He is famous for his teaching materials and innovations on pedagogy. Over the past 20 years, he has sold over 2.7 million case studies, the third highest in Harvard Business School history.
Nation Brands Index
A: Let’s start by talking today in explaining a little bit about what nation branding is.
J: Well nation branding is all about positioning a particular nation state in the minds of consumers. Those consumers might be voters or citizens of other countries. They might be potential tourists. They might be potential investors. There are a number of different segments that a typical nation branding strategy could potentially target, but the idea is to put your best foot forward and make clear to each target segment what the special qualities, attributes and benefits are of your nation, vis--vis the many other nations in the world. Remember that, there are about 195 nations in the world competing for the attention of investors, tourists, and citizens.
A: Can you give us a few examples of some countries that have had to brand themselves or have it done well?
M: Well, a couple of examples that I think do stand out. Interestingly, these are relatively small countries. So for example, about 20 years ago, Costa Rica in Latin America, had the notion that it could basically present itself as a venue for US retirees, American senior citizens who are retiring to go and buy a second home or become permanent residents. And it was a very successful effort. Now a second example, totally different, would be Dubai, where you have a small nation in the Middle East, part of the United Arab Emirates, no oil revenue to speak of in Dubai and therefore the need to develop completely different strategy. What Sheikh Mohammed and his team in Dubai have done over 20, 25 years is to first of all develop Dubai as duty-free entrepot between Asia and Europe and then as a result of all of the travelers who came through Dubai and change planes in Dubai as they were moving from Asia to Europe. Those people became familiar with Dubai and on the basis of that, initiative. It was possible to build a very successful city-state with tremendous amount of commercial activity, which is very similar in a way to what Lee Kuan Yew did with Singapore, making Singapore the gateway to Asia. Now Dubai is the gateway to the Middle East.
A: Is it hard for China to brand itself as a country when you have these too huge standouts?
J: Right. There is actually, in a sense, a competition between city brands and country brands. And in many cases, the image of a country internationally will be based largely on the image of the capital city. The advantage of that is that you have the political, the economic, the social elite and decision-making all concentrated in one place. The United States and China are 2 geographically much larger countries and, not surprisingly therefore, there is potentially more diffusion of decision-making power across the larger geography. And in the US, of course, we have NY, but we also have Washington, we have Los Angles, we have San Francisco, Chicago and Boston, all of these, in their own right, are very important centers for one reason or another. In China, as well, very large country, it is rather unusual and surprising if everything was concentrated in one city. And actually a source of great competitive strength for a country is to have different major cities competing against each other. That is actually healthier than to have a London or a Paris type of situation in my view. So I think that Beijing has its special character and personality; Shanghai has its special character and personality. The fact that you can find both in China actually enhances the appeal of China.
The National Brand Index score is made up of 6 categories: exports, governance, culture and heritage, people, tourism as well as investment and immigration. In the culture category, China ranked No. 9 in 2008. However, in the remaining 5 categories, it fell out of the top 15 altogether. Overall, China was ranked in the bottom half, 28 out of 50 countries.
A: Let’s talk a little bit about how China is perceived. Looking at nations that are involved in that, you don’t see China anywhere near the top.
M: Well, China, I think, in a sense, is a relatively new phenomenon. If you think about it, there have only been a couple of decades, so remember that, prior to Den Xiaoping and the opening, we had the Culture Revolution and Mao Tse-tung and so forth. And that created an image of China as a very closed society, a very egalitarian society. And that particular image, of course, you know, cannot be erased in 5 minutes. Now obviously, the last two decades have seen enormous transformation in China in terms of economic and social and political development.
A: What are your observations about China? You traveled around quite a bit and you spent a lot of time here.
M: When I came in 1981, there was no food worth eating, or at least no food that I could retain. Let’s put it that way. Secondly there was basically nothing to buy. Thirdly, I was followed everywhere by a very nice young man wearing a uniform. If you look at 27, 28 years later, when I think of China, I think of the concept of transformation. And I think of the development of an economy and a social structure and so forth that has been really unprecedented in the history of the world.
A: Do you think there’re maybe some misunderstandings about China from people who just know of its past, of its history, and the stories that came out of here, and don’t know enough about its culture, its people, to formulate their own opinion?
J: Right, so one of the things you can do as a research is of course, to simply go to someone in a foreign country and say what you think of China, or what do you know of China? Well, I haven’t done the research, but, probably, Chairman Mao would figure prominently. Probably communism would figure prominently. It’s more sort of historic stuff. But actually is not really as relevant anymore.
Page 1 2