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Title [sv]
Nation Branding: Nationen som gemenskap och varumärke i Östeuropa
Title [en]
Nation branding
Abstract [en]
Nation branding – where nation-states in conjunction with international branding consultants execute marketing campaigns for their own country in order to attract investors and tourists – has grown both as a phenomenon and as an area of research the past decade. However, those who have analysed nation branding have either been deeply involved in the activities themselves, or have confused the branding process with the construction of national identities. In Bolin & Ståhlberg (2010) we took issue with this approach, arguing for the analytical separation of nation building and nation branding, on the grounds that these are different processes, [a] addressed to different audiences (national and international respectively), and [b] that there is a need for distinguishing between different kinds of mediated campaigns (those who are addressing an international audience of investors, and those that direct themselves to tourists), and [c] that the campaigns differ in their relation to the historical past, and in their rhetoric. A great deal of previous research have been focused on Eastern Europe, where the Post-Soviet states search for their national identity in order to achieve the social solidarity in which each nation is built, while simultaneously try to rid themselves of their colonial Soviet past and ‘rebrand’ themselves. As the building of national solidarity and the building of the national brand have to be orchestrated simultaneously, this also produces a tension. It is of high relevance to analyse these tensions as they appear in different national contexts. This project aims to analyse the tension between nation building and nation branding in Eastern Europe. With the focus on an on-going campaign – ‘Ukraine, all about U’ – its aim is to understand the inherent tension in relation to other states and branding activities, partly in relation to other Eastern European countries, and partly in relation to other nation-states (e.g. in Europe, Asia, Africa) – countries that often cooperate with the same Anglo-American branding agencies. Methodologically the project will analyse textual material (videos, press releases, text and campaign material) and conduct interviews with branding consultants, government officials, and others who are involved in the activities. The project group consists of one media research, one anthropologist and one area studies specialist.
Publications (5 of 5) Show all publications
Ståhlberg, P. (2017). Från marknadsföring till propagandakrig. Ikaros, tidskrift om människan och vetenskapen, 14(2), 37-39
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Från marknadsföring till propagandakrig
2017 (Swedish)In: Ikaros, tidskrift om människan och vetenskapen, ISSN 1796-1998, Vol. 14, no 2, p. 37-39Article in journal (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.)) Published
Abstract [sv]

Ett projekt som inleddes som en studie i nation branding i Ukraina kom efter Majdanrevolten 2013-14 att övergå i en undersökning av hur ukrainska myndigheter och medier hanterar information i konflikten mellan Ukraina och Ryssland. Ryssland antas ha en mäktig propagandaapparat, men hur agerar Ukraina i informationskriget mot Ryssland?
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Åbo: , 2017
Keywords
propaganda, nation branding, Ukraina, medier
National Category
Media and Communication Studies
Research subject
Baltic and East European studies; Critical and Cultural Theory
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-34641 (URN)716/42/2012 (Local ID)716/42/2012 (Archive number)716/42/2012 (OAI)
Funder
The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, A063-2012The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, 56/2015
Available from: 2018-02-20 Created: 2018-02-20 Last updated: 2025-10-07Bibliographically approved
Bolin, G., Jordan, P. & Ståhlberg, P. (2016). From Nation Branding to Information Warfare: The Management of Information in the Ukraine–Russia Conflict. In: Mervi Pantti (Ed.), Media and the Ukraine Crises: Hybrid media practice and narratives of conflict (pp. 3-18). New York: Peter Lang Publishing Group
Open this publication in new window or tab >>From Nation Branding to Information Warfare: The Management of Information in the Ukraine–Russia Conflict
2016 (English)In: Media and the Ukraine Crises: Hybrid media practice and narratives of conflict / [ed] Mervi Pantti, New York: Peter Lang Publishing Group, 2016, p. 3-18Chapter in book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Scholarly attention regarding the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has mainly concentrated on so-called Russian propaganda, directed both towards Russian-speaking populations and the international public, but less attention has been paid to the management of information from Ukraine. In this chapter is proposed that the conflict between Ukraine and Russia has engaged an entirely new set of actors engaged in the management of information, most notably from PR and nation branding activities, as well as journalists, oligarchs and various individuals with an interest in Ukraine’s international image. These new actors bring with them competences, ideologies and practices from their field of origin which impact on the practice and expressive character of information warfare. In this chapter we analyse three domains of communication used by Ukraine to address external audiences; the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre (UCMC), the English language news channel Ukraine Today and the fact checking website StopFake. With a focus on both individuals as well as the institutions they represent, this chapter explores the way in which actors in Ukraine have attempted to shape the content of the messages communicated.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
New York: Peter Lang Publishing Group, 2016
Series
Global crises and the media, ISSN 1947-2587 ; 21
Keywords
Ukraine, information war, nation branding
National Category
Media and Communications
Research subject
Critical and Cultural Theory; Baltic and East European studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-31172 (URN)9781433133398 (ISBN)
Funder
The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, A063-2012The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, 56/2015
Available from: 2016-11-17 Created: 2016-11-17 Last updated: 2025-10-07Bibliographically approved
Ståhlberg, P. & Bolin, G. (2016). Having a Soul or Choosing a Face?: Nation Branding, identity and Cosmopolitan Imagination. Social Identities, 22(3), 274-290
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Having a Soul or Choosing a Face?: Nation Branding, identity and Cosmopolitan Imagination
2016 (English)In: Social Identities, ISSN 1350-4630, E-ISSN 1363-0296, Vol. 22, no 3, p. 274-290Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Taylor & Francis Group, 2016
Keywords
Nation branding, identity, cosmopolitanism, media, Ukraine
National Category
Media and Communications
Research subject
Critical and Cultural Theory; Baltic and East European studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-29661 (URN)10.1080/13504630.2015.1128812 (DOI)000372493100005 ()2-s2.0-84954243975 (Scopus ID)716/42/2012 (Local ID)716/42/2012 (Archive number)716/42/2012 (OAI)
Funder
The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, A063-2012The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, 56/2015
Available from: 2016-03-04 Created: 2016-03-04 Last updated: 2025-10-07Bibliographically approved
Bolin, G. & Ståhlberg, P. (2015). Mediating the Nation-State: Agency and the Media in Nation-Branding Campaigns. International Journal of Communication, 9, 3065-3083
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Mediating the Nation-State: Agency and the Media in Nation-Branding Campaigns
2015 (English)In: International Journal of Communication, E-ISSN 1932-8036, Vol. 9, p. 3065-3083Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Keywords
nation branding, media production, media technologies, media organizations, Ukraine
National Category
Media and Communications
Research subject
Baltic and East European studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-28439 (URN)2-s2.0-84978642430 (Scopus ID)
Funder
The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, A063-2012
Available from: 2015-10-05 Created: 2015-10-05 Last updated: 2025-10-07Bibliographically approved
Ståhlberg, P. & Bolin, G. (2015). Nationen som vara och gemenskap: Identitet, agens och publik inom nationsmarknadsföring. Nordisk Østforum, 29(3), 289-312
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Nationen som vara och gemenskap: Identitet, agens och publik inom nationsmarknadsföring
2015 (Swedish)In: Nordisk Østforum, ISSN 0801-7220, E-ISSN 1891-1773, Vol. 29, no 3, p. 289-312Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 2015
Keywords
Nation branding, Ukraine, nationalism, identity, agency, audience
National Category
Media and Communication Studies
Research subject
Critical and Cultural Theory; Baltic and East European studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-28441 (URN)
Funder
The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, A063-2012
Note

Nation-branding is a dynamic and rapidly developing practice promoting or readjustingimages of a nation-state for tourists or investors. New, postcolonial nation-statesseem to have a particular need to build new images of themselves in the eyes of thewider world. However, since they have a short history of sovereignty, these statessimultaneously need to build social solidarity and community at home if they are toform the basis needed for building a nation. This article takes its departure in this tensionand addresses three themes that need further theorizing due to the fact that thepractice has still to find its form: agency, audience and identity. These themes are discussedin relation to the branding efforts of Ukraine over the past decade. It is concludedthat, today, nation-branding campaigns are orchestrated by domestic PR agencies (as opposed to the previous dominance of British agencies); that the domesticaudience is taken into consideration in ways different from earlier branding campaigns;and that the question of identity construction is more complex than previouslythought. The Ukrainian case also highlights how vulnerable nation-branding efforts are to domestic political changes.

Available from: 2015-10-07 Created: 2015-10-05 Last updated: 2025-10-07Bibliographically approved
Co-InvestigatorStåhlberg, Per
Principal InvestigatorBolin, Göran
Co-InvestigatorJordan, Paul
Coordinating organisation
Södertörn University
Funder
Period
2013-01-01 － 2015-12-31
Keywords [sv]
Östersjö- och Östeuropaforskning
Keywords [en]
Baltic and East European studies
National Category
Media StudiesCommunication Studies
Identifiers
DiVA, id: project:1931Project, id: A063-2012_OSS

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