How Switzerland Can Use Social Media to Protect and Promote Its Country Brand
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Transcript of How Switzerland Can Use Social Media to Protect and Promote Its Country Brand
International University in Geneva Master of Arts in Media and Communication
How Switzerland can use Social Media to Promote and Protect its Country Brand
by Beatrice Curtis
(under the supervision of Professor Patricia Goldschmid)
May, 2011
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Abstract
Background: Swiss and quality have always been synonymous.
Switzerland’s economy depends on it – from its banks to its watches to its picture-
perfect tourism and top-rated system of governance. But since 2008, Switzerland’s
reputation as one of the world’s most admired and competitive countries has been
jeopardized by sustained attacks in online media on its banking secrecy practices and
referenda seen as limiting the rights of foreign residents. In light of these media
attacks, this research aims to define how an integrated, best practices use of Swiss
social media channels can protect and strengthen Switzerland’s country brand image.
After reading this thesis, the audience will understand how well Switzerland’s
communication strategy abroad is currently being supported by its social media
compared to best practices and a benchmark country. It will also be able to see a
correlation between best practices social media use to promote a country brand and
losses or gains in that brand’s position in the major country ranking indexes.
Analysis: Because the Swiss government uses the results of country brand
ranking surveys to identify the strengths and weaknesses on which it bases its
Communication Strategy Abroad, this research focused on the qualitative elements
used to rank countries by Anholt’s Nation Branding Index (NBI) and IMD’s World
Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY), such as perception of a country’s culture and
people. An interview with the Director of the WCY helped to verify a correlation
between drops in certain elements of Switzerland’s image abroad and intense negative
online media attention.
The head of Presence Switzerland was interviewed to discuss plans for using
social media to support the government’s Communication Strategy Abroad.
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Government officials were also interviewed on the feasibility of extending the term
and/or social media presence of the presidency.
Six major Swiss social media channels, which correlate with the NBI Hegaxon
and the aims of the communication strategy, were identified: country brand image,
information gateway, tourism, governance, investment, and news media. These were
evaluated for their integration and depth as well as their ability to engage their target
audiences. Swiss social media was then compared to that of Sweden, which was
selected as a benchmark for its equivalence to Switzerland in country competitiveness
and for following social media best practices. Finally, Swiss head-of state social
media was compared to Australia.
Results: It was determined that compared to the benchmark countries and to
its own strategic aims, Switzerland’s social media was not using best practices. Even
though the investment and news media channels have social media depth, they are not
integrated into the other main strategic channels. In particular, the Federal Department
of Foreign Affairs’ (FDFA) Presence Switzerland, which is mandated to fulfill
Switzerland’s communication strategy, is not using collaborative social media
channels, which could help lead positive and neutralize negative perceptions of
Switzerland’s actions. The Swiss presidency is only using one social media channel
in a limited way, compared to a three-channel best-practices use by Australia’s Prime
Minister.
Conclusion: The outcome of this research is a list of six recommendations as
to how official Swiss social media integration could be improved and social media
channels extended to promote Switzerland’s country brand and protect it from attacks
that weaken elements of its brand and endanger its strong position in ranking indexes.
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Acknowledgements
I wouldn’t be writing this acknowledgement if the idea to pursue an M.A.
hadn’t been proposed to me by IUG’s chancellor Dr. Claude Martin and seconded by
its president, Eric Willumsen, at IUG’s 2008 Christmas dinner. To Claude for
encouraging me to add an M.A. to my name, and to Eric for funding it, I express my
profound thanks.
The topic of my thesis I owe to my supervisor, Patricia Goldschmid, who
required (and inspired) me to start my own blog in December 2009 for one of my
favorite media and communication courses, ‘New Media’. The research I have
undertaken to validate my blogs posts on Switzerland’s image since then has served
me well in writing this thesis, as has Patricia’s support.
I would also like to thank the other professors at IUG who trained me in the
fundamental marketing, media and communication concepts and theories that
informed this research: Surhabi Agarwal, Rosita Ericsson, John Dolivio, Glen O’Neil,
and John Santantoniou. Not only did they teach me well, but they are also valued
collegues.
Not to be overlooked are my class project team leaders and partners, who not
only accepted a grandmother and IUG professor as their peer, but helped her achieve
Phi Beta Delta membership: Anita Donay, Carolina Clavijo Martinez, Khalid
Ebrahimi, and Elodie Fichet.
Lastly, heartfelt thanks to the family and friends who cheered me on as I ran
the Master’s Degree marathon and staggered, exhausted but proud, to the finish line.
You know who you are, because you’re reading this!
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………. 7
1.1 Purpose of research…………………………………………………………... 7
1.2 The Swiss country brand……………………………………………………… 8
1.2.1 Why it is a top country brand………………………………………........... 9
1.2.2 Why it needs a social media communication strategy..……..……………. 10
2. LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………………...... 12
2.1 Definitions……………………………………………………………………. 12
2.1.1 Communication…………………………………………………………… 12
2.1.2 Social media………………………………………………………………. 12
2.1.3 Social media tools………………………………………………………… 13
2.1.4 Country brand ranking indexes……..……………………………………. 14
2.2 Country ranking relevance to social media…….…………………………….. 15
2.2.1 Swiss brand losses in ranking indexes……………………….…………... 15
2.2.2 Effects of technology and globalization on brands………………………. 16
2.2.3 Identification of brand strengths and weaknesses……………………….. 17
2.3 Social media communication best practices ………………………………… 18
2.3.1 Channel alignment to target audiences…………………………………... 18
2.3.2 Channel integration and depth…………………………………………… 20
2.3.3 Channel tactics…………………………………………………………… 20
2.4 Benchmark countries for social media best practices ……………………..… 21
2.4.1 Sweden……………………………………………………....................... 21
2.4.2 Australia…………………………………………………………………. 21
3. METHODOLOGY……………………………………………………………… 22
3.1 Types of research…………………………………………………………….. 22
3.1.1 Purposes…………………………………………………………………. 22
3.1.2 Approaches………………………………………………………………. 22
3.2 Scope of research…………………………………………………………… 23
3.2.1 Data collection…………………………………………………………… 23
3.2.2 Data sampling……………………………………………………………. 24
3.2.3 Limitations……………………………………………………………….. 24
4. DATA PRESENTATION and ANALYSIS……………………………………. 26
4.1 Primary research on Swiss brand ranking and communication strategy…….. 26
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4.1.1 Swiss brand ranking – Head, IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook….. 26
4.1.2 Swiss brand communication strategy – Head, Presence Switzerland……. 28
4.1.3 Swiss presidency and social media – Swiss president, Chief-of-Protocol.. 30
4.2 Evaluation of Swiss social media channels…………………………………... 32
4.2.1 Brand communication strategy…………………………………………… 33
4.2.2 Information gateway……………………………………………………... 34
4.2.3 Tourism…………………………………………………………………... 37
4.2.4 Investment and Trade…………………………………………………….. 39
4.2.5 Governance ………………………………………………………………. 42
4.2.6 News media………………………………………………………………. 44
4.3 Evaluation of Swedish social media channels……………………………...... 47
4.3.1 Brand communication strategy…………………………………………… 49
4.3.2 Channel alignment to target audiences…………………………………… 49
4.3.3 Channel integration and depth…………………………………………… 52
4.3.4 Channel tactics…………………………………………………………… 53
4.4 Evaluation of Swiss and Australian country leader social media…………… 54
4.4.1 Swiss president…………………………………………………………… 55
4.4.2 Australian prime minister………………………………………………… 57
5. DISCUSSION of RESULTS ………………………………………………….. 60
5.1 Swiss versus best practices channel alignment to audiences………………. 60
5.2 Swiss versus best practices channel integration and depth………………… 65
5.3 Swiss versus best practices channel tactics………………………………… 67
5.4 Swiss versus best practices country leader social media…………………... 67
CONCLUSION and RECOMMENDATIONS……………………………………. 69
APPENDICES……………………………………………………………………... 74
BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………. 83
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Figures
Figure 1. UDC Party posters supporting minaret and deportation referenda….. 1
Figure 2. Anholt-GfK Roper NBI Top Ten Nations 2009/2010.…………….... 8
Figure 3. Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brand Hexagon…………………………. 8
Figure 4. Top 20 Facebook Swissbrands 2011………………………………… 10
Figure 5. Total Swiss Exports 2008 – Economy Watch……………………….. 10
Figure 6. Stakeholder of a Nation Brand – The Branding Institute….………… 19
Figure 7. Top 20 Country Brands – IMD WCY 2011………………………..... 21
Figure 8. Switzerland Overall Performance – IMD WCY 2010………………. 28
Figure 9. Levels of Swiss Strategy for Communication Abroad 2010-201..….. 28
Figure 10. Swiss social media channels map…………….…………………….. 32
Figure 11. Swiss country brand SWOT analysis……………………………….. 33
Figure 12. Swiss Country brand external environment analysis…………… ….. 34
Figure 13.Aims of Swiss Strategy for Communication Abroad 2010-2011..….. 36
Figure 14. Swedish social media channels map………………………………… 48
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How Switzerland can use Social Media to Promote and Protect its Country Brand
1. Introduction
1.1 Purpose of research
The tenet of this thesis is that Switzerland needs a best practices use of social
media channels to help support the goals of its communication strategy to promote
and protect its country brand abroad.
Switzerland has one of the strongest country brands in the world, but its
reputation for integrity, reliability, humanity, and governance has been compromised
by attacks in both traditional (print and broadcast) and new (digitized online) media
ever since the financial crash of 2008. Accusations of banking tax fraud have
tarnished its integrity, (France24, 2009), longtime Swiss resident and renowned film
director Roman Polanski’s arrest in September 2009 its reliability, the 2009 and 2010
referenda (Figure 1) to ban minarets and deport foreign criminals and their families its
humanity, and a costly two-year dispute with Libya beginning with the arrest of
Gaddafi’s son and ending with the release of Libya’s Swiss hostage, its governance
(Muslimmatters, 2009) (France24, 2010).
Figure 1
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To counter this tarnishing of the Swiss image by negative coverage of its
actions and policies, this paper will show how social media best practices can help the
Swiss country brand improve the alignment and depth of its six major channels to
support its communication strategy and maintain its high position among the world’s
top ten country brands (Figure 2). It will also explore the possibilities of establishing a
multi-channel social media presence for the Swiss presidency to give Switzerland an
online capability to react with speed and high visibility when its policies and actions
come under social media attack (Gaines-Ross, 2010).
Figure 2 Figure 3
1.3 The Swiss country brand
Country brand or image has been defined as “the sum of beliefs and
impressions people hold about places” (Kotler and Gertner, 2002). Simon Anholt,
who created the concept of nation branding in 1996 (Anholt, 2011), identified six key
elements of a country brand in his Nation Brand Hexagon ((Figure 3) (Anholt-GfK
Roper, 2010): tourism, exports, governance, investment/immigration, culture and
heritage, and people. Switzerland’s major social media channels are aligned to facets
of this hexagon, although there are both overlaps and lapses of image projection,
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particularly in the areas of culture, heritage and people, as will be seen in the
evaluation of these channels in chapter 4.
1.2.1 Why it is a top country brand
Quality: Switzerland is like one of its major exports, the watch: small, precise,
and indispensible. “Like a premium brand, Switzerland is positioned as an
aspirational country, a model State, with a feel of exclusivity and privateness…(it) is
like the Swarovski of countries - select and limited” (Markessinis, 2010).
Rankings: With just over 7.785 million people living in an area of 41,285 sq
kms (PRS, 2010), Switzerland only ranks 94th in population and 132nd in size among
countries (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). However, in terms of its competitiveness or
quality of life, it is among the top ten countries on the four major ranking indexes :
no. 8 on the NBI- Nation Branding Index (Nation Branding, 2011), no. 5 on the CBI-
Country Brand Index (FutureBrand, 2010), no. 1 on the WEF Global Competitiveness
Index (WEF, 2011), and no. 5 on the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook (IMD -
WCY, 2011). The methodology of these indexes will be defined in chapter two.
Exports: Cheese, chocolate, and watches are Switzerland’s best-known
exports, according to Switzerland’s image-branding channel (Image Switzerland,
2011). Swiss food exports have risen only 1% in the past ten years (Trading
Economics, 2010), to 3.1% of total exports, yet they represent nine of Switzerland’s
top 20 brands on Facebook (Miller, 2011), while watch exports, at 8%, represent six
of the top brands (Figure 4).
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Figure 4 Figure 5
Swiss chemical and pharmaceutical exports are three times higher than foods
and watches combined (Figure 5), but they are not associated with Swiss culture.
Banking, which is, contributes 70% to the country’s GDP. These high-performing
sectors help Switzerland achieve a per capita income (GNI) of $46,990, the 4th highest
in the world (World Bank, 2011).
Investment: Thanks to its location in the heart of continental Europe and its
political stability, legal security, a highly skilled labor force, and tax advantages,
Switzerland attracts many major multinationals to move in. Even online giants like
Google and eBay have moved their R &D or HQ to Switzerland (Brooks, 2011).
Switzerland’s stability has also ensured that “ The United Nations Office at Geneva
(UNOG) is the most active centre for multilateral diplomacy in the world. The UN, as
well as all major NGOs have their HQs in Switzerland” (FDFA, 2011).
1.2.2 Why it needs a social media communication strategy
Even Switzerland’s strongest sectors face threats: its exports and tourism due
to an appreciation of the Swiss franc of between 16-30% over the past two years
against the currencies of its major trading partners (Bradley, 2011), and its banks due
HOW SWITZERLAND CAN USE SOCIAL MEDIA
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to continued demands to ‘liberate’ billions deposited by tax evaders and deposed
dictators (Cobley, 2011). Thus its needs a communication strategy abroad that
strengthens Switzerland’s weaker brand elements, like innovation, immigration, and
the attitudes and values of its people (Markessinis, 2010).
Presence Switzerland (PRS), which was established in 2000 to promote
Switzerland (Slater, 2008), is responsible for “ selling Switzerland’s image abroad ”. 1
Nicolas Bideau, head of PRS since January 2011, concurs that “ our job is very
similar to what the advertisers in the Madmen series do ” (Germanier, 2011). The
objectives, audiences, and instruments (channels) of promoting the Swiss image are
defined in the Communication Strategy Abroad 2010-2011. (Image Switzerland,
2011) According to Kotler and Gertner (2004, p. 51), “Strategic image management
(SIM) is the ongoing process of researching a place’s image among its audiences,
segmenting and targeting its specific image and its demographic audiences,
positioning the place’s benefits to support an existing image or create a new image,
and communicating those benefits to the target audiences using appropriate channels.”
PRS’s current strategy focuses on personal involvement, information
exchange, and special events (Smith R. D., 2009, p. 189). Experts call interpersonal
communications ‘the most persuasive and engaging of all the communication tactics’.
But online social media channels can reach and interact with a country’s wider
audiences in a controlled way (Smith R. D., 2009, p. 199). PRS currently uses two
non-interactive social media channels that “describe Swiss life and institutions.”
(Image Switzerland, 2011). By comparing Switzerland’s major social media channels
to two countries that follow best practices, this thesis will evaluate how well Swiss
social media is being used to strengthen and protect the country brand.
1 Interview with William Hold, February 14, 2011, Fribourg, Switzerland
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2. Literature Review
2.1 Definitions.
2.1.1 Communication
For the purposes of this research, it is important to distinguish between
asynchronous (one-way) and sychronous (two-way) communication. As noted by
Windhal et al, interactive communication technology in the form of online social
media has led from simple information transmission, the purview of traditional print
and broadcast media, to shared perceptions of that information, a shift from the
‘source’ and receiver’ communication model to a ‘participant’ model (Windhal, 2009,
pp. 12-4).
2.1.2 Social media
Social media involves “activities, practices, and behaviors among
communities of people who gather online to share information, knowledge, and
opinions using conversational media” (Safko and Brake, 2009, p. 35). Brian Solis
further defines social media as “any tool or service that uses the Internet to facilitate
conversations” (Solis, Engage!, 2010). The Social Media Bible identifies 15
categories of tools (Safko and Brake, 2009, p. 449), of which four will be applied to
country branding in this paper: social networks, blogs, microblogs, and video. This
paper will also analyse websites as gateways which encourage and enable their target
audiences to participate in more interactive platforms.
2.1.3 Social media tools
Web site: A web site is group of web pages connected by hyperlinks made
available on the world wide web by businesses, governments, or individuals. Its main
purpose is to encourage audiences to stay, explore, and be persuaded by the site’s
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messages, as well as interact with its other social media channels (Safko and Brake,
2009, p. 142).
Social networks : Online networks build communities of friends or fans
around personal, topical, or organizational profiles. While the primary motivation is
social, organizations are increasingly using social networks because relationships can
lead to business or support advocacy (Safko and Brake, 2009, p. 26).
Blogs : Blogs are online journals which enable instant self-publication. They
can be unique websites or hosted on blogging sites. Many of them, especially those
written by web leaders or ‘contributors to watch’ (Safko and Brake, 2009, p. 48)
include lengthy online conversations via comments. Government generated blogs
first appeared in the USA in 2001 (Safko and Brake, 2009).
Microblogs : These are a platform for instant messaging of up to 140
characters that can be sent to a group of followers via cell phones or the microblog
website. (PC Mag, 2011). But unlike social networks, microblog followings aren’t
necessarily reciprocal. Microblogging began as “ small, intimate communities that
are centered on topics” (Safko & Brake 2009 p. 263), but many major figures, like US
President Barack Obama, have millions of followers. 25 other world leaders have
followings from 15,000 to as much as 1.5 million (Digitaldaya, 2010).
Video : While there are several providers of video content, including the major
search engines, the most interactive and social is the user-generated YouTube
network (Banking.com staff, 2011), which exceeds 2 billion views per day (Youtube,
2010). YouTube is increasingly being used by countries to promote their ‘products’
or politicians to run for office, such as the 2008 US presidential debate (CSPAN,
2008).
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Social media mobility: Due to wireless local networking (Wi-Fi) and smart
phones, which are cell phones with built in applications and Internet access (PC Mag,
2011), social networking has become increasingly accessible and pervasive. People
can e-mail, post on Facebook, or tweet on Twitter from anywhere – even in mid-air.
By the end of 2010, 2000 commercial aircraft offered Wi-Fi, compared to 700 in 2009
(King, 2010). The Pew Research Center found that 59% of adults in the USA
accessed the Internet wirelessly in 2010, an 8% increase over 2009 (Smith, 2010).
2.1.4 Country brand ranking indexes
There are many country brand rankings, but the four most often used by
countries to promote their brands are:
1. GfK-Anholt Nation Branding Index (NBI), published annually since
October 2006, is the most extensive qualitative sampling. In a questionnaire
completed by 20,000 individuals in 50 countries, the NBI congregates perceptions of
26 countries’ NBI hexagon characteristics (Anholt-GfK Roper, 2010)(Figure 3).
2. The Country Brand Index (CBI) by FutureBrand focuses on tourism
elements of a country brand. The CBI surveys 3,500 business and tourism travelers in
15 countries about perceptions of 25 countries (SCCIJ, 2010).
3. The World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report
surveys 13,500 business leaders in 139 countries as well as publically available
economic indicators in 12 quantitative areas, including institutions, infrastructure, and
macroeconomic environment (WEF, 2011).
4. The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) “ ranks and analyzes
the ability of nations to create and maintain an environment in which enterprises can
compete.” In 2010, it surveyed 4,460 executives in 58 countries on factors that
contribute to a country’s image abroad (IMD World Competitiveness Center, 2010).
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2.2 Country ranking relevance to social media
2.2.1 Swiss brand losses in ranking indexes
Simon Anholt’s public affairs manager wrote that Switzerland’s drop in its
rank for 'people' and 'investment and immigration' on the 2010 NBI is “almost
certainly a consequence of the minarets referendum having a negative impact on
Switzerland’s ‘people’ rank in the 2010 survey. ”2 That year, the Geneva Human
Rights Council condemned Switzerland as being islamophobic (Bradley, 2010).
In analysing Switzerland’s loss of nearly 2% in NBI scores over the past 2.5
years, Anholt says “nations can go out of fashion as public opinion and general moral
views and values evolve around them ”, which can put “ Switzerland and its enviable
pristine image at risk” (Anholt, 2010, p. 62).
Despite lower scores in people and investment/immigration topics,
Switzerland is still no. 8 on the NBI in 2010 due to its no. 1 rank in governance
(Anholt, 2010, p. 62). But in March 2011, the University of Zurich and the Social
Science Research Center in Berlin (WZB) released the results of their five-year study
of the world’s 30 best democracies, which received wide online coverage. As
reported in the Wall Street Journal: “surprising (among democracies) is the fact that
Switzerland (14th) is only mediocre and lags behind 11th-placed Germany” (PR
Newswire, 2011).
In May 2010 the IMD, in whose World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY)
Switzerland had held 4th place since 2008, warned Switzerland that “its image
abroad has been tarnished and the risk in the financial sector was magnified” (Brooks,
2010). A year later, Switzerland dropped to 5th position on the WCY (Figure 7).
2 E-mail from Martina Alvarez-Loewenstein, November 16, 2010
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2.2.2 Effects of technology and globalization on brands
Mass media technology has changed country brand management from a one-
way push process of mass communication to a synchronous selection, reflection,
sharing, and experiencing (Molenaar 1996,2002). The WEF and IMD began ranking
countries by their more quantitative qualities, like GDP, education, and infrastructure,
in 1979 and 1989 respectively (WEF, 2011) (IMD World Competitiveness Center,
2010). But the reach of the Internet has made it possible not only to extend country
ranking surveys to a wider and more diverse audience, but to gather, analyse, and
distribute both qualitative survey and quantifiable country indicators more rapidly and
efficiently (Anholt, Places, 2010).
Nation/country/place branding, as it is variously named, has become more
relevant as “ technological advancement and increased international competition
affect the way in which places are imagined, perceived and consumed” (Grover and
Go, 2009, p. 5). Place branding and ranking on the Internet have become a way for
countries to attract “people who want to experience a place in order to be inspired
through being relaxed and absorbed in its culture, or to determine whether they would
want to live there, invest there or trade products from there” (Grover and Go, 2009, p.
5).
Place branding has also gained importance through globalization. Low-cost
global communication on the Internet has stimulated growing consumer appetites for
multi-national travel, services, and products. In addition, countries compete for
limited international investors and skilled and professional immigrants. In short,
“place branding is mainly provoked by globalization processes where the market
place for ideas, culture, and reputation, in addition to products, services and funds, are
fusing into a single global community” (Anholt, 2005, p. 35).
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2.2.3 Identification of brand strengths and weaknesses
Country brand rankings look at both quantitative and qualitative elements of a
country’s identity, then compare them to their ‘competitors’. A country can identify
its strengths and weaknesses rated by, and against, other countries. Thus country
branding gives two parameters of the SWOT analysis, from which opportunities and
threats can be derived.
For example, Switzerland’s governance in Anholt’s NBI and IMD’s WCY
rankings is no. 1, so it is clearly a Swot strength (Figure 11). Likewise, both rankings
highly rate Switzerland for quality of life and stability, another Swot strength. But the
attitudes and values of the population have been ranked lower in 2010 on the NBI and
WCY indexes, making them weaknesses in the Swiss country brand.
Switzerland itself recognizes the importance of country rankings. It refers to
Anholt’s NBI on the Presence Switzerland site, Image Switzerland (PRS, 2010), and
to IMD’s WCY on its offical business blog, exportblog.ch (Osec Exportblog, 2011).
The Swiss government says: “Based on these analyses, the FDFA develops its
national communication strategy for the attention of the Federal Council…”
(Markessinis, 2010).
As Simon Anholt notes, “All nations need to compete for a share of the
world's attention and wealth, and that development is as much a matter of positioning
as anything else.” He recommends that countries appoint Cabinet-level branding
ministers. ''I've visited a great many countries where they have ministers for things
that are far less important than branding'' (Anholt, 2003). Switzerland’s new
‘branding minister’, Nicolas Bideau, was appointed to head Presence Switzerland in
January 2011 (Germanier, 2011).
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2.3 Social media communications best practices
No social media strategy will be successful and measureable if its main
messages, or content, and their audiences, or stakeholders, are not clearly
differentiated and targeted using the right platforms and tactics. In the
Communication Strategy Abroad for 2010-11, Presence Switzerland has identified its
main messages as: 1) Communicating Switzerland’s political system, 2) Promoting an
understanding of it political values and approaches to implement them, and 3)
Increasing awareness about its competitiveness and innovativeness, especially in
transport and environment. Audiences are opinion leaders and media representatives
in Great Britain, Germany, France, the USA, and China, plus politicians, scientists,
and students in the USA and China. Tactics, referred to ‘instruments’, include projects
abroad, major events, foreign delegations, promotional publications and multimedia,
and two websites. Presence Switzerland also cooperates with tourism and news
websites to promote other facets of Switzerland’s brand.3
This section will set out the best practices used to evaluate Switzerland’s
social media to competitively promote and protect its image abroad. This includes
comparisons to the social media of Sweden and Australia, which have been found to
exemplify best practice use of social media for communication strategy
implementation and engagement with political leaders respectively.
2.3.1 Channel alignment to target audiences
In a best practices world, the alignment between a country’s communication
strategy and the channels it uses to communicate the aims of the strategy will be clear,
targeted, and well-integrated. As noted, Switzerland has used the strengths and
weaknesses defined by major country brand indexes like the NBI to help define its
3 Phone interview with Nicolas Bideau, March 23, 2011
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strategic areas and related messages. To help formulate the right messages, Brian
Solis’s first of five steps for managing a brand online advises: listen and learn by
gathering meaningful, actionable intelligence about your audience.
Country brand rankings not only globally sample a country’s stakeholders to
gather meaningful intelligence, but they also fulfill Solis’ third step: define the distinct
facets of a country brand to which conversations should be aligned.
These facets are variously named by the different indexes but basically contain
the same elements. For the purposes of this analysis, they are defined as: culture and
heritage, tourism, investment and innovation, governance, and population attitudes
and values. Therefore, the first part of this evaluation parameter is: do the channels
and their messages correspond to the distinct facets of the country brand to which
conversations need to be strategically aligned?
Likewise, messages are worthless if they don’t reach and engage the intended
audience, for which both Solis and the Social Media Bible have defined best
practices. But this is more challenging for countries due to “the complexity of the
wide variety of stakeholders, stakeholder touch points and political processes”
(Branding Institute, 2010). Stakeholders are those who can affect or be affected by
that country’s actions, objectives, or policies. The Social Media Bible refers to
stakeholders as your ‘audience’ (Figure 6) (Branding Institute, 2010), and
distinguishes between internal and external (Safko and Brake, 2009, p. 719).
Figure 6
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The Social Media Bible identifies stakeholders by their demonstrated and self-
reported behaviors, attitudes, values and beliefs, and needs and preferences (Safko
and Brake, 2009, pp. 721-2). Measuring audiences by these parameters is beyond
the purview of this report, but whether targeting is evident on the channels is not.
Thus the second part of the alignment parameter is: are the strategic stakeholders
measured and targeted?
2.3.2 Channel integration and depth
The medium as is important as the message, and thus the way the social media
channels integrate to supplement rather than duplicate key messages is as important as
their distinctive alignments. Equally important to engaging audiences to the right
channels is their opportunity to interact on the networking channels of their choice, be
it Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or blogs. The easier it is for audiences to navigate a
country’s social media channels in both directions, the more likely that it will be
persuaded and influenced by the messages. The third best practice parameter therefore
asks: how effective are channel integration and depth?
2.3.3 Channel tactics
Best practices for tactical use of social media to engage audiences are defined
in the Social Media Bible as: 1) communication, 2) collaboration, 3) education, and
4) entertainment. Communication focuses on shaping messages to evoke mutually
beneficial responses or behaviors from the target audience, collaboration on using
channels effectively to encourage and enable audience participation, education on the
channel’s ability to persuade audiences with its expertise, and entertainment on the
use of channel content, particularly multi-media, to increase interest and involvement
of audiences (Safko and Brake, 2009, pp. 675-80).
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To leverage social media tools to persuade audiences, Solis says brands need
to 1) react to and lead conversations, and 2) adapt to negativity by identifying patterns
and perpetrators to enable targeted neutralization. (Solis, 2010). The third parameter
used to evaluate Swiss social media is therefore: are the right tactics being used
effectively to engage and persuade audiences?
2.4 Benchmark countries for social media best practices
2.4.1 Sweden
Sometimes confused with Switzerland because of similar size and quality,
Sweden ranks just after Switzerland in indexes like the NBI (10) and GCI (2), but has
moved ahead of Switzerland on the WCY in 2011 (Figure 7)(IMD - WCY, 2011).
Per Simon Anholt, "Sweden scores well because it is perceived to care about good
governance, the environment, racial and cultural tolerance, poverty reduction and
many of the other borderless issues that people really care about” (Nylander, 2010).
2.4.2 Australia
Also highly ranked on the major branding indexes, Australia launched a
‘Brand Australia’ campaign in September, 2009, "to be better regarded as a dynamic
and creative nation, a good global citizen and a strong business partner” (Markessinis,
2010). As will be shown in chapter 4, this campaign includes a best practices, fully
integrated use of multiple social media channels by Australia’s prime minister.
Figure 7
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3. Methodology
As defined by Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2009, p. 5), research is
“something that people undertake in order to find out things in a systematic way,
thereby increasing their knowledge.” This chapter will describe the systematic way of
this paper, including types of research and the scope and limitations of collecting it.
3.1 Types of research
Types of research can be grouped under 1) purposes: exploratory, descriptive,
and explanatory, and 2) approaches: deductive versus inductive and qualitative versus
quantitative (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2009).
3.1.1 Purposes
Exploratory purpose is best used to clarify a problem that hasn’t been
extensively researched. Descriptive helps picture the issues being studied, and
explanatory focuses on relationships between variables. As there are not definitive
case studies that correlate best practice use of social media and country brand
rankings (Anholt, 2010), this paper primarily conducts exploratory research.
3.1.2 Approaches
An inductive approach builds up a theory based on collected data, also called
the ‘bottom up’ approach, while deductive uses existing theory to analyse the data
collected and draw conclusions, or the ‘top down’ approach. As this paper is an
evaluation of existing theories about nation branding and how its ranking results can
be influenced by perceptions based on social media messages, it is deductive.
Although qualitative research can be quantified and qualitative research
quantified, such as a quantitative survey that measures qualitative judgments, they are
considered distinct and separate here. Quantitative research counts and measures hard
data, i.e. numbers, whereas qualitative evaluates and interprets data. Quantitative
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processes the collected data, while qualitative uses concepts to explicate. Quantitative
describes, explains, and predicts; qualitative interprets. Quantitative methodology
uses surveys, observation, and experiments, while qualitative uses interviews,
ethnography, and case studies. Quantitative leads to a hypothesis, qualitative to an
evaluation (Goldschmid, 2010). Although this paper uses numbers and content
analysis to draw some of its conclusions, the methodology is based on interpreting
and evaluating, and therefore qualitative.
3.2 Scope of research
Scope includes 1) data collection, 2) sample selection, and 3) limitations on
that collection and sampling, such as reliability and validity.
3.2.1 Data collection
This research evaluates how well Switzerland uses social media to support its
country brand communication strategy aimed at correcting weaknesses and promoting
strengths that country brand ranking indexes have identified. To support this
evaluation, books, periodicals, journals, and online resources were consulted on the
topics of country branding, communications and marketing theories, social media best
practices, Switzerland’s country brand, and the social media of Switzerland and two
comparable countries. In addition, unstructured interviews, defined as purposeful
discussions between two or more people used to gather valid and reliable data
relevant to research questions and objectives (Saunders et.al, 2009), were conducted
with experts and politicians directly involved in the main areas of this research. These
included: 1) the head of Presence Switzerland, which is responsible for the brand
communication strategy, 2) the head of the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, 3)
the Swiss president, and 4) her former Chief-of-Protocol. Appendix 1 lists the
interview questions.
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3.2.2 Data sampling
To substantiate the proposition that best practices social media can improve a
country’s brand and competitive ranking, the two countries selected as benchmarks
not only meet the criteria for social media best practices as defined in this research,
but also have advanced in qualitative country brand competitiveness rankings.
Sweden, which is similar to Switzerland in its competitiveness, quality of life and
political and social stability, has been selected for its best practices use of social
media channels to fulfill its communication strategy abroad.
A secondary tenet of this research, that the country brand would be
strengthened if the Swiss presidency were lengthened to two years and/or social
media channel use expanded to give Switzerland a more durable ‘face’, has been
supported through the primary research. As a benchmark, the Australian prime
minister’s social media channels are singled out for exemplary use of best practices.
3.2.3 Limitations on reliability and validity
Reliability refers to whether other researchers would find similar information,
and validity to the degree to which they could access the most relevant knowledge
and experience of the subjects and reach valid conclusions (Saunders et. al. 2009).
Data in this report most subject to questionable validity and reliability is the
personal interviews. Not only did the interviewees veer off-topic and provide
information that was beyond the scope of this paper, but their responses - as well as
the perception of those responses - were subjective. Although efforts were made to
include views that did not support the arguments of this paper, it is possible that some
comments were either guided into more acceptable answers or overlooked.
A second limitation, which was raised by the experts interviewed, is that
country rankings reflect historical information: hard data is usually two years old and
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soft data at least one. Thus the effect of negative social media events on country
ranking surveys could be delayed or offset by subsequent positive events, although
the effect also depends on the impact and subsequent memory of a negative event on
the survey respondents.
A final limitation is the validity of attributing Sweden’s improved ranking in
the 2011 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook and in country brand elements like
image abroad, culture, and heritage, or Australia’s improved ranking in governance to
their use of best practices social media. Thus the emphasis is on their role as a
benchmark through their use of social media best practices to achieve strategic
country branding objectives.
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4. Data Presentation and Analysis
4.1 Primary research on Swiss brand ranking and communication strategy
Interviews with experts in country brand ranking and Switzerland’s image
communication strategy were the source of primary data for this research. They
provide the framework for identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the Swiss
country brand and the strategic use of Swiss social media channels to promote
strengths and redress weaknesses.
Switzerland has slipped in two of the four major rankings covered in this
paper, the Anholt NBI (5 to 8)(Anholt, 2010) and IMD’s World Competitiveness
Yearbook (IMD - WCY, 2011). Last year, Stephane Garelli, Director of the IMD
World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY), warned that because its image has been
under attack since the financial crisis of 2008, Switzerland “must be a little more
sensitive to what others are thinking…and not sit back and wait for things to happen
or not” (Brooks, 2010). Evaluating how social media can help Switzerland protect its
brand from negative perception of its policies is not only the purpose of this thesis,
but the stated main goal of 2011 for new Head of Presence Switzerland Nicolas
Bideau, (FDFA - PRS, 2011), namely: “to identify the usefulness of social media for
Switzerland.” 4
Questions that were used in the following interviews are in appendix 1.
4.1.1 Swiss country brand ranking – Head, IMD WCY
Background: Stephane Garelli helped develop the Global Competitiveness
Index (GCI) as director of the World Economic Forum and now heads the World
Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) at IMD, where he is a professor of economics.
4 Phone interview with Nicolas Bideau, March 23, 2011.
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Brand strengths: Garelli confirmed that 30% of the WCY is derived from
perceptions of those surveyed, or qualitative data. When asked how Switzerland had
maintained its no 4 rank in 2010 despite negative publicity, he said it was due to
Switzerland’s greater resiliency than most countries during the financial crisis. Its
burden of debt and its trade deficit are among the lowest in the world, contributing to
a strong currency and economic stability, although the 2010 WCY reflected data that
was one year old.
Switzerland has also been very effective in building up brand image in China,
where Swiss products, particularly luxury brands, are in great demand. Not joining the
EU in 1992 was a ‘blessing in disguise’, as it forced Swiss companies worried about
EU shutouts to look to Asia. The ongoing debt crisis in the EU has increased the
importance of the booming Asian market for Swiss trade.
Brand weaknesses: Garelli noted that the results of the WCY Executive
Survey reflected the impact on public opinion of Swiss referenda and banking secrecy
issues (Figure 8), with a drop in Swiss business efficiency from 3 to 7. Subcategories
affected by the referenda were: attitudes towards globalization (17 to 22), image of
Switzerland abroad (3 to 11), and flexibility and adaptability of the people (24 to 27).
Banking secrecy impacted effectiveness of financial and banking regulation (16 to
20), and financial risk factors (22 to 29) (IMD World Competitiveness Center, 2010).
Garelli concluded that although the image of Switzerland’s stability and quality of life
hadn’t been affected by the negative publicity, government credibility had, and that it
was necessary for Switzerland to protect the perception as well as the reality of its
competitiveness.5
5 Phone interview with Stephane Garelli, March 23, 2011
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Figure 8
4.1.2 Swiss brand communication strategy
Background: Nicolas Bideau has headed Presence Switzerland since January
2011. Presence Switzerland is responsible for implementing the Swiss Strategy for
Communication Abroad 2010-11, which was adopted by the Federal Council on 19
December 2008 (Image Switzerland, 2011). It provides for three levels of
communication abroad (Figure 9):
Figure 9
Country brand ranking: The Presence Switzerland website, Image-
Switzerland, publicizes Anholt’s NBI ranking to help promote brand Switzerland. But
like Stephane Garelli, Bideau pointed out that the information used for the ranking is
not recent. “What we need is more immediate information about how we’re
perceived, and we need to improve our communication platforms for that.”
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Brand strengths: Bideau said Switzerland’s areas of strength include the
economy, human security, and quality of life.
Brand weaknesses: Bideau identified weaknesses as mainly political and
therefore perceptual. He identified three major areas that had hurt Switzerland’s
image most: banking, EU policy, and human rights. “What’s being written (on
banking) is so wrong, but we haven’t successfully communicated our side.” He felt
Switzerland’s EU policy is not clear, even to the Swiss. As for Switzerland’s
reputation in human rights, “we have a long tradition of being tops in this, but no
longer,” he said. “This has been hurt by referendums seen as intolerant, like the
minaret ban”.
Channel alignment to audiences: Bideau explained that a new electronic
system for monitoring all new media coverage of Switzerland was being developed
for implementation in 2-3 months. To handle situations that generate damaging
negative publicity, “this will help us get the information quickly and respond
quickly.” Bideau agreed with Brian Solis on aligning conversations with the distinct
facets of a brand and assigning those conversations to the facet specialists. He felt his
experience working abroad as a diplomat and his studies at the University of Peking,
as well as his background in the Swiss film industry, qualified him “to do a Presence
Switzerland page on the creative side, where I can provide a lot of content. But for the
innovative side, we need to give this to someone with the knowledge.”
Bideau identified four social media channels that support the image
communication strategy: brand image, information gateway, governance, and news
media. Compared to the other three, the government channels reflect a very
conservative, one way, “let the information speak for itself” tradition. But the news
media channel, Swissinfo, is an important part of his communication strategy, as it
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promotes Switzerland’s best qualities through the broad coverage of its content. He
said it could do more to defend Switzerland against negative media but, as the Swiss
Broadcasting Corporation runs it, wants to maintain a degree of journalistic
impartiality. He referred to the two Presence Switzerland websites as key instruments
to reinforce brand Switzerland through basic provision of the image and thematic
focal points, which is also stated on the sites (PRS, Presence Switzerland, 2010).
Channel integration and depth: Bideau noted that two-way communication
using social media networks is “very important in the diplomatic world now. We
can’t continue with one-way.” He believed a Twitter account would be a useful
presidential tool. “Using traditional ways to announce now, like press releases, aren’t
effective.” He said Micheline Calmy-Rey’s 2000+ fan Facebook page was a good
start in interactive communication with external stakeholders, “but we have to
develop this platform. And it would really help to have a president for more than one
year. In one year you can hardly establish anything.” Originally, the president was the
head of the foreign affairs department for as long as that person was a member of the
Swiss federal council. But now five major parties each wanted their turn. However,
there were examples in Swiss cantons such as Vaud where a four-year presidential
term “works very well indeed.”
4.1.3 Swiss presidency and social media
Background: Willy Hold, Chief-of-Protocol during the 2007 presidency, was
asked about the politics in the Swiss federal council in general and the Swiss
presidency in particular, as well as the feasibility of extending the presidential term so
that durable presidential social media channels could be established and used to
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promote government policies the presidency.6 A short interview was also conducted
with Micheline Calmy-Rey, Swiss president for 2011.7
Presidential cabinet: Mr. Hold explained that the public relations support
staff for both the president and the council member departments had increased. The
president’s support team was now was a permanent team of 3-4 staff that would serve
for four years, providing more continuity to the image of the presidential office. In
addition, each federal councilor now has a support team of 10-20 staff to handle
departmental communications instead of just one press officer. Thus more resources
were available for social media-related activities.
Government social media: Micheline Calmy-Rey has about 20 staff in the
FDFA who handle her social media presence on the FDFA website and Facebook
(Appendix 4). She said she is pleased that her fans have reached the 2000 mark, it
remains to be seen how much her page would help. Both she and her chief press
officer said that they still don’t have adequate communications staff to expand into
other social media channels for the president, like Twitter or a blog.
Mr. Hold agreed that it would be difficult to allocate communications staff
from a department team to do presidential social media for one year, and that the
presidential cabinet is too small for this task. But he did suggest that PRS could
perhaps work with the presidential team to build up presidential social media.
Longer presidential term: Although both the Swiss parliament in 2004 and
former president Doris Leuthard had pushed for a two-year presidential term
(Wallace, 2010) to increase the effectiveness and image of the presidency, Calmy-Rey
wasn’t in a position to lobby for a change during her second presidential term.
6 Interview with William Hold, February 14, 2011, Fribourg, Switzerland. 7 Interview with President Micheline Calmy-Rey, March 8, 2011, Geneva, Switzerland.
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4.2 Evaluation of Swiss social media channels
Six Swiss social media channels were analysed for their support of the
communication strategy abroad through a) alignment of content to target messages
and audiences, b) social media integration and depth, and c) tactical use of the four
pillars of social media engagement and persuasion (Safko and Brake, 2009). The
channels were: 1) Country communication strategy 2) Information gateway 3)
Tourism, 4) Investment and Trade, 5) Governance, and 6) News media. Figure 9
shows the current integration and depth of these channels via their website home
pages. As the brand strategy channel, image_switzerland.ch, is only accessible as a
bookmark on the Presence Switzerland subpage of the FDFA website, eda.admin.ch
(Appendix 2.1), it doesn’t appear on the structural chart.
Figure 10
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4.2.1 Brand communication strategy
Image_Switzerland.ch
Alignment to audiences: This site defines the communication strategy and
Presence Switzerland’s responsibility for “presenting and fostering a positive image
of Switzerland and for implementing the Federal Council’s strategy on Switzerland’s
communication abroad.” (FDFA - PRS, 2011). It will help achieve these two aims
through measuring its image abroad, for which it also uses the Anholt Nation Brand
Index. It presents a Swot analysis of the brand that does not reflect all the strengths
and weaknesses identified by brand indexes like NBI and IMD’s WCY. These have
been added to the brand Swot in Figure 11. The site also identifies target audiences
by countries and functions, on which Switzerland’s external stakeholder analysis in
Figure 12 is based. (Image Switzerland, 2011)
Integration and depth: This site is only bookmarked at the bottom of the
foreign affairs department (FDFA) home page (Appendix 2a), which is not a key
brand communication channel. An FDFA link is on Swissworld’s ‘about’ page, and
Swissinfo (news media), hyperlinks to it at the 3rd level (Swissinfo, 2011).
Figure 11
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Figure 12
4.2.2 Information gateway
An information gateway should perform two key functions: a) provide an
overview of the main elements that define a country, such as its culture, heritage, and
values, and b) drive audiences to channels that help support the competitiveness of the
country, such as tourism, investment and innovation, and governance.
Switzerland.com
The original portal to Switzerland’s main sites, this is managed by the Swiss
National Tourist Office. It provides text hyperlinks to tourism, information, and
business sites. The tourism section includes Swiss Airlines and Europcar, giving the
impression that this is a commercial portal. However, the three sites listed under the
information section are sponsored by the Swiss government: swissworld.org
(Switzerland in its diversity), swissinfo.ch (news and info), and ch.ch (the Swiss portal
for everyday questions) (Appendix 2a).
Swissworld.org
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Alignment to audience: ‘About Swissworld’ explains that it “promotes an
authentic image of modern Switzerland worldwide”. (PRS, Presence Switzerland,
2010). One of this channel’s self-defined strategic aims is to improve Switzerland’s
relatively low ranking of 20 for culture and heritage. But according to the site tags,
the cultural facets of the Swiss brand that this PRS site promotes best are the alps,
food, watches, Heidi, Zurich and Bern, which do not indicate that the target audience
is being reached. Nevertheless, the content covering strategic areas: people, culture,
education, politics, and scientific innovation, seems aligned with the aims of the
communication strategy (Figure 13). The site is available in eight languages.
The site’s priority stakeholders are opinion leaders and media representatives
in politics and business in England, France, Germany, Austria, and the USA, as well
as all education-related stakeholders in the USA and China. One section that appears
aimed at these stakeholders is a series of DVD audio and video presentations
produced between 2005 and 2007 on political and educational topics (Presence
Switzerland, 2007), but it is at the bottom of the home page’s right sidebar, which is
dominated by a weather map and a memory squares game that is also available on the
government portal, ch.ch.
Integration and depth: Presence Switzerland calls this ‘the gateway to
Switzerland’ (Appendix 2a). However, it is in the second level of the Swiss channel
hierarchy (Figure 10), under Switzerland.com. Related site links are accessible from
two to three levels down and their information is sometimes duplicated on the site’s
subpages. The government links page doesn’t identify eda.admin.ch, where Presence
Switzerland’s structure and mission are described. A third level page,
home>resources>link directories>official Swiss links, finally identifies sites by their
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strategic function, such as governance, nation branding, tourism, news media,
population, and economy. There are no social networking media bookmarks.
Figure 13
Tactics: Communication ** The content is rich, but if it is being tapped by its
target audience, they must be passing through the sites RSS feeds to other channels
like Swissinfo (news media) or government sites. The site’s layout is static and
dominated by hard-to-read text. Collaboration * The only opportunity to interact
with this site is widgets for sharing content with various social networks. Education
*** With its multilingual content and comprehensive topics of interest to educators
and students, this site is clearly aimed at the audience under objective three of the
communication strategy. However, ThinkSwiss.org, which is an FDFA- Presence
Switzerland program “promoting exchanges and sharing knowledge between the US
and Switzerland” uses several social media channels in the USA to target the same
stakeholders there. (ThinkSwiss, 2011) Entertainment ** Pictures, videos, and games
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are available through the three home page tabs: Swiss pics, specials, resources, but
there is tab hover description.
4.2.3 Tourism
mySwitzerland.com Alignment to audiences: Tourism is an area where Switzerland has lost
ranking on the NBI index since 2008, dropping from position 8 to 11. This site
obviously targets paying tourists and is full of relevant content. But the home page,
with a crowded center panel layout, looks like an outdated tourist catalogue rather
than a well-integrated representation of the whole experience of visiting Switzerland.
Tabs lead to information that overlaps with other tabs or doesn’t seem to suit the tab
category. The meetings tab has a section on Switzerland’s record in sustainability, for
example, and the Swiss update tab about weather conditions includes private school
information. There is liberal use of multimedia to engage audiences, although videos
are not clearly distinguished, and an amusing home page video of two Swiss
mountain men getting the big city treatment in Geneva. The site is available in 12
languages (Swiss national tourist office, 2011).
Integration and depth: The site is only accessible through the portal,
Switzerland.com, and has no bookmarks to its Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube social
media channels or to other Swiss channels which focus on building knowledge of and
interest in Swiss culture, governance, and current events. It also has no blog.
Tactics: Communication ** Primarily one-way, but covers all Swiss tourism
options. A useful feature is audio versions of some of the content. Collaboration *
Has a rating feature but not comments in the hotel evaluation section, which requires
three clicks and attentive reading to find. There are widgets for sharing content with
social networks, but they only at the bottom of each page. Education** Good
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coverage of geographical, sports, and events tourism, as well as hypertext links to
other sites providing more in-depth information. Entertainment** There is good
audio/visual content to stimulate interest in the natural sights of Switzerland,
including 360 degree railway tours through Switzerland. There is also a feature for
creating and sending a postcard, but it’s at the third level below the fold (bottom half
of screen).
Facebook- Switzerland/Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera.
Alignment to audiences: A year ago this page had over 145,000 fans. It is now
at 60,000 (Swiss national tourist office, 2011). Perhaps this is due to a clean up of the
fan base to eliminate advertising by sellers of everything from art to music to online
poker games. Bi-monthly posts promote Swiss tourism, but there is no interaction
with the commentators. There is no indication that messages are aligned with
audience interest, as they never generate more than 40 comments despite the large fan
base. Video posts of ads from the YouTube channel generate the most interest outside
Switzerland, whereas postings about Swiss cities tend to engage Swiss residents. The
stakeholders appear to be both internal and external supporters, and many of them
provide information about activities and sights of interest in Switzerland, which is a
good way of doing mySwitzerland’s work for it if content is also provided by the
host.
Integration: There is a website reference on the info page and a sidebar link to
the latest YouTube video in all available languages on a page that looks like the
website. There is also a link to the Flickr account, but no reference to any Twitter
accounts.
Tactics: Communication ** Collaboration * Entertainment ** Education **
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Twitter – myswitzerland_en,_d,
Alignment to audiences: About 30 tweets are sent out per month in three
languages, with 1/3rd eliciting comments from followers. Tweets, sometimes
duplicated, appear generated by new content on the YouTube and website channels,
but there is never reference to the Facebook fan page. English content focuses on
special offers in Switzerland and Swiss promotional events in the U.K., as well as
Swiss tourism rankings such as its no. 1 spot on the World Economic Forum’s GCI.
Integration: The account has a hyperlink to its website and follows other Swiss
and UK tourism and business accounts. As on the website, there are no links or
tweets to the Facebook page, probably because posts there are so infrequent (Swiss
national tourist office, 2011).
Tactics: Communication ** Collaboration ** Education *
YouTube – myswitzerland
Alignment to audiences: 328 video clips promoting Swiss tourism have been
viewed 650k times since the channel began in 2007, averaging to about one a week.
The most viewed are humorous ads which myswitzerland promotes through its other
social media channels (Swiss national tourist office, 2011).
Integration: There are hyperlinks to all other myswitzerland channels.
Tactics: Communication ** Collaboration * Education ** Entertainment **
4.2.4 Investment & Trade
Osec.ch
Alignment to audiences: Calling itself the business network of Switzerland,
OSEC was mandated by the Swiss parliament in 2008 to be the umbrella organization
“for the promotion of exports, imports and investments, as well as for the promotion
of Switzerland as a business location.” (OSEC , 2010). Its site thus has tabs for these
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functions. The export and invest tabs are aimed at external stakeholders. Under the
invest tab, specific information on setting up companies in Switzerland is provided for
nine countries in their languages. Six of these are targeted in the PRS communication
strategy: China, France, Germany, Italy, India, and the USA. The site is laid out like
a brochure with very small font, but includes the relevant information for its purposes.
Some of the export subpages are in beta mode, but it has some multimedia
content, with a promotional video and interactive map. There is a separate tab on
Osec for a beta export blog in three languages, although only German is available.
Integration and depth: The invest page has quicklinks to swissworld.org and
the WEF Global Competitiveness Report, but only below the fold in tiny text. It also
has an RSS news feed and bookmarks to its Facebook and Twitter accounts. The
export page has bookmarks for its four social media platforms and a contact person on
Xing and Linkedin that look tiny under large bookmarks for Osec’s business partners.
However, all social media is in German only, and thus appears aimed at internal
stakeholders or Germans.
Tactics : Communication ** The information targets its intended audiences of
potential trade partners, but it is difficult to navigate and read. Collaboration * There
is no opportunity to interact with the site, but there are links to interactive channels.
Education ** Background information about Switzerland needed to make investment
decisions is comprehensive. Entertainment * This is not a manifested tactic of the site.
Facebook - Invest in Switzerland, Osec
Alignment and Integration : Osec is in German and appears aimed at internal
stakeholders for import/export issues. Invest in Switzerland, aimed at external
stakeholders, has 26 fans and infrequent postings that mainly link to its Twitter and
Youtube channels, the latter of which is not accessible from the web site.
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Communication * Collaboration * Education ** Entertainment **
Twitter - InvestCH, ExportCH
Alignment and Integration : InvestCH has interesting but infrequent tweets in
English (97 in the past year) and a following of 97 with whom it does not interact
here. Tweets often link to YouTube videos which are posted on Facebook. Lately it
has starting retweeting from German-language ExportCH. Both accounts are
accessible to/from the Osec website.
YouTube - Osecworld
Alignment and Integration : This channel was established in September 2010
and has not built up much content (31 videos) or audience (788 uploads) (OSEC
youtube, 2011). The videos in English are posted to the Invest in Switzerland
Facebook page and have content relevant to the targeted audience regarding the Swiss
environment for establishing businesses. It’s possible the small audience and lack of
comments are not a negative indication if the viewers are key investment decision
makers.
Communication * Content is limited, especially for external stakeholders who aren’t
German-speakers. Collaboration * None of the videos have comments, although they
may generate contact through offline communication channels. Education **
Entertainment **
Blog - Exportblog
Alignment and Integration: Labeled as a beta site, this channel’s posts by
Anna Seig are in four languages but have not yet generated comments. The social
media bookmarks for Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube link to Osec’s German-
language channels, and there’s also a social media plug-in for Facebook. The English
tab labels are currently mixed with German content, so it appears too early to evaluate
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this blog against social media best practices. There is fairly good visual content but
the navigation is not clearly organized (Exportblog, 2011)
4.2.5 Governance
ch.ch/switzerland.ch
Alignment to audiences: There is no home page or map for this site; thus an
overview for site navigation is missing. The default home is the ‘individuals’ tab
page, which is crowded with hyperlinks and categories of information in no logical
order. The ‘About ch.ch’ tab page states that this site, sponsored by the federal
chancellery, is the national gateway to information about Switzerland’s federal,
cantonal, and local (commune) governments, which are primarily of interest to
internal stakeholders and businesses thinking to relocate to Switzerland. The ‘about
Switzerland’ page duplicates much of the information provided by the ‘other’
gateway, Swissworld, for which it provides a bookmark.
Navigating to related sites is not facilitated. It takes three clicks, i.e.
home>businesses> online services, to find the 10 point text hyperlink to the Osec
business channel. Another Osec access is to enter ‘Osec’ in the search field, but it
leads to a screen filled with optional search parameters, which distract from the
hyperlinked article describing Osec listed at the bottom of the page.
The site design is distinct from other official government sites in its use of
images and some multimedia, but it is also crowded with text and hyperlinks, and
there is no consistent organization of information types on each sub page (Federal
Chancellery, 2010).
Integration and depth: The site itself does not feel integrated, as if information
is added on without concerns for structural integrity. A lack of a site map may explain
this impression. As for accessibility to/from related channels, access is through the
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Switzerland.com portal’s ‘Information’ subheading, as well as the admin.ch (Federal
Authorities) site. Text hyperlinks to other sites for business or tourism are on the tab
pages with related content. There is no bookmark for the site’s Twitter account, but
the newly established blog posts have sharing bookmarks (Federal Chancellery,
2011).
Tactics: Communication** There is a great deal of information but it is all
one-way and difficult to navigate due to the lack of a home page or site map. The site
seems to have been built in increments, without attention to the placement,
navigability, or duplication of previous content or content of sites to which it links.
Collaboration* The hypertext link to the German-language direct democracy blog
affords an opportunity to comment, but there are currently no comments on the six
posts to date. Education*** This seems to be the main purpose of this site, and there
is indeed a wealth of information covering all aspects of Switzerland. Entertainment*
Some multimedia content and widgets for games testing knowledge of Switzerland
are aimed at this function, although they target internal stakeholders.
Twitter – ch.ch
Alignment and Integration: Although this German-language account is for
internal stakeholders, it could serve to improve the image of the Swiss population
abroad by engaging Swiss to participate more in governance. However, it has only
tweeted 155 times since September and has 138 followers. As noted, it is not
accessible from the website.
Blog – Geschichten ueber demokratie (Stories about democracy)
Alignment: As this blog is in the national languages, it appears aimed at Swiss
citizens. It seems to be part of a campaign to improve Swiss voter turnout, which
received bad press recently and could harm the image abroad of both Swiss
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democracy and its population. However, the blog is only one month old and is not yet
being promoted.
4.2.6 News Media
Swissinfo.ch
Alignment to audiences: At the bottom of the home page, a link to ‘about us’
opens a page where Swissinfo say its role is “to inform Swiss living abroad about
events in their homeland and to raise awareness of Switzerland in other countries”
(Swissinfo - about us, 2010). It does this through nine-language news and current
affairs articles about Switzerland in text and multimedia. (Swissinfo, 2011) The main
topic categories do correspond to the country ranking strengths and weaknesses of
Switzerland, and its news digest shows that it also runs stories about Swiss innovation
and creativity, an area in which Nicolas Bideau has said Switzerland’s image is weak.
(Germanier, 2011)
Since March, there has been an increase of articles that defend government
actions that might be negatively perceived by potential supporters or leveraged by
opponents, like Swiss neutrality does not mean indifference (Swissinfo, 2011), or The
Swiss vote more than any other country (Slater, 2011), which counter recent charges
that Switzerland’s democracy is weak due to low voter turnout for referenda. This
increase in damage control coincides with a March 23rd e-mail from Swissinfo that the
Swiss government would continue to provide 50% of its funding provided it “make(s)
Swiss viewpoints and solutions heard in the global exchange of opinions.”8
Integration and depth: Swissinfo has recently improved its channel integration
and collaboration. Under the topical tabs, major Swiss channels whose content is
relevant to the featured news stories can be accessed via quicklinks. (Appendix 2b) A
8 E-mail from W. Spahni, March 23, 2011.
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bookmark for Swissworld is provided on the pages for business, Swiss news, sci &
tech, and travel & culture. The integration tab provides a new feature for collaboration
as well as widgets to all swissinfo social media channels and blogs (Appendix 2b).
Tactics: Communication *** Appealing format, easy navigation, and multiple
channels of communication are used and linked to via related news story topics.
Collaboration *** Can post photographs, comment on articles and blogs, and
gain easy access to the site’s social media networks where collaboration is
encouraged. Since April, it is possible to link to Swissinfo social media via Facebook,
Google, or OpenID accounts (Swissinfo Interactive, 2011).
Education ** Covers many aspects of Switzerland’s identity and provides
quicklinks to other sites for more in-depth knowledge. Uses all forms of multimedia.
Entertainment *** In addition to the rich content covering Swiss news and
current affairs, the multimedia tab provides videos, audio slideshows, podcasts,
livestream music, and picture galleries. (Swissinfo multimedia, 2011)
Facebook - Swissinfo
Alignment to audiences: The topics of the weekly posts don’t seem targeted at
any particular audience, although the ‘specials’ page features stories about Islam and
Switzerland, Federer, the Gotthard tunnel, and Swiss Unesco sites. (Swissinfo
facebook, 2011) Despite a fan base of nearly 110,000 (Appendix 2b), posts rarely
generate more than a few comments or a few dozen likes. A March 18th comment on a
post linked to the Swissinfo article, How idealism drove Swiss development aid, is
notable: “Swissinfo reminds me of the paper ‘The Hindu’ from South India. After
reading the entire article patiently from top to bottom, u really don't feel any wiser as
to what the article is really trying to say...” (Swissinfo facebook, 2011).
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Integration: This is the only official Swiss Facebook page which can be
accessed to/from the related website. It also has a page for the YouTube channel, and
it is possible to link personal Facebook profiles to the Swissinfo site.
Twitter – Swissinfo_e + eight languages
Alignment to audiences : To date, 3000 tweets in English to 1,600 followers
promote recent news stories from the website. However, if swissinfo is receiving any
tweets, it is not responding to them here.
YouTube – Swissinfo_e + sp, jp, ar
Alignment to audiences: Although this channel has a large subscription and
over 1.9 million total views since it began in 2007, no videos this year have been
viewed on YouTube more than a few hundred times. This could reflect more viewing
is taking place on their website, such as an April 1st video on wind energy, Swiss
support grows for wind energy, with only 61 YouTube views. As an embedded
autoplay on the site, it wouldn’t be counted in YouTube views. (Swissinfo youtube,
2011)
Integration: The channel information has recently been upgraded with
bookmarks to the website, Twitter, and Facebook channels.
Blogs – Write-on, Deutsche in der Schweiz, Migration, and Being Swiss Abroad
Alignment to audiences: These four blogs are aimed at both internal and
external Swiss nationals or residents. Swissinfo has recently added Japanese and
Chinese blogs, perhaps in response to its new mandate to provide a more international
view of Switzerland. It also might reflect the importance of expanding trade in Asia,
which IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook head Stephane Garelli discussed in his
interview (Appendix 1).
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Of the four original blogs, only two appear to be currently active: Write-on,
and Migration. Both average weekly posts that generate one or two comments. The
Migration blog is written by Swiss living abroad, and Write-on by resident expats.
30% of their blogs are in the ‘habits’ category, which seem to correspond more to
blogger than audience interests, since the more prevalent topics don’t generate more
comments.
Integration and depth: Blog posts are not referenced in any other Swissinfo
social media such as Facebook or Twitter.
Tactics: Interaction is not very evident on any of the blogs apart from the
German, which generated a good volume of exchanges. However, the last post to this
blog was mid-2010.
Communication ** Collaboration * Education * Entertainment *
4.3 Evaluation of Swedish social media channels
Background: Sweden was selected as a benchmark country because: a) it is
equivalent to Switzerland in country competitiveness and ranking on the major
indexes (Figures 2 and 7), b) it has a well-defined communication strategy which
focuses on the distinct facets of the country brand that need promotion or
strengthening, (Swedish Institute , 2011) and c) its channels were found to be aligned,
integrated, have depth, and use the four pillars of social media tactics to support the
strategy (Figure 14). The Swedish Institute (SI), which is the counterpart to Presence
Switzerland, leads Sweden’s brand strategy implementation. The SI “acts as a clear
and coherent representative of Sweden and Swedish skills, values and experience in
the world” (Swedish Institute , 2011). SI is part of the Council for Promotion of
Sweden Abroad, which includes the Swedish trade council, the invest-in-Sweden
agency, the ministry of foreign affairs, and Visitsweden. This council aims to
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collectively “promote a positive image of Sweden”, as well as “to attract visitors,
investment and knowledge to Sweden.” The council explains that by communicating
the same image of Sweden throughout its channels, it strengthens the messages of all
channels (Visitsweden , 2011).
The Swedish Institute is well staffed and funded to fulfill its mission to ‘put
Sweden on the map by using strategic communication that focuses on culture, society,
education, and science’ (Swedish Institute , 2011): 90 staff in Stockholm and Paris,
and an annual budget of about SEK 300 million, or CHF 43.6 million.
As the Swedish channels are under a centralized, coordinated management,
they reflect a top-down coherence, alignment, integration, and depth of social media.
Thus they can be evaluated globally by best practice rather than by channel.
Figure 14
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4.3.1 Brand communication strategy
Si.se On its website, the Swedish Institute gives its mandate to promote
Sweden through “strategic communication and exchange in the fields of culture,
education, science, and business” (Swedish Institute , 2011). It further defines how it
will use social media to that end as follows:
“At websites such as Sweden.se, Studyinsweden.se and Workinginsweden.se,
but also via the web-based community Swedenintouch.se and other social
media, we foster an updated image of Sweden and seek to engage visitors in
dialogue. Also, by being innovative and using the latest technology in our
digital communication, we help create an image of Sweden as a country at the
cutting edge.” (Swedish Institute - About Sweden, 2011)
The website design, with its moving panels of images alternating with text that
can be click-expanded for more details, exemplifies this focus on innovative use of
technology, as do the topics in the panels themselves. These include social media,
studying and working in Sweden (which links to three related websites), international
networks, films, designs for children, and public diplomacy, which has a video clip of
a 2010 seminar on Sweden’s image abroad held in Visby, Sweden. Simon Anholt,
creator of the Nation Brand Index in which Sweden ranks 10th (Anholt-GfK Roper,
2010), was the special guest and expert speaker, and there is a link to his website.
There are also bookmarks for sharing with 335 social media networks (Swedish
Instititute, 2010).
4.3.2 Channel alignment to target audiences
Sweden.se Navigating through Sweden’s social media via the Swedish Institute’s
gateway to all strategic communication channels is like walking through IKEA.
Channels are logically grouped around related content that is clearly differentiated for
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its purpose and use. Large bookmarks (signposts) above the fold on the home page
alert the visitor to all available social networking channels where interaction is
possible, including Sweden’s news media channel, the Local, where the Swedish
Institute has its own selected content as well as related blog links under the ‘follow
Sweden’ tab. (The Local, 2011)
The home page menu covers each strategic facet of the country brand,
including: society, lifestyle, tourism, work, business, and education. The format and
organization of each subpage is identical, so the navigation is the same through all
Sweden.se subpages as well as the home pages of its linked channels (Sweden.se,
2011). Each page banner has 3-4 scrolling illustrations beside a tagline that reinforces
the strategic aim of presenting Sweden as a ‘cutting edge’ country. The Lifestyle
tagline is ‘listen, read, watch, explore’, business is about ‘embracing new ideas’, and
tourism says ‘explore our horizons’. FAQs in each page’s right bar target the by
anticipating its questions, such as “where can I find tourist information about
Sweden, how can I find information about companies in Sweden, or where can I find
the information I need about studies in Sweden?”
The quick facts menu tab has a social feed which features Swedish fashion,
food, music, and pictures for daily delivery to Facebook, an RSS feed, or an
‘embedded in your website’ option to create a strategic personal communication link
between the individual and news about Swedish culture. (Sweden.se, 2011)
The audience is persistently targeted with messages that support the strategic
aims. The business subpage, for example, underscores Sweden’s skills, values, and
experience with information it labels ‘ethics and business’, ‘business and culture’, and
‘innovation’ as hyperlinks above the bookmark for Sweden’s business channel,
Investsweden.
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Investsweden.se
The business website for Sweden is one of four key facet channels that are
linked to Sweden.se subpages which engage the target audience, then take it to the
channel of specialization and interaction. Although these key facet websites don’t
have the same homepage menu as Sweden.se, they have a similar look and feel in the
use of banner illustrations, font size and style, and overall design. Investsweden has
what Safko and Brake (2010) call ‘sticky’ content above the fold that draws the
visitor in with catchy taglines superimposed on thematic illustrations, such as ’10
Reasons to choose Sweden’, ‘what we do for you’, and ‘Sweden – a green datacenter
location’. These themes underscore the strategic aim to communicate Sweden’s
innovation and use of cutting edge digital technology in an environmentally sound
way (Investsweden, 2011).
Sweden.gov.se
The site of Sweden’s government offices includes several illustrations and a
video of the prime minister’s latest press conference. Bookmarks in the right column
link targeted audiences to Sweden’s gateway Sweden.se, a directory for the subpages
of all Swedish missions abroad, and websites for studying in Sweden, Swedish
environmental technology in China, Sweden’s policies and activities in environmental
and human rights, and the government newsletter, areas which reinforce and are
aligned with Sweden’s strategic communication goals. There is an Accessibility page
on which the visitor can tailor the site’s appearance, including font size, spacing, and
text and background colors. It also provides a synthetic speech function which reads
back website content for those who prefer audio to written communication
(Regeringen.se, 2011).
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4.3.3 Channel integration and depth
The Swedish channel site map (Figure 14) illustrates the integration and depth
of its social media. With the exception of the government site, every channel
has a blog and accounts on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, all of which are
bookmarked on the website home page above the fold. However, the government site
links to homepages for all its embassies, as well as tools for tailoring the page layout
to individual preferences (Regeringen.se, 2011). The education website and its related
channels can be used as an example of how all Swedish channels conform to best
practices for social media integration and depth (Appendix 3b).
Studyinsweden.se
The strategic purpose of this website is to attract foreign students to Swedish
higher education institutions. Its reference to learning Swedish as a foreign language
supports the strategic aim is to increase Sweden’s skilled labor workforce with skilled
locally trained immigrants. The channel utilizes all social media channels to
interactively communicate with current and prospective students.
Like the gateway channel, Sweden.se, it has bookmarks above the fold for
Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and blog channels. Each channel repeats website
content to provide interactive opportunities on the different platforms.
Facebook - studyinsweden
Posts on the Facebook page promoting student bloggers are linked to their
Twitter accounts, and their tweets refer back to the Facebook and blog posts, all of
which focus on promoting higher education in Sweden. The Facebook page also links
to Sweden’s official community website for international students, Swedenintouch.se.
Posts are frequent, as are comments by the fan base (Appendix 3b).
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4.3.4 Channel tactics
Th
e final parameter measuring Swedish social media channels will be their use of the
four pillars of social media strategy: communication, collaboration, education, and
entertainment (Safko and Brake, 2009, p. 675).
Communication*** The Council for Promotion of Sweden Abroad aims to
ensure that the relevant authority optimally promotes the major facets of Sweden’s
brand, be it in tourism, investment, government, or education. Each channel website
explains who its target audience is, such as workinginsweden.se, which is “aimed
mainly at non EU/EEA citizens interested in working in Sweden for at least one year”
(Swedish Institute, 2011). The council believes a unified and consistent image of the
Swedish brand across channels will help reinforce each facet and increase its
competitiveness. This may have helped make Sweden the leading country for image
abroad in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, surpassing Switzerland for the
first time in five years. Even more impressively, Sweden has advanced two positions
to number 4 in the overall IMD ranking for 2011, ahead of Switzerland (Figure 7).
Collaboration*** The Swedish social media site map and the uniformity of
design and navigation via the Sweden.se gateway to all key channels (Appendix 3a)
illustrate how Sweden has integrated and leveraged each channel to support the
promotion of its country brand. Each channel contains links to similar shared content
that encourages audience interaction on the platform of choice, be it Twitter,
Facebook, YouTube, or blogs.
Education*** Notable on all Swedish channels is the comprehensive, clearly
expressed, easy-to-navigate information about all aspects of Swedish life. The
gateway differentiates clearly between Swedish society, lifestyle, tourism, work,
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business, and education. Each channel reinforces the message that the Swedish way is
innovative, technologically advanced, and environmentally aware, whether it is
experienced as an investor, a tourist, or a prospective student or immigrant. Each
website features FAQ’s to help visitors quickly find answers to the most common
questions. Blogs back each channel as well with frequent informative postings. An
April 27th higher education blog, “Study in Sweden (in multiple languages), promotes
the current Chinese version of the blog site and upcoming Arabic and Russian
versions this summer (Petersen, K., 2011).
Entertainment*** The use of multi-media is pervasive throughout Sweden’s
social media channels, including all its websites. Because of the integration and depth
of each channel, it is easy to interact with Swedish bloggers or tweeters. Channels are
updated frequently to maintain audience interest. The sustainability blog, for example,
posts every few days. An April 14th blog about threatened coral reefs, “Images that
want to inspire action”, also featured a 3-minute YouTube video (Jeswani, S., 2011),
and was posted on the Sweden.se Facebook page. Likewise, 68 fans liked a recent
study blog about innovation in Sweden (Boborg, N., 2011).
4.4 Evaluation of Swiss and Australian country leader social media
The main purpose of establishing a strong social media presence for a country
leader is to provide a rapid response platform to negative media, not only because
leadership social media is more visible, but because it is more autonomous from the
other branches of governance. A recent example of a government leader effectively
using rapid response social media was when the US Census bureau neutralized
negative Republican tweeting and blogging about its costly Rose Bowl ad (U.S.
Census Bureau, 2010). However, a limitation to building up a social media presence
for the Swiss presidency has been its collective rather than unitary head of state,
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which rotates through the seven Federal council members on an annual basis.
Although a recently established four-year presidential ‘cabinet’ can provide more
continuity to the social media presence of the head of state, the personal interviews in
this research also explored the feasibility of extending the Swiss presidential term,
which has been proposed in the past by the Swiss parliament as well as former
presidents like Doris Leuthard (WRS , 2010).
Micheline Calmy-Rey is Switzerland’s president for 2011 and has been the
minister of foreign affairs since 2003. Sweden’s foreign minister, Carl Bildt, has
several active social media channels, but its prime minister does not. Thus Australia,
a mid-sized country similar in country ranking indexes to Switzerland but with a best
practices social media presence for its prime minister, Julia Gilliard, was used as a
benchmark.
4.4.1 Swiss president social media
admin.ch/eda.admin.ch
Alignment to audiences: Admin.ch is the website of the Federal Authorities of
the Swiss Confederation, and eda.admin.ch is the website of the Department of
Foreign Affairs (FDFA). The admin.ch homepage is a densely populated, text-based
directory for all government departments. A hyperlink for the Federal Council page
leads to a cutout photo and welcome letter from the Swiss president (Appendix 4a), at
the bottom of which is another hyperlink to a page that describes the presidency and
gives a short bio of Micheline Calmy-Rey, president for 2011.
One of the many admin.ch text hyperlinks leads to the FDFA website,
eda.admin.ch, which has two sections in the left column for internal and external
stakeholders: “traveling and living abroad”, and “traveling and living in
Switzerland”. These sections are ‘illustrated’ with arrows leading from and to a small
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outline of Switzerland. The News section contains pdf format press releases in
French and German focusing on human rights issues and Switzerland’s provision of
aid and political support to developing countries. The page is static, with few
illustrations, no multimedia, and multiple small pitch text hyperlinks that are difficult
to decipher. Each hyperlink in turn leads to another static page that is full of text and
devoid of images.
Integration and depth: There are bookmarks below the fold of the homepage
for Swissworld.org (Switzerland in its diversity), swissinfo.ch (news and info), and
ch.ch (the Swiss portal for everyday questions) (Appendix 2a), but no Facebook link.
Facebook – Micheline Calmy-Rey
Alignment to audiences: A Facebook page for Micheline Calmy-Rey was
established in December, 2009 to support her position as head of the Federal
Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), which she has held since 2003. She currently
has 2100 fans (Appendix 4a). Her Facebook page has bi-weekly posts that are aimed
at German, French, and Italian-speaking stakeholders. Four round table meetings
throughout Switzerland have been posted as events this year with no Facebook fan
attendees. Other posts cover her visits with foreign dignitaries, important Swiss
institutional anniversaries, and comments on global events such as the social unrest in
Northern Africa. Her posts average 10 likes and a few comments, but her French
Easter greeting had 44 likes, the highest number since she assumed the Presidency.
Her page currently has 35 photos of her activities and four videos.
Integration and depth: There are no links between the government websites
featuring Calmy-Rey to her Facebook page, nor are there links from Facebook to any
other social networks like Twitter, where Calmy-Rey has a protected following of
two, or YouTube, where there is no official channel. The most viewed videos of her
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in 2011 are her opening speech at the World Economic Forum’s Davos meeting
(1,511) and her appearance on a Swiss-German television talk show in January 2011
(1,279). A July, 31st 2009 press conference with Calmy-Rey and Hillary Clinton to
announce an agreement on resolving the litigation between the USA and UBS has
been viewed 1,027 times on YouTube (US Dept of State , 2009). In general, videos of
Calmy-Rey draw inarticulate, negative comments and less than a hundred viewings.
Tactics: (all channels) Communication**, Collaboration*, Education***,
Entertainment*. One-way communication and education predominate in Micheline
Calmy-Rey’s social media channels, but none of the channel messages are linked or
reinforced by other channels. There are generally positive comments on her Facebook
page, whose messages focus on strengthening Switzerland’s reputation as a
humanitarian, exemplary democracy to German, French, and Italian-speaking
stakeholders. The only attempt to entertain is on the Facebook page, although it
doesn’t use multimedia to engage interest in the postings.
4.4.2 Australian prime minister social media
pm.gov.au
Alignment to audiences: The website of the Prime Minister (PM) of Australia,
Julia Gillard, promotes activities the PM undertakes for the good of Australia’s
internal stakeholders, as well as her government’s support for global events and
initiatives, like International Women’s Day and the UN-sanctioned invasion of Libya.
The content is very ‘sticky’, with a full-width banner which scrolls photos of the
PM’s most recent activities under tabs for a blog, photos and videos, the press office,
the PM, and her cabinet (Appendix 4b) above the fold. Bookmarks to her social media
channels are also located above the fold. Clicking on any of these tabs leads the
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visitor to pages rich in multimedia content, all of which can be shared via social
media bookmarks.
Integration and depth: The website is accessible as a quick link at the bottom
of the government website homepage (Australian government, 2011), and via all of
the PM’s social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr. In addition, the tab for
Government leads to the websites for each of the cabinet members as well as their
related social media channels (Australia Deputy PM, 2011).
Facebook – Julia Gillard
Alignment to audiences: The PM’s ca. 100,000 fan base appears active, as
there are hundreds of ‘likes’ to her frequent posts on topics of both internal and
external interest, from the Japanese earthquake to the UN position on Libya to a
carbon tax in Australia. There are sometimes hundreds of negative comments on
controversial issues, as there are for other leaders like Barack Obama (BarackObama,
2011), although they usually involve a few individuals having lengthy exchanges.
Integration: Featured content from the webpage is repeated in Facebook posts,
as are homepage press conferences by the PM. The info page provides hyperlinks to
the PM’s website, the Labor Party website, and Twitter and Flickr channels.
Twitter – Julia Gillard
Alignment and Integration: The PM’s Twitter channel has over 95,000
followers and follow over 55,000 tweeters. (Appendix 4b). She appears to have an
international following, many of whose twitter accounts are in foreign languages, and
she has tweeted 330 times since beginning in July 2010, or once a day. The channel is
linked to her party’s website, alp.org.au.
Tactics (all channels): Communication *** The PM’s messages are
differentiated for internal and external stakeholders and reinforced through
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multimedia and repetition on her different social media channels, where her following
or fan base reflects the diversity of her stakeholders. Collaboration ** Presence on all
social media channels affords audience participation. Education *** Information on
the PM’s activities is clearly and concisely explained and reinforced on all social
media channels. Entertainment *** All the PM’s major press conference videos are
available on her website and Facebook channels, and there is a liberal use of
photographs and graphics to illustrate messages.
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5.0 Discussion of results
This research has evaluated the impact of country ranking indexes like the
Anholt Nation Branding Index and the IMD World Competition Yearbook on the
communication strategy of Switzerland and how Swiss social media channels use best
practices to support the strategy. Sweden’s use of social media channels to support its
country branding strategy was used as a benchmark, as was the social media of
Australia’s prime minister.
Presence Switzerland (PRS) is mandated to implement the communication
strategy abroad, but President Micheline Calmy-Rey and Nicolas Bideau, the head of
Presence Switzerland, have said that their funding is insufficient to adequately exploit
social media channels. The Swedish Institute (SI) has a similar mandate for Sweden,
with 90 staff versus 30 in PRS, and an annual budget of CHF 43.6 million versus
PRS’s CHF 7.4 million (Image Switzerland, 2011) (Swedish Institute , 2011).
Sweden’s superior staffing and budget no doubt help contribute to its superior use of
social media channels. While lack of resources might limit the depth of channels that
can be supported, alignment and integration are more a function of coordinated
management of existing resources by the key channel owners, such Sweden’s Council
for Promotion of Sweden Abroad. Thus it is valid to compare Swiss alignment and
integration best practices with those of the two benchmark countries, (Appendix 5)
and make recommendations for how Swiss social media can be better managed to
promote and protect its country brand, even with limited resources.
5.1 Swiss channels versus Swedish best practices alignment to audiences
The communication strategy for Switzerland’s image abroad focuses on
promoting understanding of Switzerland’s political system and policies, and
increasing awareness of its competitiveness and innovativeness, particularly in
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transport and the environment. Its target audiences are opinion leaders, media
representatives, politicians, scientists and students in its major trading partner
countries (Figure 13). Sweden’s Council for Promotion of Sweden Abroad, which is
led by the SI, aims to promote a positive and consistent image of Sweden throughout
its social media channels to attract visitors, investment, and knowledge to Sweden.
Communication strategy. As the communication strategy unites all key
brand elements to a common purpose, a channel aligned to the strategy provides an
effective way of presenting a country’s multi-faceted brand. The Swiss and Swedish
social media channel maps in Figures 10 and 14 illustrate how each country has or has
not accomplished this. Switzerland’s communication strategy is not the gateway by
which all other channels are accessed. Furthermore, access to Switzerland’s
communication strategy website, Image_Switzerland, is buried in the fourth level of
the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) website, which is not identified as
a key strategic channel.
The Swedish channel for the country’s communication strategy, Si.se, is listed
at the bottom of the Sweden.se homepage as the administrator of the site, which is
both Sweden’s strategic channel gateway and its information channel. It presents the
strategic aims of all Sweden’s key channels, which then reinforce and build on thee
aims in above the fold taglines, clickable images, and short descriptions.
Although the five different Swiss channels do correspond to the strategic
facets of the country brand, their aims and target audiences are not apparent as with
Swedish social media. Their content doesn’t consistently help audiences identify
their interests via tags that correspond to the strategic brand elements, or offer above
the fold FAQs on each brand channel that correspond to target audience interests.
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Information gateway. Switzerland’s information gateway aim to convey
messages about politics or innovation or environmental policies is not reaching target
audiences according to its most popular tags. The abundance of topics to choose from,
all crowded into table-of-contents style hyperlinks which lead to more hyperlinks
indexing a variety of other sites in various languages, makes it confusing and time-
consuming for audiences to find strategic content.
Sweden’s information gateway, by comparison, features strategic topics on the
home page, such as sustainability and innovation. Key content is labeled as tabs with
hover descriptions, or bulleted under major subheadings throughout the site. A media
room link in the footer accesses the pressrooms of all key channels. (Sweden media
room, 2011) The news portal tabs are by target group, i.e. news, business, live &
work, and study. Two clicks reach strategic messages anywhere on the gateway,
compared to three to five clicks on Switzerland’s gateway.
Tourism. Tabs on Myswitzerland target tourists by type, activities, and
interests. It is the most visual of channels, with many illustrations, panoramic views
of Switzerland, and video clips, including a section uploaded by visitors themselves.
But its homepage is cluttered with Swiss geography and hotel options, while Swiss
cultural tourism is hidden on subpages even though it needs reinforcing according to
the Nation Branding Index. The site doesn’t identify itself as official and looks very
commercial compared to other key channels.
Sweden’s tourism site, Visitsweden, calls itself Sweden’s official website for
tourism and travel information. It targets companies and journalists as well as tourists,
with features like a pressroom to help journalists plan press trips to Sweden or write
about Swedish tourism. It also has links to Sweden’s priority country press offices for
Swedish tourism in the local languages. (Visitsweden , 2011)
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Investment & Trade. A comparison of the homepages of the Swiss (Osec)
and Swedish (investSweden) business sites highlights Sweden’s more precise focus
on target audiences. Osec’s banner is a static blurred picture, while Sweden’s is
clickable pictures backing its strategic messages: ‘datacenters’ (green technology),
‘what we do for you’, and ‘why Sweden’. Osec’s main headings are either too general
or too verbose: news, exports out of Switzerland, imports into Switzerland, and
investments into Switzerland. Sweden’s are: competitive Sweden, case studies, and
events.
Osec looks clunky and dated, and lacks an engaging ‘sticky’ interface between
content and the audience. Information is organized into long table of contents and it
takes several clicks through a maze of tiny font hyperlinks to find, for example, 16
informative videos that describe the competitiveness of the Swiss business sectors.
However, there is no way of knowing this until one actually lands on the video page.
It takes six clicks to find content on Swiss innovativeness, a quality Nicolas Bideau
said requires more promotion. The fifth click hyperlink, ‘other organizations
providing assistance’, gives no indication that it leads to information about
Switzerland’s federal innovation promotion agency, CTI.
Invest Sweden’s homepage ‘advantage Sweden’ tab, by comparison, lists 10
illustrated reasons for investing in the country, the first of which is innovation.
Governance. Switzerland’s government channels, as noted by Nicolas
Bideau, reflect a text-oriented, one-way communication style, with lengthy document-
style text hyperlink indexes that lead to other indexes, and pdf downloads without
descriptive hover text. This does little to help “clarify to the foreign public
Switzerland’s political concerns and positions.” (FDFA - PRS, 2011).
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The government’s communication strategy abroad is found on a subpage of
the ‘About Switzerland’ tag, entitled ‘Promotion Switzerland’. It describes Presence
Switzerland, along with the four key Swiss channels evaluated in this research, as
“Swiss organizations fully dedicated to offering services to the public” (Federal
Chancellery, 2010).
While the FDFA homepage, eda.admin.ch, more clearly targets external
stakeholders. It reflects the same crowded, official documentation style of most Swiss
governmental sites, and has no pressroom with multimedia content.
By contrast, the Swedish government homepage uses visuals and whitespace
to highlight key messages, and it has bookmarks for both the brand strategy gateway
and the Sweden abroad website above the fold. The latter links to commonly
formatted pages for every Swedish mission in the world. Its press office clearly
targets media representatives, with frequent webcasts and an International press center
with subscription-only video resources for foreign journalists. (Sweden abroad, 2011)
News Media. Swissinfo, the Swiss news and media channel, very effectively
uses social media best practices to engage and entertain target audiences, although the
connection to Switzerland’s strategy abroad is not clear. It defends the Swiss position
in areas where the image has been weakened (sometimes by Swissinfo news stories),
and links them to the relevant social media channel. Swissinfo recently added a
Swissworld bookmark on four of its eleven tab subpages related to Swissworld topics,
and several Swiss channels link to Swissinfo articles via subpage hyperlinks to help
reinforce their messages. As the only channel which links to and from all other
strategic Swiss channels, Swissinfo functions as the ‘unofficial’ gateway for Swiss
image-building, even though it is not officially responsible for managing
Switzerland’s brand image.
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By comparison, Sweden.se uses its news media channel, the Local, to
reinforce rather than substitute for strategic content. It provides centralized access to
news and commentaries on the Local, and furthermore has its own tab on the Local
homepage, ‘Follow Sweden’, which covers selected content and links to the six blogs
among the Local’s 23 that are managed by SI (The Local, 2011).
Summary. Swiss channel home pages are predominantly content indexes of
text hyperlinks leading to more hyperlinks without a consistent format or apparent
strategic focus. Use of clickable visuals ranges from very good on channels for
tourism and news media to poor on the information gateway, investment, and
government channels. (Appendix 2a). Each Swedish channel homepage, on the other
hand, has commonly placed above-the-fold clickable visuals, taglines, and FAQs that
reinforce the channel’s aims and guide target audiences to strategic content. Swiss
channels make no use of sticky taglines to define their purpose, FAQs are variously
located and formatted, and pictures frequently don’t lead to additional content – they
simply illustrate it, in the static brochure design that predominates on Swiss channels.
5.2 Swiss versus best practices channel integration and depth
Integration: The lack of integration in Swiss social media can be seen in the
comparison table of Swiss and Swedish social media channels (Appendix 5). It
appears Swiss channels were developed independently and incrementally linked on
the detail level, whereas Swedish channels were built top down as a harmonious,
integrated whole. Thus they reflect streamlined homepage commonalities of design
and navigation, while Switzerland’s channels reflect different stages in web design
technology as well as the varying communication skills and style of their sponsors.
Interfaces between Swiss channels are hyperlink add-ons or variously placed
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bookmarks at all levels rather than fundamental, recognizable menu elements at
higher levels (Appendices 2a and 3a).
Not only does Switzerland’s official gateway not lead to all other channels,
but Swiss channel domains range from .com to .org to .ch, a further sign of disparity.
The de facto gateway to which all other channels refer is the Swiss news media
channel, which often replaces rather than reinforces the image-building efforts of
Switzerland’s other major channels. With links to Swissinfo articles usually buried in
Swiss channel hyperlinks, its easier and more engaging to access Swiss strategic
channels, if at all, via the Swissinfo site. Although Swissinfo’s mission includes
raising awareness of Switzerland, it never refers to Switzerland’s strategy for
communication abroad.
Conversely, Sweden’s social media site map in Figure 14 demonstrates how
coordinated management by the owners of a country’s key strategic channels results
in best practices use of social media to reinforce the strategic messages of a country’s
communication strategy in its quest for a competitive advantage.
Depth. The lack of depth in Swiss social media has been ascribed to
inadequate funding by those responsible for the online country communication
strategy. However, government funding of the Swissinfo news media channel was
recently renewed, enabling it to continue to support its well-subscribed major social
network channels and four blogs. Perhaps the government believes its social media
money is better spent on media professionals, but this delegates Switzerland’s image
promotion to journalists whose first priority is to report Swiss news impartially,
however damaging it may be to the Swiss brand. Sweden’s social media channels, by
comparison, disseminate their messages to all interactive networks. The exception is
the government, which has created homogeneous websites for all Swedish missions,
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some of which, like the USA, do have social networking depth (Sweden abroad,
2011).
5.3 Swiss versus best practices channel tactics
The evaluation of Swiss channel use of the four pillars of social media to
engage and persuade audiences found that only the news media channel Swissinfo
scored top marks in communications, collaboration, education, and entertainment. As
noted by Brian Solis, good social media facilitates conversations. Websites should
engage and persuade audiences looking for interaction to move to social networking
platforms. Without depth, channel conversations are very limited, and as illustrated by
Switzerland’s social media site map (Figure 10), only its news media channel offers
multiple networking opportunities. But it does not reinforce strategic messages
throughout channels as effectively as Sweden’s social media.
For example, an evaluation of one of Sweden’s strategic channels, Study in
Sweden, found optimal conversational depth. A recent home page story: ‘low on
cash’ was repeated on its Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube channels, with a video tie-
in as well, offering audiences four conversational touch points (Appendix 3b).
Switzerland’s presentation of educational opportunities for foreigners, by
comparison, is split among several channels. Swissworld.org and ch.ch have
information about public schooling, while mySwitzerland.com covers private
schooling. No single channel unites all educational opportunities for foreign students,
nor are there social networks for them. A Facebook page that seems to target them has
122 fans and an invalid web site link. (StudyinSwitzerland, 2011)
5.4 Swiss versus best practices country leader social media
Background: As noted, a disadvantage in establishing a social media ‘suite’
for Switzerland’s presidency lies in its short, one-year rotation among the Swiss 7-
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member governing cabinet. However, a 4-year presidential support team has now
been established to help provide some continuity to the promotion of the office, and
primary research found that the presidential term will very possibly be extended by
the Swiss federal parliament to two years in the near future. A strong social media
presence for the Swiss presidency, however ceremonial, could be key to providing an
effective, rapid counter-attack against negative media coverage of Swiss actions.
Summary: This paper’s evaluation has shown that presidential social media
in Switzerland is compromised both by the dual role of and the one year term of each
president, which is too short a time to build up a significant social media presence
unless the incumbent already has one as a federal councilor. This is the case with
Micheline Calmy-Rey, whose Facebook page was established, and still reflects, her
role as Head of the Department of Foreign Affairs. But her fan base has only grown
by about 2.5% per month, perhaps because she uses no other social media channels to
engage them.
The Australian Prime Minister’s Facebook monthly fan base growth rate is
over 10%. Not only does she use all social media channels, but messages are repeated
across channels linked with above-the-fold bookmarks (Appendix 4b). Her pressroom
uses frequent videos to disseminate and generate interest in her media releases. And
she follows over 50,000 Twitter accounts, setting the stage for counter-attacks to
negative press on multiple platforms, which are as well monitored as they are
subscribed to.
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Conclusion and Recommendations
Summary: According to the country branding indexes and ranking experts
that this research has consulted in publications and through primary research,
Switzerland has one of the strongest country brands in the world. It consistently ranks
among the top ten on all major indexes that assess a country’s competitiveness. This
research has also found that Switzerland uses its performance in the facets of the
Anholt Nation Brand Hexagon to help it formulate its communication strategy abroad,
and has social media channels that correspond to these facets, namely: tourism,
exports, governance, investment and immigration, culture and heritage, and people.
But in the past few years, Switzerland has lost rank in some of the NBI
Hexagon facets, notably immigration and people. Furthermore, this year Switzerland
dropped one position on the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY), while
Sweden, which was found by this research to support its communication strategy
abroad with a best practices social media presence, advanced two. Although it was not
the remit of this paper to prove a direct correlation between best practices social
media and country ranking, it demonstrated that Switzerland is not using social media
best practices to support its country brand communication strategy, particularly when
compared to the best practices use of Sweden. Thus a correlation cannot be
discounted.
Country brand analysts have warned that Switzerland cannot afford to rest on
its laurels, as countries are competing more than ever to export their products and
services and import tourists, companies, and skilled labor. Nor can it depend on
traditional one-way or one-to-one communications to promote Switzerland abroad,
such as that still practiced by most of its social media channels, when it is being
attacked through multiple social networking channels on a global, real time scale. It
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needs to better leverage its own channels to promote its strengths and address its
weaknesses.
Although Switzerland is about to implement a comprehensive online
monitoring tool for early identification of negative media events, it also needs to
establish a government social media presence on all major platforms, preferably in the
president’s name. This will help to neutralize attacks from countries or companies
who compete with Switzerland for business before they cause serious damage to
Switzerland’s valuable reputation and endanger its competitiveness.
Recommendations: This research has led to six recommendations to help
Switzerland achieve best practices use of social media to promote and protect its
country brand:
1. Establish a national identity. Switzerland does it better. Switzerland needs
a social media tagline that unites all facets of the national identity. Switzerland has
been called a model state, the Swarovski of countries, exclusive and limited. In his
book, Places, Simon Anholt said that although Switzerland has a strong country
brand, it has a weak national one. If Swiss social media channels featured Swiss
excellence that is not disembodied and is linked to its strategic messages as well as
the products for which it is famous, this could help to brand the national character
irrespective of language or political differences, which are too often blamed for a lack
of a Swiss national identity. Brief descriptions of notable achievements (i.e. he
invented this, or she cured that, or they helped build the longest tunnel in Europe, etc.)
related to a specific channel could be featured in clickable banner images, and
changed on a regular basis or as new achievers made their mark.
2. Harmonize channel alignment. To ensure consistency and pervasiveness
of Swiss national brand promotion, a channel re-alignment, similar to what Sweden
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has established, would transform what now seems like repetitive, uncoordinated
content into complimentary, targeted content.
A top down design would help to reinforce the Swiss national brand image
while still communicating to the target audiences of each channel. Perhaps the
Swissinfo homepage tab design could be used as a basis (Appendix 2c). The key is to
make all channels uniform in layout and navigation, giving audiences one ‘launch
pad’ from which to access different channels that capture and lead them to the content
they seek anywhere in the Swiss social media world with a minimum of effort.
Exclusivity could be further reinforced for special target audiences like opinion
leaders or media and educational representatives by offering subscription-based
multimedia access to special content.
3. Increase channel depth. All major Swiss channels need to establish
themselves on all major social networking channels and provide above-the-fold
bookmarks. Key image-strengthening messages, such how the Swiss vote more than
any country on earth, should be repeated on each social network platform to reinforce
messages and enabling audiences to interact on the channel of their choice. A channel
‘master’ could provide feedback to noteworthy comments to demonstrate that the host
is also engaged. Even Lady Gaga interacts with her 35 million Facebook fans (Gaga,
2011). Countries rarely do this, so Switzerland could stand out if it occasionally
responded on topics that generated exceptional interest, especially if it’s negative.
Given the manpower required to sift through and respond to fan comments, interns
with clear instructions on how to represent government interests online, which has
been established by countries like New Zealand and the USA for government
employees, could be implemented (US Dept of State , 2009).
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Repeating messages on the major networking channels would provide
simplified summaries of text from web pages or blogs to appeal to younger audiences
in particular. The option to tailor screen fonts and colors, such as that provided by the
Swedish government site’s ‘accessibility’ page, could help engage older audiences.
4. Engage through entertainment. Official Swiss social media is no fun.
There’s ample information, but apart from the news media channels, it takes too much
time and effort to navigate to and interact (when possible) with desired content. Swiss
channels need homepages with bigger and better bookmarks to each other’s content
via taglines and clickable images. The extensive video library of the news media
channel should be tapped into by corresponding content on the strategic channels via
clickable pictures, not the text hyperlinks. The Swissinfo multimedia page organizes
videos by themes, which correspond to country elements measured by country
ranking indexes: environment, infrastructure, society, culture, sports, and science.
This library could be enlarged to include strategic aims like innovation and education,
which the Presence Switzerland gateway could then link to on the pages where it
covers these topics (Swissinfo video, 2011). Multimedia pressrooms, which include
government press conferences and other key policy presentations, should be
established on the information gateway and government channels to engage foreign
opinion leaders and other key targets identified in the Swiss communication strategy
abroad.
5. Assign a social media ‘Ringmaster’. In the December Harvard Business
Review, Patrick Spenner identifies the need for a new type of social media marketing
executive who must unite the various actors and their activities of communicating and
fulfilling a brand promise “like a circus ringmaster, expertly choreographing talent in
real time to engage the audience in a seamless, interactive experience.” (Spenner,
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2010). He identifies three capabilities needed for a social media ‘marketing’
executive: integrative thinking, ability to augment lean resources with people from
other channels, and ability to work within short time frames by using social
technologies to rapidly identify and maximize new opportunities or neutralize threats.
6. Establish a ‘chief executive’ high-speed response capability. In terms of
responding to attacks on brands, countries are no different to companies in that they
are slow-moving and consensus-driven. Swiss leadership has demonstrated this
limitation in the past, when its policies regarding banking transparency, the Polanski
affair, the minaret ban, or the Libyan hostage crisis, were communicated through
press releases seen by a few hundred people online. If other world leaders’ use of
social media to promote or defend their policies is any indication, a social media
‘suite’ for the Swiss presidential office that included a blog and Facebook and Twitter
accounts could have helped defuse the negative criticism before it spread through
social media channels and affected perceptions of the Swiss country brand enough to
lower its ranking in two of the major country brand indexes.
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Appendix 1 – Interview Questions
Interview 1: Stephane Garelli 1. Could you explain in more details how the WCY is organized? 2. How does it compare to the other major competitiveness index, the GCI by WEF? What about the NBI and CBI? Are they more/less reliable indicators of the strength of the Swiss brand? 3. What are the major strengths and weaknesses your yearbook has found in the Swiss country brand? 4. Do you think social media can influence perception of these strengths and weaknesses? How? 5. Why is there a variance in the different country brand rankings? 6. Can country rankings be affected by negative media events from year to year? 7. What do you think was/were the most damaging media events in the past few years? Why? 8. With its dependency on quality exports, do you think Switzerland has to be concerned about counterfeiting? 9. The US Census Bureau neutralized John McCain’s tweets against its Superbowl ad to 7 million followers with a speedy response from the Director’s social media platforms. Could this strategy be applied to Switzerland’s extraordinary situations? Why/why not? 10. Any idea if Switzerland will maintain its position in your ranking this year? Interview 2 – Nicolas Bideau 1. What has been your experience since you joined Presence Switzerland? 2. What are your current priorities in terms of the Communication strategy abroad? 3. What Internet media analysis tools are you using and what do you monitor? 4. Do you think non-Presence Switzerland government-sponsored websites like swissinfo and admin.ch protect and promote the Swiss country brand? How/how not? 5. What do you think of the current websites managed by Presence Switzerland? 6. What do you think of the president’s Facebook page? Should she branch out to other social media platforms, like Twitter or blogging? Why/why not?
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7. Do you think the fraudulent use of the identity of the Swiss president on Twitter and a blog is a problem? 8. Would Switzerland’s online image promotion benefit from having a presidency that lasted more than one year? Is it feasible? Why/why not? If so, how? 9. Are there plans to put Presence Switzerland on other social media platforms? Which ones and why? Interview 3 – Willy Hold 1. Could you explain what your main responsibilities were as Chief of Protocol? 2. Your responsibilities included some of the instruments that are referenced in the communication strategy for promoting Switzerland abroad, such as major events and hosting foreign delegations. Could you explain in more detail how these work? 3. How did the president manage her dual responsibilities? 4. How is the PR for the office of the president organized today? 5. What are the responsibilities of PRS versus the Press Office of the president and/or the FDFA in terms of social media? 6. Would Switzerland’s online image promotion benefit from having a presidency that lasted more than one year? Is it feasible? If no, why not? If yes, how? 7. Do you think the fraudulent use of the identity of the Swiss president on Twitter and a blog is a problem? 8. Swiss embassies like the one in Washington D.C. use social media to promote the Swiss image. Do you think this could be useful in other Swiss priority countries? Interview 4 – Micheline Calmy-Rey
1. What do you think of your Facebook page as a tool for promoting the presidency? Who is your intended audience? 2. A recent Swissinfo article said that 25 world leaders used their Twitter accounts, or Twiplomacy, at the Davos conference which you attended. What do you think about using it for your communications? 3. Would you consider having a blog? If not, why? 4. What do you think of other world leaders, like President Obama or Norway’s Prime Minister, maintaining blogs? 5. What is your view on the role of Presence Switzerland in supporting the communication strategy using social media?
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Appendix 2a - Swiss channel alignment
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Appendix 2b – Swiss channel depth
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Appendix 3a – Swedish channel alignment
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Appendix 3b – Swedish channel depth
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Appendix 4a – Swiss country leader
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Appendix 4b – Australian country leader
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Appendix 5 – Swiss versus Swedish/Australian social media channels
Brand areas/ Country
Main sites (Image strategy site)
Gateway integration
Home pg links
Facebook Twitter/ Languages
YouTube Blogs/ languages
Info gateway CH SE
Swissworld.org Sweden.se (si.se)
no yes
n/a yes
no yes
no en
no yes
no 12/en
Tourism CH SE
myswitzerland.com visitSweden.se
no yes
no yes
yes yes
en,fr,de en
yes yes
no en
Investment CH SE
osec.ch Investsweden.se
no yes
yes yes
yes yes
en, de 4 countries
yes yes
de,fr,it en
Government CH SE
ch.ch/epa.admin.ch (image_switzerland) Sweden.gov.se
no yes
no yes
yes yes
en,fr,de foreign sec.
no no
no foreign sec.
News Media CH SE
Swissinfo.ch Thelocal.se,de,ch
no yes
yes yes
yes yes
en + 8 en
yes yes
6/6 16/en
Leadership home website(s)
Gateway integration
All sites linked
Facebook Twitter/ Languages
Press office
Blog/ languages
Admin.ch, eda.admin. pm.gov.au
no yes
no yes
yes yes
no en
no yes
no en
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