Defining Nation Brands

Abstract

Central to the nation-branding process is defining a nation’s brand identity. It is to answer the basic question, “What does the country stand for?” In this chapter, we explore how the eight countries under study— Brazil, India, Israel, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States—defined their nation-brand identity in their respective pavilions at the Shanghai Expo. As the nation-branding process is a strategic act, countries need first to establish on what basis their national identity and image are to be formulated for an event like the expo. This part of the process involves defining the objectives, the nation-brand positioning, and the nation-brand story.