The second Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index (NBI) report ranks the brand power and appeal of 25 developed and developing nations…
The second Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index (NBI) report ranks the brand power and appeal of 25 developed and developing nations and is based on the opinion of 10, 000 consumers from 10 countries. Surveyed globally by market research solutions provider GMI, the NBI, led by nation brand expert Simon Anholt, is the first analytical ranking of nation brands based on worldwide public perceptions of a country`s cultural, political, commercial and human assets, investment potential and tourist appeal.
The second quarterly NBI report analyzes the brand values of more countries (25 compared to 11) than the first report published in May 2005. Australia, a new entry in the NBI, has replaced Sweden as the world`s strongest nation brand. Canada is ranked number two, Switzerland three and the UK is fourth, with Sweden fifth. Overall, the U.S. is now eleventh, rather than fourth; Russia and Turkey remain at the bottom of the overall ranking at 24th and 25th, respectively.
Unlike other polls, the NBI is designed to measure the real underlying brand power of each country, something that takes generations to build and change, said Simon Anholt. It seems that to be a top nation brand, the country needs to be stable, liberal, democratic and Western, with a tendency to neutrality. Australia is the top nation brand perhaps because it is more Swedish than even Sweden itself. It also appears that direct personal experience, for example visiting as a tourist, has the most positive effect on a person`s perception of a nation brand. Major events within a country or attempts at marketing promotion seem to change the brand image very little. Further research is needed, but the implications are genuinely significant for how governments manage their countries` international reputations. A country isn`t a packet of soap powder that you can sell to a consumer.
The NBI is just one example of how technology can help poll a broad base of the world`s population to get an accurate reading on something as important as global opinion of nation brands, said Mitch Eggers, Ph.D, Chief Operations Officer of global research operations for GMI. As this becomes one of the world`s largest regular polls, gauging consumer attitudes in incredible detail and quality, the more valuable it will become as a tool to help governments and organizations develop a plan of action to address these strongly held perceptions.
Key findings in the second quarterly Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index:
- Australia – the panel`s overall first choice for quality of people, tourism and investment/immigration made this the number one brand. But, low rankings for products and culture are a concern. The latter finding is a surprise given the strength of Australia in popular culture for example, in music and movies.
- France – the first time in the NBI and the country ranks at the lower end of the richer Western nations on just about every count apart from culture, coming in second overall after Italy. A particular concern is the low ranking for how its people are perceived. Ninth overall and 19th on the index of perceived hospitality should be an issue for its tourism industry.
- United States – On investment and quality of products, the U.S. still scores high marks in global opinion (third and second respectively); however, the poll ranks German branded products above American ones – a surprise, considering American brands hugely outnumber German brands. When the international panel was asked how much they trust a country`s government to make responsible decisions on peace and security, the U.S. came 19th just above South Korea, China, and Russia, but below all other Western nations.
- China – on most rankings it is in the bottom third, except in cultural heritage, where it ranks number two after Egypt at number one. Despite its global manufacturing strength, Chinese-branded products come last, below those of India, Russia and Turkey.
- UK – its number four placing makes the UK the only nation in the top five of the NBI to be in the mainstream economically and politically, and the only nuclear power. The quality of its people (third overall) and culture (fourth overall) are key factors, but the UK scores well on products (sixth) and place to invest in (fifth), too.
Anholt adds: Nation brand is an important concept in today`s world. A powerful and positive nation brand provides a crucial competitive advantage in today`s global marketplace, where countries compete with each other for the attention, respect and trust of investors, tourists, consumers, donors, immigrants, the governments of other nations and the media.
Complete ranking of all 25 nation brands:
- Australia
- Canada
- Switzerland
- UK
- Sweden
- Italy
- Germany
- Netherlands
- France
- New Zealand
- United States
- Spain
- Ireland
- Japan
- Brazil
- Mexico
- Egypt
- India
- Poland
- South Korea
- China
- South Africa
- Czech Republic
- Russia
- Turkey
Consumers in the following countries were polled about their opinions: Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Japan, South Korea, United Kingdom and United States. Representative samples of 1,000 consumers (3% margin of error) were collected in each country for a total of 10,000 consumers surveyed. Consumers were not asked questions about their own country.
There have been some major shifts in rankings between the first and second NBI reports. These are mainly attributable to how the NBI has been expanded to cover 25 rather than the previous 11 nation brands, making the sample more representative. New countries covered include Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Ireland, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, South Africa and Switzerland.
The Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index
Simon Anholt developed the concept of the Nation Brands Index in 2005 and the first Index was published in April 2005. He is recognised as one of the world`s leading authorities on the branding of countries, regions and cities. He advises a number of national governments including the UK government and UN agencies on brand strategy, public diplomacy, cultural relations, investment and export promotion, tourism and economic development. He is editor of the quarterly journal, Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, and the author of Brand New Justice, Brand America and several other books.
GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) is a Seattle-based firm which provides e-Business solutions for global market research offering a range of software applications and database services. Founded in 1999, GMI has a staff of 180+ talented professionals located on 5 continents, serving customers in more than 40 countries. With operations in Europe, Asia and the Americas GMI serves many of the largest and most successful market research firms and companies in the world. This includes such names as AC Nielsen, Colgate-Palmolive, Gartner Research, Datamonitor, Ernest & Julio Gallo Winery, and Forrester Research.
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