What do the experts say?

Simon Anholt coined the term. It is a strategy that allows the country to choose what it wishes to show, what it wishes to project about itself. It is a way of managing the image formed in the target market and of supporting places, people and products positively. Therefore, it is necessary to take into consideration that “it is deeds not words that change people’s minds about countries or at least open their minds to the possibility of change”. “Today the world is one market. The rapid advance of globalization means that every country, every city and every region must compete with every other for its share of the world’s consumers, tourists, investors, students, entrepreneurs, international sporting and cultural events, and for the attention and respect of the international media, of other governments, and the people of other countries”.

Simon Anholt, Editor of National Brand Index

At first it was believed that a country brand was a graphically represented sign used to differentiate the products it covered from the rest of the products on the market. But today it is said that a brand is much more than a symbol, “they are ideas, values and concepts associated to those names or identifiers. Many times they are a way of self-expression and differentiation from a group of users or consumers. They mirror their values or ideas, or represent what they are to become”.

Paul Capriotti, “Corporate Brand Management”

A brand is a name, a term, a sign, a symbol, a design, or a combination of these elements, which objective is to identify the goods and services of an organization and which is useful to efficiently differentiate themselves in an environment where other similar products, services or organizations exist.

Joseph-Francesc Valls, “Country Brand Image”

“A country brand is a tangible that should be as tangible as possible to succeed, without this I will not have a good strategy”.

José Felipe Torres, Bloom Consulting - Country Brand Forum, Montevideo, June 2013

“One of the greatest challenges of the country brand is to reach multiple audiences related to sectors as diverse as tourism, exports, investments, culture and many other activities, with clear messages that manage to convey the characteristics of the place in the world where it comes from, and respect for its peculiarities. These attributes can be a positive or negative handicap”.

Gustavo Koniszczer, Future Brand - Country Brand Forum, Montevideo, June 2013