Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking Trade 2013
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Transcript of Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking Trade 2013
Bloom Consulting © Since 2003
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas,
Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria,
Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo Dem.
Rep., Congo Rep., Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany,
Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong SAR China, Hungary,
Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea Rep., Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan,
Lao P.D.R., Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao SAR China, Macedonia, FYR, Madagascar, Malawi,
Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova Rep., Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat,
Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan,
Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda,
Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone,
Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic,
Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, United Rep., Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab
Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking © TradeEdition 2013
[email protected] / +34 91 308 0286 (CET)Bloom Consulting © Since 2003 Page 01
Development of CountriesHuman Asset ManagementBusiness Strategy
2013TradeEdition
CountryBrand Ranking ©
During the last decade, Bloom Consulting has developed Nation Brand, City Brand and Place Brand strategies for clients around Europe, Latin America, and the U.S.A. We have worked with political leaders and ministers with a clear objective in mind: to manage the Country Brand as a strategic asset from an economic and political point of view.
Bloom Consulting has offices in Madrid (HQ), Lisbon, Sao Paulo, and Los Angeles.
We have gained the respect of international media such as , , and , who have interviewed Jose Filipe Torres, the CEO of the company.
Mr. Torres is considered one of the top 3 experts in Nation Branding (source: Country Branding Central) and he participates in world-class conferences and forums as a keynote speaker.
Bloom Consulting publishes annually the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking © for Trade and Tourism. It is the most comprehensive Brand Index of its kind, analyzing the brand performance of 187 countries and territories worldwide.
The Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking © incorporates unique variables such as the revolutionary Online Search Demand (OSD ©), which measures the online appeal of a country and the Country Brand Strategy Rating (CBS Rating ©), which assesses the effectiveness of a country's communication efforts.
These variables allow us to classify and measure a country brand performance from a new point of view based on hard data rather than perceptions, surveys or expert opinions.
Bloom Consulting Brief Introduction
I proudly present to you our third edition of the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking ©!
This year is a special year, as it marks one decade of Bloom Consulting working in the field of Nation Branding,City Branding and Place Branding.
Each year has brought exciting challenges and projects and I am confident that all the work we have done has prepared us to meet any new future challenges.
As a consultancy firm, we find ourselves at the forefront of big changes - we are now in the digital era of Country Branding.
According to a recent report from The Economist Intelligence Unit (Economist IU - Assessing and explaining risk: Investors’ expectations after the financial crisis) more than 58% of investors assess investment risk online, against 49% who consult directly with their financial advisors. The same study also indicates that 55% of private investors and 53% of corporate investors say that the financial press is a major influence on their investment decision. This is a clear indicator that Countries, Regions and Cities, regardless of their size, can impact investors and decision makers in a completely new way, compared to 5 years ago
As a reference, in 2012 alone, investor made around 63.000.000 online searches related to investment activities at a country level. Imagine the insight you can gain from this data and the conclusions you can draw.
With this in mind, Bloom Consulting has developed a proprietary tool, the Online Search Demand (OSD ©), in order to understand the online behavior of potential investors (see page 7, for more details about OSD ©) and included it in the Ranking Algorithm
I hope this brand ranking can provide you with valuable information and I encourage you to use it as an asset and further evidence of the impact a strong country brand may have on the national economic performance.
Although we would like to go into more detail on each country’s performance, it is impossible to do so in this overview. However, if you are interested to find out more information on your country brand’s performance, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Welcome to the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking © 2013. We hope you appreciate the great results and findings as much as we did!
José Filipe Torres – CEO Bloom Consulting
An introductory note from the CEOWelcome
Development of CountriesHuman Asset ManagementBusiness Strategy
2013TradeEdition
CountryBrand Ranking ©
[email protected] / +34 91 308 0286 (CET)Bloom Consulting © Since 2003 Page 02
A Country Brand or a Place Brand is an asset for nations, cities or regions to be managedin order to achieve different objectives.
According to our Methodology, there are 6 different Country, Region and City Branding (CRC) objectives or dimensionsrepresented in the Bloom Consulting CRC Brand Wheel (see figure 1):
1 – Attraction of Investment (Trade) 2 – Attraction of Tourism 3 – Attraction of Talent 4 – Increase in Pride 5 – Improvement of Public Diplomacy 6 – Increase in Exports
Each of these six objectives, or dimensions, have different target audiences that have different needs. In other words, what attracts each particular target audience to opt for any country, region or city is completely different (see figure 1).
Therefore, Bloom Consulting methodology is used to isolate each objective or dimension and to develop specific strategies for each one of them.
One may ask why the objectives must be isolated if they refer to the same country brand? The reason for this is that a single strategy most probably cannot satisfy the needs of investors and tourists simultaneously. If it does, it becomes a very general message that most probably will not have enough content to make the difference. According to Bloom Consulting theory, only very few countries can satisfy all needs under an umbrella strategy. Therefore each country, with a professionalized Country Brand, Region Brand, or City Brand strategy, should select the target audience and attend to their needs. By strategies, Bloom Consulting does not refer to logos. You can have the same logo for all six dimensions or no logo at all. The brand is not the logo.
Figure 1. Bloom Consulting CRC Brand Wheel objectives, target audience and respective needs
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Bloom Consulting's CRC Brand WheelA different approach to Country and Place Branding
Companies General public
Nation
als
Inv
estor
s
Tourists
Workforce
Inv
estm
ent
Tourism Talent Country, Region, City
BrandExports Diplomacy
Prid
eUniqueness
Respect
Adm
iratio
n
Adv
antag
e
Experience
Life Style
There are 6 objectives or dimensionsfor every Country, City and Region
Each dimension has 6 different target audiences
Each target Audience has a specific need
Development of CountriesHuman Asset ManagementBusiness Strategy
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CountryBrand Ranking ©
Another important aspect that reflects Bloom Consulting's approach is its performance measurement system. Bloom Consulting has developed a set of performance dashboards that allows us, for the first time, to measure the impact of Nation Branding in the 6 dimensions. Traditionally, the results were measured only by public perceptions, opinion surveys and interviews with experts. However, with new proprietary tools, Bloom Consulting is now able to measure the impact of the brand strategy with new variables such as Online Search Demand (OSD ©), which measures the appeal of a country for each target audience (see explanation of OSD © in page 7) and the economic impact caused by FDI (Foreign Direct Investment).
However, not all 6 dimensions can be measured in the same way. Inside the 6 dimensions there are 3 that can be measured in a more tangible way and 3 that can be measured only in an intangible way. Trade (Investment), Tourism and Talent, repre-sented at the top part of the sphere in figure 2, are the ones that can be measured in a more tangible way. See figure 2 to understand the current measurement system.
Although we do not discard the importance of the 3 intangible dimensions, Bloom Consulting’s objective is to make Nation Branding Strategy as tangible as possible. Therefore, we focus on the three tangible dimensions and we call it “The 3T approach © ”: 1- Trade (Investment), 2- Tourism and 3- Talent.
Based on these explanations, Bloom Consulting should create 3 independent rankings. One for Trade (Investment), one for Tourism, and one for Talent. For the time being only 2 have been developed - Trade and Tourism.
This ranking deals only with the Trade dimension (Investment).
Figure 2. Current measurement system for each dimension. Trade (Investment) is the dimension selected for this Ranking
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Bloom Consulting's CRC Brand WheelA different approach to Country and Place Branding
Companies General public
Nation
als
Inv
estor
s
Tourists
Workforce
Inv
estm
ent
Tourism Talent Country, Region, City
BrandExports Diplomacy
Prid
eUniqueness
Respect
Adm
iratio
n
Adv
antag
e
Experience
Life Style
Present Ranking Current measurement systems
These 3 Dimensions can bemeasured in a more tangible way using metrics such asOSD © and “Revenues”
$
? !
:)
Perceptions OSD ©
Revenue Happiness
These 3 Dimensions can onlybe measured in an intangibleway using metrics such as“Perceptions” and “Happiness”
$
? !
:)
Perceptions OSD ©
Revenue Happiness
Development of CountriesHuman Asset ManagementBusiness Strategy
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CountryBrand Ranking ©
The Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking © is derived from the Bloom Algorithm.
This ranking contemplates the Trade (investment) dimension, therefore the Bloom algorithm will only consider investment related figures. This ranking does not try to measure solely country brand perception. The objective of this ranking is to classify how well each and every country is doing in terms of branding, that is, to measure how effective their brand is in the most tangible and realistic manner. For Bloom Consulting to classify the effectiveness of each Country Brand, we analyzed 4 key variables for each of the 177 countries included in this Brand Ranking (see figure 3).
Through statistical modeling, Bloom Consulting was able to rank the countries to compare them with one another. The Algorithm takes into consideration each country’s economic level of development. The result is an accurate and objective Brand Ranking based on hard and soft data. Moreover, the Bloom Algorithm takes into consideration a country's performance in Bloom Consulting's rankings from previous years in order to leverage Country Brand equity.
Figure 3. Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking © algorithm variables
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The Methodology Understanding how Bloom Consulting developed the ranking
Net Foreign Direct Investment inflows Net Foreign Direct Investment growth 1st VariableThese results demonstrate
a country’s appeal and is animportant variable of the ranking
OSD ©: Business Environment Country Characteristics Sectorial Expertise 2nd VariableIf investors search online about a
country it is a clear indicator of its appeal and is the most important variable of the ranking
Country Brand Strategy Rating (CBS Rating ©) 3rd VariableIf each country is using the mostaccurate country brand strategyis a key variable of the ranking
CountryBrandRanking ©
Official website and Social Media performance 4th VariableIf each Investment Promotion Agency is performing well online, is the least
important variable of the ranking, but still relevant.
1st Variable 2nd Variable 3rd Variable 4th Variable
Trade (Investment)
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CountryBrand Ranking ©
Net Foreign Direct Investment inflows
Average Net FDI inflowsbetween 2007-2011
Net Foreign Direct Investment growth
Average growth of Net FDI between 2007-2011
1st Variable
The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) performance is a very important variable in the ranking. Good economic results, whether achieved by a carefully planned strategy or not, are in part a consequence of good country branding. If one applies common sense to this variable, it is easy to understand that investors prefer to invest in a country with a good reputation rather than to a country for which this is not the case.
Moreover, all information was calculated based on official UNCTAD international FDI statistics as Nation Brandingis aimed at each country’s international audience, rather than the domestic one.
As illustrated in figure 4, Trade (Investment) economic performance is based on:
a) Net Foreign Direct Investment inflowsStrategies and economic returns do not have an immediate impact, therefore the ranking looks at a country’s medium-term (5 years) historical economic performance in FDI revenues. This way, the ranking reflects more consistent trends rather than volatile changes that may occur in the recovering economic climate or due to political instability.
and
b) Net Foreign Direct Investment growthThe growth in FDI of each country is also an important indicator when measuring the economic performance of a country’s brand. Therefore, the Brand Ranking computes the growth rate of FDI over the last five years for more consistent trends, rather than brief volatile changes.
Figure 3. Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking © algorithm variables
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The Methodology - Continued Details of the first variable
CountryBrandRanking ©
1st Variable 2nd Variable 3rd Variable 4th Variable
Development of CountriesHuman Asset ManagementBusiness Strategy
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CountryBrand Ranking ©
Traditionally, the only way to understand the appeal of a country to international investors is through market research and opinion studies based on extensive research. Now, for the first time, Bloom Consulting introduces a new measurement system as a variable in the Algorithm that is more accurate, more scientific, regularly updated and reaches a broader audience - the Online Search Demand (OSD ©). By using its proprietary OSD © Tool, Bloom Consulting is able to measure the total global online searches performed specifically for investment and assess international investors’ online behavior and decision-making process when selecting a country. The more online investment related searches a country has from international investors, the more appealing it is, regardless of its size or the type of investment it attracts.
Why is this so relevant?
According to a recent report from The Economist Intelligence Unit (Economist IU - Assessing and explaining risk: Investors’ expectations after the financial crisis) more than 58% of investors assess investment risk online, against 49% who consult directly with their financial advisors.
Bloom Consulting has been able to define and gather all country characteristics (selling propositions and strategic positioning of all 177 countries) and messages or "Brand Tags" used by all the Investment Promotion Agencies. In total, 1.188.250 investment-specific keywords were classified into 50 investment “Brand Tags”, which allows us to understand selling propositions and strategic positioning of all 177 countries in the world. This information was gathered in eight different languages: Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish, and it was used in the 2nd variable (see figure 4).
NOTE: OSD © information for every country cannot be presented in this document but can be ordered. If you are interested in a full OSD © report for a specific country or a group of countries, please contact us at: [email protected] or call us directly at +34 913 080 286 (CET), we can provide you with a cost estimate for a “Basic” or “Premium” report.
Figure 4. “Brand Tags” analyzed via OSD © and used in the 2nd Variable
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The Methodology - Continued Details of the 2nd Variable
CountryBrandRanking ©
1st Variable 2nd Variable 3rd Variable 4th Variable
2nd Variable1. Access to Consumer Markets2. Ease of Doing Business3. Entrepreneurship Ecosystem4. FDI Records5. Government Support6. Investment Incentives7. Labor Market Policy8. Legal System9. Monetary Policy10. Open Market Economy11. Tax Policies12. Workforce
13. Corruption Level14. Cost of Living15. Growing Economy16. Infrastructure & Logistics Facilities17. Natural Resources18. Political Stability19. Quality of Life20. Security & Safety21. Social Welfare22. Strategic Location23. Strong Economy24. Utilities
25. Advanced Sciences Industry26. Agriculture Sector27. Automotive Industry28. Chemical Industry 29. Construction Industry 30. Creative Industry31. Education Sector32. Energy Sector33. Financial Services Sector34. Food Processing Industry35. IT Industry36. Manufacturing Industry37. Wood Industry 38. Mining Industry
39. Medical Care Sector 40. Metal Industry 41. Logistics and Transport Industry42. Oil & Gas Industry43. Pharmaceutical Industry 44. Professional Services Sector 45. Real Estate Industry46. Renewable Energy Sector47. Research & Development Industry48. Retail Industry49. Tourism Industry50. Aerospace and Military Industry
(1) Economist IU - 2010
Development of CountriesHuman Asset ManagementBusiness Strategy
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CountryBrand Ranking ©
OSD ©: Business Environment Country Characteristics Sectorial Expertise
Almost every country listed in the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking © has a Investment Promotion Agency (IPA). The IPA is the official state agency responsible for positioning their respective Country Brand (from a Investment Strategy perspective). The IPA effectiveness can impact the Country Brand performance.
The 3rd Variable is about the accuracy of each strategy set in place by each IPA. This accuracy is measured through the value each “Brand Tag” produces to the country. The value provided to each “Brand Tag” is given by the popularity it has from the OSD © perspective and also from an economic perspective.
A country receives a higher rating if it uses the most searched and valuable “Brand Tag”. If a country receives a poor rating, it means it is focusing on the least searched and valuable “Brand Tags” or not using “Brand Tags” in demand and high value. What is particularly interesting about this rating is that a country rating will not be better if the IPA simply uses all available “Brand Tags”. If they do so and they are not the “correct ones” they will have a poorer rating. The final result is a live snapshot of the supply and demand for information in the international investment market. For example, how much value is the “Brand Tag” “Workforce” bringing to Sweden? What other “Brand Tags” are not being used that could have a positive impact? Or, even more importantly, which are the “Brand Tags” that are being promoted that do not bring value to the Country Brand Strategy? This 3rd Variable is the Country Brand Strategy rating and it is shown in figure 5. For reference, it is used throughout the Ranking next to each country. Exceptions may apply to countries that recently (last year) implemented a new Country Brand Strategy, with an objective to move away from specific perceptions. In this case, the rating does not mean a country is doing poorly but rather the results are not visible yet.
One may question why “Brand Tags” are used to measure the effectiveness of Country Brand Strategies, as they are simply promotional messages or products of a country and not the Country Branding Strategy itself? Bloom Consulting assumes that tourists’ interest for the “product” is the most tangible way to assess Country Brand appeal and, subsequently, the effective-ness of a Country Brand Strategy.
Figure 5. 3rd Variable CBS Rating © and respective scores used in the ranking
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The Methodology - Continued Details of the 3rd Variable
CountryBrandRanking ©
1st Variable 2nd Variable 3rd Variable 4th Variable
Country Brand Strategy Rating (CBS Rating ©) 3rd VariableScore
Description
AAA Very Strong AA Strong A Slightly Strong BBB Very Good BBB
Good Slightly Good
CCC Slightly Weak CC Weak C Very Weak D Poor
Development of CountriesHuman Asset ManagementBusiness Strategy
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CountryBrand Ranking ©
We believe it is essential to consider how well a Country Brand is positioned digitally. In order to do that, we have used“Website Analytics” and “Social Media” to evaluate each country’s efforts to make it visible.
The official Investment Promotion Agency (IPA) website is one of the most important sources of information and it serves as an online gateway to each country. Nevertheless, it is not the only one by far, therefore this variable has less importance compared to other variables in the Algorithm.
In order to assess the performance of each country’s website we used the “Website Analytics” tool where we examined each country’s IPA website and analyzed the number of visits and the average time spent on the web page. The Bloom Algorithm values websites with more visitors, richer content and a higher digital reach.
Additionally, a country’s presence in online communities, such as Twitter and Facebook, has been taken into account, because online social networking is an efficient and a cost-effective way to interact with the public and promote what a country offers. As each social media network has different purposes and a varying degree of popularity, the ranking has treated the two independently.
The assessment criteria are simple. The more “likes” a country’s IPA has on Facebook and the more followers there are on Twitter, the better. If an IPA is not active in social networks or if it does not have an account, the Bloom Algorithm penalizes its online performance, however the country is still included in the ranking.
Both online performance indicators, Website Analytics and Social Media, are shown in the figure 6. While a country’s Online Performance is a relevant variable, it holds less importance compared to the other variables in determining a country’s position in the ranking.
Figure 6. Website and Social Media performance correspond to the 4th variable
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The Methodology - ConclusionDetails of the 4th Variable
CountryBrandRanking ©
1st Variable 2nd Variable 3rd Variable 4th Variable
Official website and Social Media performance 4th Variable
Development of CountriesHuman Asset ManagementBusiness Strategy
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CountryBrand Ranking ©
Development of CountriesHuman Asset ManagementBusiness Strategy
2013TradeEdition
CountryBrand Ranking ©
Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking ©2013 TRADE (INVESTMENT) EDITION - WORLD Ranking
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World Rank CBS Rating ©
Due to the historical brand equity and the fact that all have strong country brand strategies, China, Hong Kong and Macao have been considered as separate countries in this ranking.
1. United States of America
10. India
8. Brazil
AA
AA
A
A
AAA
A
AA
AAA
A
A
9. Singapore
2. China
3. United Kingdom
4. France
5. Hong Kong SAR, China
6. Canada
7. Germany
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CountryBrand Ranking ©
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25. United Arab Emirates
11. Australia
18. Luxembourg
20. Thailand
23. Norway
A
BBB
A
BBB
A
A
AA
AAA
AAA
AA
AA
BBB
AA
BBB
BBB
World Rank CBS Rating ©
16. Mexico
24. Poland
22. Italy
17. Netherlands
21. Saudi Arabia
15. Turkey
12. Spain
13. Belgium
19. Sweden
14. Russian Federation
The top 25 includes 8 Asian countries too, with Singapore (9) getting into the top 10 for the first time. This can be attributed to a hugely improved FDI in the past five years and a very strong Online Search Demand. As an improvement, they should turn to Social Media as the way to continue this strong trend.
Additionally, there is a strong presence from the BRIC nations powered by a historically strong economic growth and optimistic vision of the future, causing China Brand (2), Brazil Brand (8) and India Brand (10) all to improve on last year’s results in the Country Brand Ranking. Nonetheless, all these Nation Brands will suffer a decrease in ranking in the medium run, with the Russian Federation (14) displaying the first sign of this trend, having lost 4 positions compared to last year.
At 8th place, Brazil Nation Brand leads Latin America thanks to its strong Online Search Demand performance. However, this is also surprising as it also registered its lowest FDI in five years. Mexico (16) has also had a very impressive increase in its FDI while also providing a very exciting Social Media presence.
Once again, Australia (11) finishes strongly despite their geographical disadvantage, thanks to very strong increases in FDI and Online Search Demand.
Finally, Turkey (15), Saudi Arabia (21) and the United Arab Emirates (25) lead the Middle Eastern countries, but they have all decreased in the ranking since last year as a result of very poor online presence in Social Media and Website Analytics.
For the third year in a row, the United States of America are the winners of the ranking. This is no surprise though, having registered their strongest level of FDI for the past three years and also the largest online appeal in the world.
The rest of the top 5 most successful Nation Brands is split between Europe with the United Kingdom (3) and France (4) and Asia with China (2) and Hong Kong (5). China and Hong Kong have both increased due to their best year ever in terms of FDI Strategy.However, they have been penalized as neither utilizes an active Social Media platform as a component of their Country Branding Strategy. This would be the way forward if they were to challengethe United States at the top of the Brand Index.
The United Kingdom Nation Brand leads Europe, partly due to its improved FDI, but also, thanks to their hugely impressive Social Media use in promoting themselves as a profitable destination for trade. We also see France Nation Brand (4) improv-ing from last year due to another improvement in their FDI and their promising online presence.
Furthermore, Europe is strongly represented in the top 25 with 12 countries making an appearance. Strong performances from the rest of the European economies of Germany (7), Spain (12) and the Neth-erlands (17) actively demonstrate their consistent positioning as the safest region thanks to the European Union. Spain Nation Brand, de-spite such economic turmoil and corruption scandals, maintains the 4th position in the ranking as last year.
Luxembourg (18) has lost 80% of its FDI figure since last year as a result of a revision of the international investment position manual by the World Bank, as Special Purpose Entities and other financial intermediaries have been excluded.
Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking ©Top 25 - Highlights
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CountryBrand Ranking ©
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The top 25 includes 8 Asian countries too, with Singapore (9) getting into the top 10 for the first time. This can be attributed to a hugely improved FDI in the past five years and a very strong Online Search Demand. As an improvement, they should turn to Social Media as the way to continue this strong trend.
Additionally, there is a strong presence from the BRIC nations powered by a historically strong economic growth and optimistic vision of the future, causing China Brand (2), Brazil Brand (8) and India Brand (10) all to improve on last year’s results in the Country Brand Ranking. Nonetheless, all these Nation Brands will suffer a decrease in ranking in the medium run, with the Russian Federation (14) displaying the first sign of this trend, having lost 4 positions compared to last year.
At 8th place, Brazil Nation Brand leads Latin America thanks to its strong Online Search Demand performance. However, this is also surprising as it also registered its lowest FDI in five years. Mexico (16) has also had a very impressive increase in its FDI while also providing a very exciting Social Media presence.
Once again, Australia (11) finishes strongly despite their geographical disadvantage, thanks to very strong increases in FDI and Online Search Demand.
Finally, Turkey (15), Saudi Arabia (21) and the United Arab Emirates (25) lead the Middle Eastern countries, but they have all decreased in the ranking since last year as a result of very poor online presence in Social Media and Website Analytics.
Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking ©Top 25 - Highlights - Continued
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For the third year in a row, the United States of America are the winners of the ranking. This is no surprise though, having registered their strongest level of FDI for the past three years and also the largest online appeal in the world.
The rest of the top 5 most successful Nation Brands is split between Europe with the United Kingdom (3) and France (4) and Asia with China (2) and Hong Kong (5). China and Hong Kong have both increased due to their best year ever in terms of FDI Strategy.However, they have been penalized as neither utilizes an active Social Media platform as a component of their Country Branding Strategy. This would be the way forward if they were to challengethe United States at the top of the Brand Index.
The United Kingdom Nation Brand leads Europe, partly due to its improved FDI, but also, thanks to their hugely impressive Social Media use in promoting themselves as a profitable destination for trade. We also see France Nation Brand (4) improv-ing from last year due to another improvement in their FDI and their promising online presence.
Furthermore, Europe is strongly represented in the top 25 with 12 countries making an appearance. Strong performances from the rest of the European economies of Germany (7), Spain (12) and the Neth-erlands (17) actively demonstrate their consistent positioning as the safest region thanks to the European Union. Spain Nation Brand, de-spite such economic turmoil and corruption scandals, maintains the 4th position in the ranking as last year.
Luxembourg (18) has lost 80% of its FDI figure since last year as a result of a revision of the international investment position manual by the World Bank, as Special Purpose Entities and other financial intermediaries have been excluded.
AfricaNigeria... Fueled by oil
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas,
Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria,
Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo Dem.
Rep., Congo Rep., Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany,
Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong SAR China, Hungary,
Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea Rep., Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan,
Lao P.D.R., Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao SAR China, Macedonia, FYR, Madagascar, Malawi,
Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova Rep., Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat,
Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan,
Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda,
Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone,
Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic,
Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, United Rep., Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab
Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
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The continent is transforming - slowly but steadily, with some countries experiencing high
growth rates, thanks to natural resources richness as well as the significant changes that are
happening in the global economy. This can help Africa to find a new advantage and gradually
become the new focus on investors’ radars. Our prediction is that Africa will become the new
Asia in 20 years time.
Three countries managed to make it to the world top 50 this year, which is an improvement
from last year. Nigeria (1), Egypt (2) and South Africa (3) stand out from the rest of the
African countries with Morocco (4) slightly behind. The four countries received high Online
Search Demand (OSD ©) scores, meaning that their trade brand equities have much more
value than the rest in the continent. In terms of net FDI inflows, Egypt is an outlier, showing
weaker performance, which may compromise its 2nd position in the future.
South Africa really excels among the African states for its active engagement with the public
online. Morocco received the highest CBS Rating ©, reflecting its efforts to make it more
competitive internationally.
After the aforementioned four key players in Africa, the gap widens however the following
countries - Ghana (5), Tunisia (6), Algeria (7), the Democratic Republic of Congo (8th) and
Zambia (9) – are on an equal footing in terms of their ranking scores. Ghana (5) received the
highest OSD © results from the bottom 6.
Algeria has higher net FDI growth but it was not enough to overcome Tunisia (7) which is
much more focused in promoting itself online. Compared to last year, Zambia declined four
places and the Democratic Republic of the Congo made it to the top 10 for the first time.
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Africa Rank CBS Rating ©World Rank
1. Nigeria BBB
A
BBB
BBB
BBB
BBB
AA
BBB
AA
BBB
A
A
BB
BBB
CCC
A
AA
BB
BBB
BBB
C
B
B
A
A
7. Algeria
3. South Africa
9. Zambia
5. Ghana
6. Tunisia
12. Madagascar
23. Congo, Rep.
8. Congo, Dem. Rep.
4. Morocco
22. Namibia
21. Mali
20. Mauritius
25. Ethiopia
13. Uganda
11. Tanzania, United Rep.
14. Botswana
15. Kenya
18. Chad
24. Liberia
19. Senegal
2. Egypt
16. Cameroon
17. Niger
10. Mozambique
35.
80.
114.
117.
120.
71.
38.
111.
65.
50.
97.
100.
62.
125.
90.
39.
113.
84.
88.
118.
119.
122.
129.
74.
116.
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27. Zimbabwe
26. Rwanda
BB
BB
CC
CCC
CC
BBB
B
CCC
BB
CCC
CCC
BB
BBB
BB
B
CC
BBB
B
BBB
A
28. Gabon
29. Burkina Faso
30. Equatorial Guinea
31. Guinea
33. Mauritania
34. Swaziland
35. Seychelles
36. Djibouti
37. Malawi
38. Sierra Leone
39. Cape Verde
40. Togo
32. Côte d’Ivoire
41. Lesotho
42. Gambia
43. Burundi
44. Guinea-Bissau
45. Angola
133.
152.
165.
173.
146.
135.
161.
141.
137.
158.
160.
138.
157.
136.
163.
154.
155.
176.
150.
167.
Africa Rank CBS Rating ©World Rank
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas,
Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria,
Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo Dem.
Rep., Congo Rep., Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany,
Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong SAR China, Hungary,
Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea Rep., Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan,
Lao P.D.R., Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao SAR China, Macedonia, FYR, Madagascar, Malawi,
Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova Rep., Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat,
Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan,
Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda,
Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone,
Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic,
Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, United Rep., Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab
Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
The AmericasThe U.S.A. first in the North, Brasil first in the South... for how long?
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Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas,
Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria,
Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo Dem.
Rep., Congo Rep., Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany,
Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong SAR China, Hungary,
Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea Rep., Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan,
Lao P.D.R., Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao SAR China, Macedonia, FYR, Madagascar, Malawi,
Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova Rep., Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat,
Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan,
Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda,
Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone,
Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic,
Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, United Rep., Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab
Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
The Americas region scores well for trade, with three countries making it the world top 10.
There has not been much change between the 2012 and 2013 rankings of the top 10 countries
in the Americas, with the top 6 countries, the leaders in the trade domain, remaining in the
same positions.
The U.S.A., unsurprisingly with no rivals, came 1st, with a Trade Ranking score consider-
ably higher than that of the other top 10 countries. It is seen to have a perfect Online Search
Demand (OSD ©) result, a very impressive social media output (beaten only by Colombia)
and strong online performance. Canada stayed in 2nd place. Its online performance was
extremely impressive and a lot higher than that of all other countries in the top 10. Brazil
ranked 3rd, demonstrating its resoluteness to be seen as the top investment destination.
It ranked second after the U.S. for its OSD ©.
Mexico remained in 4th place in 2013, however its CBS Rating © greatly improved from
CCC to A. Chile ranked 5th, unchanged from last year. Its CBS Rating © improved, but its
social media performance was quite weak. Colombia’s (6) position stayed unaltered,
however its social media performance is the best in the world.
Peru’s (7) position and CBS Rating © improved while Argentina moved down one place
to number 8, with both countries completely ignoring social media.
Uruguay (9) and the Cayman Islands (10) received very similar ratings to one another,
with their ranking scores quite a lot lower than that of Argentina’s.
The Cayman Islands is a new country to appear in the top 10 and the only
country representing the Caribbean.
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Americas Rank CBS Rating ©World Rank
AA
A
BBB
BBB
BB
B
B
BB
B
BB
BB
CC
BBB
AA
CC
CC
BB
CCC
BB
B
B
A
BBB
BBB
A
1.
64.
102.
107.
127.
34.
6.
93.
29.
16.
82.
86.
28.
130.
79.
8.
94.
67.
73.
108.
109.
128.
140.
45.
106.
1. United States of America
25. Haiti
18. Ecuador
16. Trinidad and Tobago
14. Dominican Republic
10. Cayman Islands
3. Brazil
4. Mexico
5. Chile
6. Colombia
7. Peru
8. Argentina
9. Uruguay
12. Costa Rica
13. Panama
17. Jamaica
19. Honduras
20. Nicaragua
21. Bahamas
22. Barbados
23. El Salvador
2. Canada
24. Paraguay
15. Guatemala
11. Venezuela
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CBS Rating ©Americas Rank World Rank
CC
CC
CCC
BB
CC
BB
BB
B
B
CCC
B
32. Grenada
33. Antigua and Barbuda
27. Saint Lucia
26. Aruba
30. Belize
34. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
35. Dominica
29. Guyana
28. Saint Kitts and Nevis
31. Cuba
36. Montserrat
143.
168.
159.
144.
156.
149.
153.
147.
169.
174.
166.
AsiaUnsurpringly, China comes first
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas,
Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria,
Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo Dem.
Rep., Congo Rep., Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany,
Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong SAR China, Hungary,
Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea Rep., Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan,
Lao P.D.R., Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao SAR China, Macedonia, FYR, Madagascar, Malawi,
Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova Rep., Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat,
Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan,
Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda,
Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone,
Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic,
Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, United Rep., Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab
Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
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It is no surprise that many Asian countries have become more involved in international trade
and commerce. In 2013, there were two new entrants into the top 10 positions in the World
Ranking. Strikingly, the majority of the countries in the Asian top 10 have very limited
presence in social media, a point that should be addressed in order stay in touch with the
reality characterized by increasing digitization.
China remained in 1st place and outpaced others with a very high Online Search Demand
(OSD ©) and the highest amount of net FDI. However, it did not use social media to promote
itself and its online performance score was weak. Hong Kong remained in 2nd place. Its
online performance score was better than China’s, however its use of social media is very
limited. Singapore’s (3) ranking improved by 5 places, ranking second for online perfor-
mance. India received a very similar Ranking score to Singapore and remained in 4th place.
Turkey dropped to 5th place from 3rd but kept its CBS Rating © of AAA. Thailand’s
position improved by 5 places, moving it into the top 10. Its online performance was better
than China’s and it was powered by its excellent CBS Rating ©. Saudi Arabia’s position,
compared to last year, worsened to 7th place. It received the worst (OSD ©) score out of the
top 10 countries.
The United Arab Emirates dropped to 8th place. Its OSD © score was the same as China’s,
but it scored badly for online performance and social media and its net FDI growth is the
weakest in the top 10. Japan, remaining at 9th place and very close behind the U.A.E., and
Indonesia (10th), which came 13th in 2012, both stood out from the top 10 as they leveraged
on social media.
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AAA
A
BBB
AA
AA
A
AAA
BBB
A
BBB
BBB
AAA
AAA
A
A
A
BBB
A
AA
AA
A
AAA
AA
BBB
AA
12. Malaysia
19. Lebanon
14. Kazakhstan
8. United Arab Emirates
2. Hong Kong SAR, China
1. China
18. Taiwan
22. Iran
23. Cyprus
25. Georgia
3. Singapore
4. India
5. Turkey
6. Thailand
7. Saudi Arabia
9. Japan
10. Indonesia
11. Israel
13. Korea, Rep.
15. Viet Nam
17. Pakistan
20. Iraq
21. Jordan
24. Macao SAR, China
16. Qatar
2.
26.
49.
54.
58.
21.
5.
42.
20.
10.
36.
37.
15.
60.
33.
9.
46.
27.
30.
56.
57.
59.
63.
25.
53.
Asia Rank CBS Rating ©World Rank
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2013TradeEdition
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A
A
B
A
BB
CCC
BB
BB
CC
BB
BB
BB
BB
CCC
BBB
BB
A
BB
A
BB
BB
BBB
42. Lao P.D.R.
44. Maldives
45. Kyrgyzstan
43. Nepal
29. Oman
33. Syrian Arab Republic
35. Sri Lanka
36. Palestine
39. Yemen
28. Philippines
27. Bahrain
37. Brunei Darussalam
26. Bangladesh
30. Mongolia
31. Uzbekistan
32. Cambodia
34. Myanmar
38. Armenia
40. Afghanistan
41. Kuwait
47. Azerbaijan
46. Tajikistan
70.
104.
132.
139.
172.
95.
76.
123.
91.
78.
115.
121.
89.
112.
77.
126.
105.
110.
148.
151.
99.
134.
Asia Rank CBS Rating ©World Rank
Europethe United Kingdom rules
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas,
Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria,
Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo Dem.
Rep., Congo Rep., Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany,
Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong SAR China, Hungary,
Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea Rep., Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan,
Lao P.D.R., Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao SAR China, Macedonia, FYR, Madagascar, Malawi,
Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova Rep., Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat,
Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan,
Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda,
Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone,
Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic,
Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, United Rep., Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab
Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
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Europe has been experiencing troublesome economic times for several years now and the
future still remains rather unclear, marked by slow decision making. In spite of that, the
established European country brands have withstood the economic challenges and continue
to bring value to their nations.
The U.K., the only country in the top 5 not using the Euro, took the lead and rose to number
1 with a stronger CBS Rating © than last year. It was boosted by impressive Online Search
Demand (OSD ©) results, indicating its continuous popularity among investors, and very
good social media presence.
France ranks 2nd, which is an improvement from last year. It has a better Rating than the
U.K. and a better net FDI index, but the U.K. significantly overshadows its net FDI growth.
Germany earned the 3rd place with dramatically improved brand strategy performance.
Germany has a higher OSD © score than France. Both France and Germany are a lot less
active in online communities than the U.K.
Spain and Belgium were in an intense fight for the 4th place, although Spain took the lead in
the end, owing to a better CBS Rating © and being more active in promoting itself online.
Luxembourg, a high-scoring performer last year, slipped to the 8th place this year showing
weaker OSD © results compared to the rest of the top 10. Additionally, Luxembourg has lost
80% of its FDI figure since last year as a result of a revision of the international investment
position manual by the World Bank; as Special Purpose Entities and other financial interme-
diaries have been excluded.
Russia held on to its 6th position, same as last year, while the Netherlands finished 7th. Both
countries need to dramatically improve their digital strategies in order to stay in touch with
investors who are becoming more active at looking for opportunities online.
Sweden (9) and Italy (10) are ranked very closely. Both countries have good net FDI
indicators, although weaker FDI growth inhibits their performance in the European ranking.
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AA
AAA
A
BBB
AA
BB
BBB
A
A
BBB
AA
AA
BB
A
BBB
AAA
BBB
BB
A
A
B
B
A
BB
BBB
24. Slovakia
23. Bulgaria
21. Denmark
20. Czech Republic
13. Switzerland
9. Sweden
7. Netherlands
6. Russian Federation
17. Hungary
18. Romania
1. United Kingdom
3. Germany
2. France
4. Spain
5. Belgium
8. Luxembourg
11. Norway
12. Poland
10. Italy
14. Ukraine
16. Austria
19. Ireland
22. Finland
25. Greece
15. Portugal
3.
19.
43.
47.
55.
17.
4.
40.
14.
12.
31.
32.
13.
66.
24.
7.
41.
22.
23.
48.
51.
61.
68.
18.
44.
Europe Rank CBS Rating ©World Rank
Development of CountriesHuman Asset ManagementBusiness Strategy
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CountryBrand Ranking ©
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BB
AA
BB
B
BBB
BB
BBB
B
C
B
BBB
BB
BBB
B
A
39. Moldova, Rep.
37. Bosnia and Herzegovina
36. Montenegro
40. Gibraltar
26. Iceland
27. Serbia
28. Malta
29. Croatia
30. Lithuania
31. Belarus
32. Estonia
33. Latvia
34. Albania
35. Slovenia
38. Macedonia, FYR
69.
96.
87.
72.
164.
85.
81.
124.
131.
83.
103.
75.
98.
101.
92.
Europe Rank CBS Rating ©World Rank
OceaniaUndisputedly Australia
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas,
Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria,
Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo Dem.
Rep., Congo Rep., Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany,
Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong SAR China, Hungary,
Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea Rep., Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan,
Lao P.D.R., Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao SAR China, Macedonia, FYR, Madagascar, Malawi,
Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova Rep., Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat,
Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan,
Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda,
Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone,
Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic,
Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, United Rep., Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab
Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
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Australia (1) and New Zealand (2) are the reference points in Oceania, with the most
developed economies and robust business climate, while other Pacific nations and territories
still have to improve their economic performance and enhance their brands. The region’s
geographic isolation makes it challenging to compete in the international arena, especially
for the small island nations.
Australia’s brand is the undisputed leader in trade with the largest economy and investment
in the region, achieving 11th position in the world brand ranking. That said, New Zealand
has a very strong CBS Rating © and a competitive online presence to match, nearly making
it to the world top 50.
Fiji ranks 3rd and the Solomon Islands (4) follow a similar pattern. Compared to 2012, Fiji
improved its standing and rose two places, although the Solomon Islands still demonstrate a
stronger net FDI growth.
Papua New Guinea is ranked 5th, with its strongest indicator being the Online Search
Demand (OSD ©) results. It must concentrate on promoting what it offers using various
online channels to ensure that this interest from potential investors materializes into growing
net FDI. Other brands in the region lag behind the top 5, with weaker CBS Rating © and
poor economic performance.
.
Development of CountriesHuman Asset ManagementBusiness Strategy
2013TradeEdition
CountryBrand Ranking ©
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Development of CountriesHuman Asset ManagementBusiness Strategy
2013TradeEdition
CountryBrand Ranking ©
[email protected] / +34 91 308 0286 (CET)Bloom Consulting © Since 2003 Page 32
2. New Zealand
9. Micronesia
7. Vanuatu
5. Papua New Guinea
4. Solomon Islands
1. Australia A
BBB
CCC
CCC
B
B
CCC
C
CCC
Oceania Rank CBS Rating ©
3. Fiji
6. Tonga
8. Samoa
11.
177.
171.
52.
170.
145.
162.
142.
175.
World Rank
Who is this Ranking meant for? The Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking © is for anyone interested in Nation Branding and Place Branding from every perspective, whether you are in government, academia, industry, finance, or for anyone who just finds it interesting.
Why did Bloom Consulting create the Ranking?Bloom Consulting created the Ranking to evaluate the impact of country brand strategies in economic terms and, above all, to answer the important question of how countries can become more attractive.
How does Bloom Consulting’s Ranking differ from other rankings? Other rankings measure perceptions, this ranking measures reality. Thanks to statistical models and the Online Search Demand (OSD ©) tool, we were able to measure how effective each Country Brand is in a more tangible way. Moreover, this ranking isolates Trade (investment) as a separate dimension, analyzing investors as a separate target audience. Please see the tourism edition of the ranking as well here: http://bloom-consulting.com/en/tourism-ranking
What is new in the 2013 edition of the Ranking? First of all, it is the third “World Edition” of Bloom’s Country Brand Ranking. Secondly, Bloom has improved its methodol-ogy, in comparison to past editions, in order to deliver more accurate and objective results.
What is the Online Search Demand (OSD ©)?The Online Search Demand (OSD ©) is a Bloom Consulting proprietary measurement system used to assess all global online searches performed specifically for trade (investment).
How can a country have a poor rating but still do well in the Ranking?If a country has a poor CBS Rating ©, its brand strategy is not actively reflecting what the country has to offer (from the investment demand perspective). Therefore, even though its economic performance may be strong, the investment strategy is not taking full advantage of the country’s selling propositions.
What if a country does not have social media accounts, does it still feature in the ranking?Yes, it still appears but it receives a lower ranking than it would have done otherwise.
Does Bloom Consulting provide different services from the Ranking?Yes, Bloom Consulting provides Nation Branding and Place Branding integrated strategies and Online Search Demand (OSD ©) tailored reports for every country, region and city in the world.
What criteria was used to define the geographical distribution of countries? We used the official United Nations classification of countries by region.
Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking © FAQs
Development of CountriesHuman Asset ManagementBusiness Strategy
2013TradeEdition
CountryBrand Ranking ©
[email protected] / +34 91 308 0286 (CET)Bloom Consulting © Since 2003 Page 33
OSD ©Online Search Demand Measurement of all global online searches performed specifically for investment
CBS Rating ©Country Brand Strategy RatingRates the accuracy of each strategy set in place by each IPA
“Brand Tag”Unique selling propositions and strategic positioning of all 177 countries (used by all the Investment Promotion Agency).
“3T approach”The three tangible dimensions 1- Trade (Investment), 2- Tourism and 3- Talent
Bloom AlgorithmIt is an equation that consists of 4 key variables and calculates each country’s position in the ranking.
IPAInvestment Promotion AgencyIt is the official state agency responsible for positioning their respective Country Brand (from an investment perspective).
Web AnalyticsIs an online tool that measures the performance of each country’s website, where each country’s IPA website is analyzed by the number of visits and the average time spent on the web page.
Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking © Glossary
Development of CountriesHuman Asset ManagementBusiness Strategy
2013TradeEdition
CountryBrand Ranking ©
[email protected] / +34 91 308 0286 (CET)Bloom Consulting © Since 2003 Page 34
For ranking related queries please contact:
Methodology:
Press:
For any other queries please contact Bloom offices
Spain - (WORLD HEAD QUARTERS)
Brazil
Portugal
U.S.A.
Bloom Consulting Contacts
Development of CountriesHuman Asset ManagementBusiness Strategy
2013TradeEdition
CountryBrand Ranking ©
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Gonzalo Vilar - Partner and Global Strategy [email protected]
José Filipe Torres - Founding Partner and [email protected]
Monte Esquinza 14, 6 D ext28010 Madrid, Spain+34 91 308 0286 Office
Marcello Pastore - Partner and Brazil General [email protected]
Rua Pedroso Alvarenga 1254, 4º andar - Conjunto 42 Itaim Bibi São Paulo - SP - CEP 04531 004, Brazil+55 11 3044 6219 Office
Filipe Roquette - Partner and Portugal General [email protected]
Avda. Joao XXI, 43, 1 Esq1000-303 Lisboa, Portugal+351 210 936 819 Office
Timothy Roberts - Partner and USA General [email protected]
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