It’s an idea that’s been popular at least since World Hum launched in 2001, but it has gained new currency in 2005. In its annual Year in Ideas issue, the New York Times Magazine salutes Simon Anholt, who “foresees a day when the most important part of foreign policy isn’t defense or trade but image—and when countries would protect and promote their images through coordinated branding departments.”

Clay Risen writes in his piece that Anholt—an “adviser to numerous governments” and editor of the journal Place Branding—may already be onto something: “[G]overnments are quickly realizing that image maintenance isn’t just about reeling in tourists—witness Karen Hughes’s high-profile public-diplomacy efforts or Tony Blair’s Public Diplomacy Strategy Board, an outgrowth of Britain’s ‘Cool Britannia’ campaign. Late last year, the Persian Gulf state Oman hired Landor Associates, a brand consulting outfit, to develop and promote ‘Brand Oman.’”

Risen continues: “Public boosterism campaigns are nothing new. But true nation branding, Anholt says, involves close coordination of the often disparate factors that go into a country’s international image: tourism promotion, trade, even foreign policy. Just as companies have learned to ‘live the brand,’ countries should consider their reputations carefully—because, he says, in the interconnected world, that’s what statecraft is all about.”

Related on World Hum
* Italy Ranked Number One “Country Brand”
* Branding Liechtenstein
* The Rise of the Brand State: The Postmodern Politics of Image and Reputation