Departments
Nation Branding Korea
Importance of Nation Branding
Amid the global financial crisis, the international
community has been experiencing rapid changes
and searching for new paradigms. In internation-
al relations, military and economic competitive-
ness are of the utmost importance. Recently,
however, soft power in the form of nation brand-
ing has become a hot conversation topic. Nation
branding, a concept adopted from marketing
principles, assesses how a country is regarded by
other countries. A nation’s brand is a concept
that compasses the favorability of a country’s im-
age and the level of trust it commands in the
world. This paper presents approaches to en-
hancing Korea’s national brand.
The more highly regarded and recognized a
country is, the greater its “inbound” and “out-
bound” prospects are. The term inbound refers
to the attractiveness to foreigners concerning in-
vestment, tourism, and living conditions, while
outbound refers to the favorability with which a
country’s companies and organizations are re-
ceived overseas so that they can export more and
attract talented labor resources.
Era of Competitive Nation
Branding
A review of five countries’ main nation branding
activities.
New Zealand
New Zealand was the first country to undertake
a massive marketing initiative in nation brand-
ing. It staged its 100% Pure New Zealand cam-
paign in 1999, investing US$41 million exclusive-
ly on commercials for a two-year period. As a
LEE Dong-Hun
result, the number of foreign visitors to the coun-
try rose by as much as 53 percent, while wine ex-
ports grew sevenfold. Since 2003, New Zealand
has been building on this under its second initia-
tive titled New Zealand, New Thinking, which
aims to nurture its future’s innovation industries.
Malaysia
Malaysia has also recently attempted to enhance
its national brand, particularly through its Brit-
ain in Malaysia campaign. The campaign pro-
motes investment and trade with the United
Kingdom; its “Just Between Friends” slogan was
sponsored by a British company operating in
Malaysia. For tourism, “Malaysia, Truly Asia”
was made into a logo that presents the country
as the most beautiful destination in Asia.
Japan
Remarkable economic development and techno-
logical innovation contributed greatly to taking
focus away from Japan’s negative image of a
country defeated in World War II. To achieve
this, the Japanese government took on an effec-
tive strategic approach. First, it considered that,
if the 1960s and 1970s encompassed paradigms
of price and quality, today would be the age of a
paradigm in brand. In addition, the government
established a professional research organization
under control of the prime minister to investigate
Japan’s national brand. To globalize Japanese
lifestyle and culture, it focused on spreading Jap-
anese food culture and promoting its regional
brands and fashion. Aiming to become a beloved
and respected country, Japan has strived to
broaden its image of being a producer of quality
products by focusing on the promotion of Japa-
nese lifestyle and culture. For instance, the Japan-
esque Modern nation branding project was
launched in 2005.
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Nation Branding Korea
Germany
To overcome its tarnished image for the role it
played in World War II, Germany used the 2006
World Cup as an opportunity to launch a mas-
sive campaign to improve its national brand. Un-
der the slogan “Land of Ideas,” Germany em-
phasized a fresh and exciting outlook, making
considerable effort to remove existing stereotypes.
A private—public committee was established to
form the campaign’s foundation, with the ap-
pointment of the head of the Federation of Ger-
man Industries as executive director and the
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Economy as
board member. By establishing the exclusive pro-
motion agency FC Deutschland, the country at-
tempts to improve both public awareness and in-
ternational image simultaneously.
France
To maintain its positive image as a nation of art
and fashion, France is offering various opportu-
nities through its programs and events. Through
its 130 French cultural centers in 127 countries,
AllianceFrançaise, a non-profit private organiza-
tion under the umbrella of the Ministry of For-
eign Affairs since 1883, has also played a note-
worthy role, becoming the vanguard of France’s
promotional efforts. Also, France 24, a 24-hour
news channel, is enhancing the image of France
in terms of highlighting not only sophisticated
French culture but also the country’s high-tech
industry. In 1993, the Public Relations Commit-
tee was promoted to the status of presidential
committee. In addition, an unofficial, private—
public cooperation meeting involved in nation
branding is currently ongoing.
Korea’s National Brand Power
and Tasks
Rising Interest in National Brands
and Indices
Korea’s interest in nation branding has risen sig-
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nificantly in recent years. In January 2009, the
Lee Myung Bak administration established the
Presidential Council on Nation Branding
(PCNB) under direct control of the Blue House.
It sets strategies and directions to coordinate and
lead nation branding activities for each depart-
ment and ministry. To create a more systematic
and strategic approach to nation branding, the
Council sought an objective management index
from Samsung Economic Research Institute
(SERI). SERI followed the principle that “no im-
provements can be made without measurements”
in developing its national brand index model.
A New Nation Brand Index Model: NBDO
Current nation brand indices such as the com-
petitiveness rankings of the International Insti-
tute for Management Development (IMD) and
World Economic Forum (WEF) tilt toward a fo-
cus on substance, whereas other indices such as
Anholt’s Nation Brands Index (NBI) and Fu-
tureBrand’s Country Brand Index (CBI) empha-
size image. The Nation Brand Dual Octagon
(NBDO) developed by SERI and PCNB is the
world’s first index that surveys and analyzes
both; substance is quantified through statistical
data and image is ascertained through surveys.
|Figure 1 NBDO Categories
Economy
Science
Celebrity
& Tech.
Citizenry Hard
Infrastructure
Modern Culture Institution
Heritage
 LEE Dong-Hun

|Table 1 Total Rankings of NBDO and Similar Indices

NBDO (2009) Other2008

Indices
Ranks
Substance Image IMD (2009) WEF (2009) NBI (2009) CBI (2009)
1 US France US Switzerland US US
2 Germany Japan Hong Kong US France Canada
3 France Sweden Singapore Singapore Germany Australia
4 UK UK Switzerland Sweden UK New Zealand
5 Japan Germany Denmark Denmark Japan France
6 Sweden US Sweden Finland Italy Italy
7 Switzerland Switzerland Australia Germany Canada Japan
8 Canada Canada Canada Japan Switzerland UK
9 Australia Netherlands Finland Canada Australia Germany
10 Netherlands Italy Netherlands Netherlands Spain/Sweden Spain
Notable South Korea (19) South Korea (20) South Korea (27) South Korea (19) na

Thus, the NBDO analyzes the difference be-
tween the two ranking methods and bridges the
gap between them, in turn facilitating the identi-
fication of the direction and strategy to take in
improving the national brand.
In NBDO, the word “dual” refers to substance
and image, and “octagon” denotes eight subcate-
gories: economy, science & technology (S&T),
hard infrastructure, institution, heritage, modern
culture, citizenry, and celebrity.
A 36-question survey on national images was
given to 13,500 opinion leaders in 26 countries
worldwide. The analysis was based on national
statistics from various institutions (e.g., IMD,
WEF, UNESCO, and WDI) and Nobel Prize
winners.
Status of Korea’s National Brand
The United States and France ranked first in
substance and image, respectively. The United
States and Germany placed higher in substance

|Table 2 Substance Rankings of NBDO

Hard Infra- Present

Ranks Overall Economy S&T Institution Heritage Citizenry Celebrity
structure Culture

1 US US US  Sweden  Sweden US US  Sweden US

2  Germany  Germany Japan Switzerland Canada France Germany Norway Germany
3 France Japan  Germany Singapore US China Japan Switzerland UK
4 UK France South Korea Denmark Australia Italy China Ireland France
5 Japan UK Finland US Germany Spain France Finland Russia
6 Sweden Switzerland UK Iceland Switzerland Germany  UK New Zealand Japan
7 Switzerland  Netherlands Canada Austria Norway Brazil Spain Australia China
8 Canada Sweden Taiwan Norway UK Australia South Korea Netherlands Italy
9 Australia Canada Switzerland Belgium France UK Australia Austria Brazil
10 Netherlands  China Sweden Finland Netherlands Mexico UAE Singapore South Korea
South Korea South Korea South Korea South Korea South Korea South Korea
Notable - - -
(19) (14) (25) (24) (37) (33)

April 2010 | SERI Quarterly | 105

Nation Branding Korea

|Table 3 Image Rankings of NBDO

Hard Infra- Present

Ranks Overall Economy S&T Institution Heritage Citizenry Celebrity
structure Culture

1  France Japan  Japan Sweden  Sweden France US  Sweden US

2  Japan  Germany Germany  France Canada Greece France  Canada France
3 Sweden US Sweden Japan Switzerland Italy Italy Switzerland UK
4 UK France France Germany France Egypt UK Japan Russia
5  Germany UK  US Switzerland  UK Mexico Japan Netherlands Germany
6  US  Switzerland UK  Canada Germany Spain Germany Belgium Italy
7 Switzerland Sweden Switzerland  US Netherlands  Sweden Spain UK Japan
8 Canada  Canada  Canada UK Japan UK Canada France  Spain
9 Netherlands UAE South Korea Netherlands Australia Switzerland  Sweden Germany Greece
10 Italy Australia Australia Australia Spain New Zealand Australia Australia China
South Korea South Korea South Korea South Korea South Korea South Korea South Korea South Korea
Notable -
(20) (15) (21) (27) (34) (24) (22) (27)

than in image, while France, Japan, Sweden, and In terms of image, France ranked first overall but
Italy ranked higher in image than in substance. was on top in only one subcategory. Sweden
Korea placed nineteenth in substance and twen- ranked first in three subcategories, while Japan
tieth in image. and the United States ranked first in two. Korea
ranked ninth in S&T but was not as competitive
In terms of substance, the United States ranked in most other areas.
first in five subcategories, while Sweden, which
ranked sixth overall, took the top spot in three. Compared to other Organization for Economic
Korea resided in the top ten in three subcatego- Cooperation and Development (OECD) coun-
ries, ranking fourth in S&T, eighth in current cul- tries, Korea’s national brand in terms of both
ture, and tenth in celebrity. substance and image was low, lagging behind

|Figure 2 Korea’s National Brand Achievement Rate (Unit:%)

Substance Image
a a
Global Achievement Rate (OECD Average = 100) Goal Achievement Rate (G20 Average = 100)

175
152 142
132 131
126 106 107
Goal 97 101
(100) 89 90 90
76
94
76 87
71

South Korea US France Japan South Korea Brazil Russia India China

Note: a) Achievement Rate = Nation’s overall score ÷ OECD or G20 average score × 100 (%)
Source: Samsung Economic Research Institute.

106 | www.seriquarterly.com
 LEE Dong-Hun

Compared with those of that of advanced countries such as the United

States, France, and Japan. The substance of Ko-
G20 countries, Korea’s rea’s national brand approached 97 percent and
nation brand is its national image 89 percent of OECD coun-
tries’ average (see Figure 2). The PCNB aims to
competitive enough to raise Korea’s national brand to the OECD aver-
age by 2013 and is undertaking various projects
build bridges between the to meet this goal.
G7 and the BRIC countries.
Compared with those of G20 countries, Korea’s
nation brand is competitive enough to build
bridges between the G7 and the BRIC countries
(Brazil, Russia, India, and China). Though Ko-
rea’s national brand is less competitive than that
of the United States, France, and Japan, it is sim-
ilar to or more competitive that the national
brands of the BRICs.

Pillars of Korea’s Brand Power:

Economy and S&T
Among the sub-components comprising the na-
tional brand, Korea’s economy and S&T exceed-
ed the OECD average in terms of both substance
and image. Through Korean government’s and
companies’ intensive use of resources to improve
economic power, the economy achieved 109 per-
cent in substance and 107 percent in image. Ko-

|Figure 3 Gap between Korea’s Substance and Image

Goal Achievement
Economy (Substance & Image)

Celebrity 109 Science & Tech.

107
127 121 134
Image Undervalued
Compared to Substance
75

Modern Culture 128 86 77 90 Institution

Substance
Achievement Rate 74
62
Image Achievement Rate
90 Goal Not Achieved
87 (Substance & Image)
OECD Achievement 68
Rate is 100
Citizenry Hard Infrastructure

Heritage
Source: Samsung Economic Research Institute.

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Nation Branding Korea

|Figure 4 Korea’s Self-Image and Image Viewed by Others

Goal

Image Viewed 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 125 130 135 140
by Others (A)
>
Self-Image (B) Science & Tech. Substance of Korea’s Nation Brand A B
Economy A B
Hard Infrastructure B A
Institution B A
Image Viewed
by Others (A) Citizenry B A
<
Self-Image (B) Heritage B A
Celebrity B A
Modern Culture B A

Source: Samsung Economic Research Institute.

rean S&T exceeded the targets, reaching 134 per-

cent in substance and 121 percent in image.

Korea’s image with respect to current culture and

celebrity should be improved through overseas
public relations initiatives, as their image was un-
dervalued in comparison with substance: culture
achieved 128 percent in substance and 86 percent
in image, while celebrity totaled 127 percent in The results of the SERI
substance and 75 percent in image. Korean per- analysis affirm the old
formance in the subcategories of institution,
hard infrastructure, heritage, and citizenry fell adage “you reap what you
below the OECD average in terms of both sub- sow.” Korea’s focus on the
stance and image.
development of its
economy and domestic
Implications for Enhancing
Korea’s Nation Brand companies translated into
First, the results of the SERI analysis affirm the
higher rankings in related
old adage “you reap what you sow.” Korea’s fo- subcategories.
cus on the development of its economy and do-
mestic companies translated into higher rank-
ings in related subcategories. Similarly, the
country’s relatively high score in infrastructure
was based on high scores in industrial infrastruc-
ture, particularly for transportation, energy, and
IT. Therefore, to improve Korea’s national status

108 | www.seriquarterly.com
 LEE Dong-Hun

and brand in other areas, a broader perspective
should be adopted through a commitment to
improving quality of life and the well-being of
humanity as a whole. For instance, Korea can
focus on: 1) improving infrastructure related to
general living and welfare, such as schools and
hospitals; 2) contributing to the international
community (e.g., official development assis-
tance); 3) addressing any discrimination against
foreigners; and 4) enhancing awareness of global
citizenship.
Second, building on the country’s self-esteem
would make a positive contribution to Korea’s
national brand. Korea had high scores in sub-
stance and image, but Korea’s self-image of was
should be actively sought after. This role can be
filled by politicians, businesspeople, artists, and
even by athletes such as the gold medalists of the
2010 Winter Olympic Games.
Also, a framework that enables win—win sce-
narios for companies should be devised. Korea’s
representative commercial brands (e.g., Samsung,
Hyundai and Kia, LG, and POSCO) have been
the main contributors to improvements in Kore-
an brand power. However, other Korean compa-
nies, such as Shinsegae (Emart), Korean Air, CJ,
and AMOREPACIFIC, are also performing re-
markably around the world and so should be ac-
tively marketed.
Translation: LEE Ho-Jeong

surprisingly low. Korea’s self-image, which scored

low in the categories of S&T and economy, Keywords
should be improved through public awareness Korea’s nation branding, national image,
promotion (see Figure 4). Presidential Council on Nation Branding, Nation
Brand Dual Octagon, Korean economy, self-image

Korea should regard the following rankings as

facts: it ranked fourth in the number of patent
applications with the World Intellectual Property
Organization among 138 countries, sixth in the
number of patents registered at the US Patent
and Trademark Office among 134 countries, and
fifth in the export of high-tech products among
55 countries.1 The inclusion of two Samsung
Electronics products in BusinessWeek’s list of
Best Tech Gadgets of 2009 (November 25, 2009
issue) should be considered.

Third, Korea should nurture its talented citizens.

The NBDO survey indicated that Westerners
were more likely than Asians to judge a country
through its celebrities. In contrast, it was found
that Korea’s image was not affected much by its
celebrity personalities. Therefore, to promote the
country to the outside world, celebrities who are
worthy to be introduced to the Western world LEE Dong-Hun is research fellow at SERI. He received his PhD
in Business Administration from Sogang University and was a
1 Compiled
 from data from the World Intellectual Property visiting scholar at Columbia University. His areas of expertise
Organization, World Economic Forum, and International include marketing strategy and consumer trends.
Institute for Management Development. Contact: seridhl@seri.org.

April 2010 | SERI Quarterly | 109