ABSTRACT
National identity plays a key role in nation branding. An awareness and understanding of the core features of national identity is a prerequisite for developing nation branding strategy, as the essence of any nation brand derives not only from the country’s companies and brands, but also from its culture in the widest sense. Language, literature, music, sport, architecture and so on all embody the soul of a nation. This is one reason why nation branding is too large an undertaking to be left solely to marketing, branding or advertising professionals. A deep and authentic nation brand must include the many elements and expressions of a nation’s culture; if it fails to do so, it will rightly be perceived as shallow and superficial and not truly representative of the nation. Branding a nation is not the same as branding a simple product, where in many cases competing products with
KEY POINTS
Key concepts in the field of national identity include the nation as ‘an imagined community’ and ‘invented tradition’.
