An image to impress

Brand China shaping up but still a few rough edges to sharpen

Nation branding is an increasingly important and influential field of theory and practice which attempts to measure a country's reputation and provide guidance on a country's image management around the world. This is because the branding and image of each nation state is becoming increasingly important in a nation's sustainable competitive advantage.

Simon Anholt is a pioneer in this field and since 2008, the annual Anholt-GFK Roper Nation Brand Index (NBI) has become recognized as the most credible measurement of a country's international brand image. A few days ago the survey results for 2011 were published.

The survey took place from July 6 to July 25 in 20 major developed and developing countries. The results are based on ratings of 50 nations by 20,337 respondents on questions in six categories: Exports, governance, culture, people, tourism and immigration/investment. The overall NBI ranking is based on the average of these six scores.

Before we go into detail, it is important to note how this differs from other similar measures such as country-of-origin (COO), place branding and destination branding. COO, studies of which began as long ago as the 1960s, attempts to measure the image of the country of product manufacture, although this is increasingly confused with the country of product association. Place branding and destination branding are more recent concepts and both focus firmly on the tourism industry.

A glance at the six categories which combine to form the NBI rating clearly confirms that this is a far more comprehensive and contemporary approach.

Furthermore, the research undertaken also appears to be very extensive and not replicated by any well-known COO or place branding or destination branding study. NBI data collection involves people over the age of 17, interviewed across 20 core countries: the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Russia, Poland, Turkey, Japan, China, India, South Korea, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, South Africa. A brief explanation of the criteria underlying the NBI ranking is as follows:

People: Measures the population's reputation for competence, education, openness and friendliness and other qualities, as well as perceived levels of potential hostility and discrimination.

Governance: Measures public opinion regarding the level of national government competency and fairness and describes individuals' beliefs about each country's government, as well as its perceived commitment to global issues such as democracy, justice, poverty and the environment.

Exports: Determines the public's image of products and services from each country and the extent to which consumers proactively seek or avoid products from each country-of-origin.

Tourism: Captures the level of interest in visiting a country and the draw of natural and man-made tourist attractions.

Culture and heritage: Reveals global perceptions of each nation's heritage and appreciation for its contemporary culture, including film, music, art, sport and literature.

Investment and immigration: Determines the power to attract people to live, work or study in each country and reveals how people perceive a country's economic and social situation.

A summary of the 2011 NBI survey results are shown in the table above with a comparison of each country's 2010 score.

Despite the growth of emerging nations, the BRICS in particular, the table confirms that Western economies, especially members of the G8, still dominate the upper echelons of the index. In fact Brazil, the highest ranked developing nation, is only ranked 20th among the 50 nations considered. Change is afoot though, mainly coming from younger generations, or what might be referred to as the "digital generation". Younger generations, with their zest for the latest information and communications technology, are gaining in power and influence around the world.

Among the top 10 countries, the United Kingdom has overtaken France for third place and Australia has passed Switzerland to place eighth. The US lead over Germany has widened compared to last year. Survey results continue to suggest that the strengths of US international standing continue to be innovation, opportunities and vibrancy. While the country still does not make the top 10 list for the way it governs domestically and behaves globally, it has made significant improvements in the area of governance. It may well be that the tumultuous political and economic climate across Europe has actually benefited the US in that respect, which has resulted in the country's governance ranking overtaking those of Spain, Italy and Ireland.

China, now the world's second-largest economy, continues to improve in the NBI ratings in recent years thanks to its strong economic growth and the 2008 Olympic Games. This change is likely to continue further and will probably be driven by China's far more modern and open-minded younger generations.

China's position has climbed from 26th in 2008 to 22nd this year.

Not surprisingly, China ranks very highly (third) in the cultural heritage index, which is the best score among the six categories. The governance index, however continues to show a poorer performance and is clearly an area where there is room for considerable improvement.

In particular, the success of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and urban modernization have contributed to quite a tangible change in worldwide public perception of China. The Games displayed modern China at its very best and acted as a window of opportunity, when China presented vibrant cities, stunning architecture and the welcoming people to those watching and attending from every corner of the world. This has contributed more than perhaps any other factor to the far more positive image China now enjoys.

Other factors include recent international acclaim achieved by many Chinese superstars from the sports and entertainment world such as Yao Ming, Liu Xiang and Li Na, who are all now world famous sports stars, and Chow Yun-fat, Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li, all international film stars, as well as Lang Lang, the brilliant pianist.

According to this year's survey, further change is on the way in the near future with China, Japan, Germany, the US and Canada likely to be the top five influences on global trade and economics over the next 10 years.

Rather surprisingly, China, now the world's largest exporter in terms of volume, ranked only 11th in the export index. Closer scrutiny of this "export index", however tells us that this aims to measure exports of what are perceived to be a particular country's company's products. It is, therefore, a reflection of the relatively low volume of Chinese company-made exported products and the fairly weak image of Chinese products around the world.

This year's NBI study also reflected significant, recent developments from many parts of the world. Egypt, which has been going through upheavals, has dropped six positions to 33rd, making it one of the only two with a one-year dramatic change in position over the past four years. South Korea has been making steady gains, moving up to 27th this year from 30th in 2010 and 33rd in 2008. Cuba, while still ranking 40th, has recorded one of the two largest score gains this year, passing Saudi Arabia to hold 44th place.

But perhaps most important from this year's study are the responses to the questions about each country's growing influence on world trade and economics over the next 10 years. Not surprisingly, China scores very highly here and Japan is ranked last in terms of growing influence by Japanese citizens. Respondents around the world still rank Japan as an influential country but China appears to have flown by at great speed and is now widely regarded as an economic powerhouse.

Over the next 10 years, China's worldwide influence will undoubtedly continue to grow but this year's NBI survey results also suggest more needs to be done to build trust in government competence and fairness and in the quality of Chinese products.

The author is a visiting British professor of brand management at China Agricultural University. The opinions expressed in the article do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.