• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.165-179
• /
• 2020

This study critically examines and conceptually discuss the new theoretical trend of nation branding strategies and explores implications for Korean nation branding policy. Korea is known to be one of the countries who has competitively invested governmental efforts on nation branding. However, over the past two decades, while interactive academic discussions on nation brand were taking place and expanding in various fields and areas, related Korean literature did not pay much attention to increasing its conceptual understanding and development. Instead, studies on nation branding in the Korean context remained its focus on instrumental and economic aspects, leaving the theoretical discussion stagnant. In the Korean context, there was a tendency to regard nation branding as one of the political tools for national public and means for a short-term image marketing towards the foreign audience. To solve the undervaluation of Korea's nation brand and enhance its public image, there must be a revisit to its conceptual discussion. This study reviews various theoretical perspectives and paradigms on recent trends of nation branding, and re-conceptualize nation branding as the continuous interactive relations among 'national identity'-'nation brand'-'nation image'. In particular, by discussing the 'relationship building' approach, which is the latest suggested theoretical idea that well suits the networked era, this study suggests policy implications for Korea's future-oriented nation branding.

• Journal of Public Diplomacy
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.1-26
• /
• 2023

Although immigration and related policies are among crucial factors building a country's reputation, in-depth studies comparing nation branding strategies of countries facing high influx of refugees are lacking. This holds especially true when it concerns nations with different geopolitical, cultural, state structural and linguistic characteristics. There is also a growing need to widen our knowledge on digital nation branding and how it can be applied to respond to crisis situations as the refugee dilemma. This empirical study aims to fill these gaps focusing on Belgium and Sweden as an insightful comparative case study. The study's objectives are: (i) comparing similarities and differences between the countries' approach to managing their (digital) nation brand; ii) studying the countries' digital nation branding and communication management regarding migration and asylum topics since the mid-2010s refugee crisis. Data were collected via in-depth interviews with sixteen representatives of Belgian and Swedish governmental institutions. Our findings reveal differences between branding strategies of Belgium and Sweden resulting from their different contextual characteristics. What characterizes both nations' strategies is the increased importance of using digital media and the need of adapting to their market logics. Although the mid-2010s refugee crisis has not changed the countries' general digital nation branding strategy, but rather brought sensitive topics into sharp focus, it did lead to communication challenges that the institutions had to face. The Swedish institutions seem to be more active and structured in countering them. We conclude that well-established nation branding strategies are useful tools for governments to base on before, during and after crisis events. The example of Sweden shows that crises can act as an opportunity to reinforce a nation brand.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.147-157
• /
• 2020

The purpose of this paper is to examine how mainstream international media cover a major political event like the 2018 North Korea-U.S. Summit and how place branding effect is manifested on the Internet. A quantitative content analysis was conducted. A total of 1,990 relevant Internet news stories were collected from May 9 to June 17, 2018 and the types of media mentions Singapore as country and brand received were analyzed. As expected, Singapore garnered worldwide media coverage which in turn helped promote the island-nation's brand. International media reported on Singapore as a Summit location while also highlighting it as an important and attractive, cultural, historical destination. The study's findings indicate that global broadcasters such as CNN and BBC played the biggest role during the Summit in disseminating images of Singapore and landmarks as attractive places. Finally, the visual aspect of the event coverage also served as a formidable marketing instrument in bolstering the nation's brand.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
• /
• v.44
• /
• pp.393-410
• /
• 2016

This paper examines why Japan's nation branding strategy is not working in South Korea in spite of expanding relations between Korea and Japan. Japan has successfully managed its national reputation, which altered its image around the world. However, Japan's nation-image in South Korea has not kept up with its efforts internationally. Political and economic interactions between Korea and Japan have increased throughout the past decades since the normalization of diplomatic relations in 1965. Also, the normalization of cultural-social relations emerged after the Korean government policy restricting Japanese popular culture was removed in the 1990s and overseas travel was liberalized in 1989. In spite of the improvement in politico-cultural-social relations, trust-building efforts still stagnate between the two countries. This paper discusses the reasons behind this phenomenon and provides some suggestions to solve this issue.

• Journal of Public Diplomacy
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.46-55
• /
• 2023

Agenda-setting theory of the media describes the relationships between how news media present issues and how important those issues are to news consumers. Applying agenda setting theory, we ask, does media coverage of international political events relate to a nation's brand? We leverage a domestic conflict index variable from the Cross National Time-Series (CNTS) dataset of New York Times articles, which are considered influencers of global news content. Our dependent variable is Anholt's NBI index from consumer surveys from 2005 through 2007, whose data include an aggregate nation brand index score as well as a disaggregated score for different categories such as tourism and exports. To investigate these relationships, we employ general additive models (GAM), which account for non-linearity using cubic splines, finding generally a negative relationship between media coverage of conflict and consumer sentiment of a country. To confirm our findings, we compare the results with both the Global Database of Events, Language and Tone (GDELT) dataset of political events and the Upsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) measure of reported conflict fatalities in a country.

• Asia Marketing Journal
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.75-87
• /
• 2015

As more companies become interested in global markets, it has become crucial for firms to create globalized brands whose positioning, advertising strategy, personality, looks, and feel are consistent across nations. The purpose of this study is to investigate the global branding strategy of the Hyundai Motor Company (hereafter HMC) in order to show how the company processes its branding strategy. HMC, one of the leading global companies in the automobile industry, set up its brand identity as "Modern premium", in alignment with their new slogan "New Thinking New Possibilities", in 2011. The aim of the "Modern premium" concept was to provide consumers with new experiences and values beyond their expectations. HMC wanted their consumers to think of their cars as not only a medium of transportation but as a life space, where they can share experiences alongside HMC. In an effort to conduct consumer research in 5 different nations, HMC selected "brilliant" as a key communication concept. The word "brilliant" expresses the functional, experiential, and emotional dimensions of HMC. HMC furthermore chose "live brilliant" as a key campaign message in order to reinforce their communication concept. After this decision, the "live brilliant" campaign was exhibited through major broadcast channels around the world. The campaign was the company's first worldwide brand campaign, where a single message was applied to all major markets, with the goal of building up a consistent image as a global brand. This global branding strategy is worth examining due to its significant contribution to growth generation in the global market. Overall, the 'live brilliant' global brand campaign not only improved HMC's reputation image-wise, with the 'Modern Premium' conceptualization of the brand as 'simple', 'creative' and 'caring', but also improved the consumer's familiarity, preference and purchase intention of HMC. In fact, the "live brilliant" campaign was a successful campaign which increased HMC's brand value. Notably, HMC's brand value increased continuously and reached 9 billion US dollars in 2013, leading it to reach 43rd place in the Global Brand Rankings according to the brand consulting group Interbrand. Its brand value largely surpassed that of Nissan (65th) and Chevrolet (89th) in 2013. While it is true that the global branding strategy of HMC involved higher risks, it was highly successful according to cross-nation consumer research. Therefore, this paper concludes that the global branding strategy of HMC made a positive impact on its performance. We further suggest HMC to combine its successful marketing with social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and embrace digital media by extending its brand communication horizon to the mobile internet

• Cross-Cultural Studies
• /
• v.43
• /
• pp.289-326
• /
• 2016

The strategy of "soft power" in the foreign and internal policies of modern Russia is one of the important factors in the implementation of public policies, and the influence of soft power is increasingly becoming stronger and gaining new forms and methods of implementation. The Russian government exerts efforts to form a positive image of Russia in the international arena, in order to strengthen the country's competitiveness, based on active use of "soft power." Currently, Russian cultural policy is developing in two main directions. In the internal policy sphere, the Russian government emphasizes national unity and civic solidarity, and fosters a sense of patriotism and national pride. In the sphere of foreign policy, the Russian government is attempting to regain its status as a great power and to create a new image of Russia that is different from that of the former Soviet Russia. In this article, we examine and analyze various aspects of the hidden political mechanisms involved in mega-sporting events, in particular the Sochi Olympics, from the viewpoint of Russian internal and foreign policy. We address the major functions of mega-sporting events and their influence in the political realm. The political impact of mega-sports projects can even compensate for economic losses incurred during the preparation and hosting of the Olympic games. In this respect, we can define mega-sporting events as one of the main components of soft power; such events reflect the basic directions of internal and foreign policy in post-Soviet Russia, which are to form and promote an image of Russia using national branding. In order to fairly and objectively analyze the recognition and perception held by Russians of the significance of mega-sporting events, in this work, we carefully studied the results of various surveys conducted by the Russian research organization VCIOM (Russian Public Opinion Research Center) before and after Russia hosted the Winter Olympic games in Sochi (2014) and the Summer Olympic games in Kazan (2013). Furthermore, on the basis of the ranking of national brands by Simon Anholt (Anholt Nation Brands Index - NBI), and on the basis of the ranking of 100 national brands conducted by the British consulting company "Brand Finance" (Brand Finance Nation Brands 100), we minutely trace the development and qualitative change in Russia's image and the role of the mega-sporting projects. This article also examines the Kremlin's internal and foreign policies that were successfully carried out in practical terms. This study contributes to the understanding of the value of mega-sporting events from the point of view of cultural policy of the current ruling party of Russia. This standpoint allows us to outline the main directions of Russian cultural policy and to suggest perspectives on the branding strategy of modern Russia, including strategies related to consolidating Russia's position in the international arena.

• Asia Marketing Journal
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.79-101
• /
• 2021

With the steady rise in global popularity of the Korean music group BTS, the South Korean government and surrounding industries have swiftly begun utilizing their image and international recognition for specific nation branding purposes. While K-pop soft power strategies are not novel to the South Korean state, what is new is the rapid speed at which BTS have become a beacon for South Korean culture, language, and symbolism in the international arena. However, few scholarly works have sought to investigate the role fans have played in this heightened position for the group as state representatives, with minimal research conducted into the work fans do within the framework of ARMY fan culture. This paper will thus aim to fill the gap in scholarship on ARMY as an organized labour network, focusing on the role fans play as labourers in online spaces that work to promote, disseminate, and cultivate wider recognition for BTS as artists. Through the conjunct engagement of a political economy framework and theories of participatory culture, this paper will explore the manner through which the free labour of ARMY, premised on affect, has constructed the fandom as active agents of soft power alongside BTS themselves.

• 지역과문화
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.49-79
• /
• 2020

This study focuses on the analyzing historical and cultural resources formed during the Goryeo, Chosun, and Anti-Japanese Movement periods after the Silla period with the aim of finding ways to utilize its cultural contents. The viewpoint of analysis was made from the perspective of exchange, naturalization, and faith, and the following conclusions were obtained from the analysis. First of all, from the exchange perspective, the activities of Choi Chi-won, Seogyu, and Song Young-gu contributed to the formation of regional historical and cultural contents, such as leaving a lot of ruins or geographic stories in the area and a heritage of good human exchange. From the point of view of naturalization, Du Kyung-ryeong, Cheon Man-ri, and Jeong Yul-seong contributed to the history and culture of the story and the formation of heritage by doing such as contributing activities to the war, anti-Japanese movement for the nation, and the formation of the nation. The most representative from a religious point of view is the Guan Yu faith, which has become a faith believed by the authorities and civilian as a brave longevity and a symbol of the victory of war. The related symbols, paintings, etc. also are objects of worship and have become valuable local Chinese cultural resources as artistic values. Therefore, from a cultural point of view, there is a need to further develop and utilize these China-related historical and cultural resources as good cultural contents by elaborating their stories and local festivals, book culture branding, international music festivals, and exploring various cultures such as Chinese tour courses.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
• /
• v.52 no.1
• /
• pp.190-211
• /
• 2019

In March 2015, The Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan implemented a project called "Japan Heritage," which aims to promote the unique narratives of cultural properties of the region by branding the locality for revitalization in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. This bottom-up approach of cultural policy has been called a "Cool Japan Strategy of Cultural Heritage" in the 21st century, which effectively incorporates local cultural heritage and tourism. However, although a total of 67 Japan Heritage projects have been designated as of December 2018, almost none has been introduced in the academic forum in Korea. On the basis of this background and a lack of academic awareness in Korea on Japan's recent cultural policies, this research aims to focus on the three cases of Gunma Prefecture implemented in local, global, and glocal aspects. To specify, the cases are the "Gunma Silk Heritage" project, implemented in 2011, the "Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites" project that was included on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2014, and "The Best Wife in the World - Silk Story of Gunma," case certified as the first project of "Japan Heritage" launched in 2015. Based on the questionnaire method conducted with the World Heritage Registration Promotion Division in Gunma Prefectural Government, as well as a literature view, the research revealed that the consecutive implementation of a series of cultural heritage projects in Gunma is not coincidental, but rather a strategy aiming to create a synergism where each project complements the others. Moreover, this paper demonstrates that Gunma Prefecture has been utilizing the local silk industry as a tangible and intangible cultural resource in multi-layered heritage projects, resulting in a "spiral synergy effect" and a "chain of the recognition process." In conclusion, it illustrates the recent trend of utilizing cultural heritage in the context of the Cool Japan strategy, which seeks to move away from the administration of maintaining the status quo cultural heritage protection to a proactive one with greater potential growth. This research may thus provide meaningful insight into the utilization of domestic historical and cultural resources as well as related policy-making, in that it will ultimately promote the chain effect of linking the multiple heritage policies and projects at the local, global, and glocal levels.