A Global Logo Quiz

Joshua Midgett

SIS 628

Applied Public Diplomacy

Professor Hayden

        This past summer, while at a piano dress for Armide, a friend of mine sitting in the row in front of me was playing a fascinating game on their iphone I hadn't seen before. They looked stumped and so they turned back to me to ask for my help. "Do you know whose logo this is?" I looked down at the screen and saw the familiar three striped half-arc belonging to North Face. I told my friend this and asked about the app, which I then proceeded to download and waste a fair amount of my life on. It was impressive to me the sticking power of these simple images and how, more often than not, I equated a lot with them. Sometimes they brought to mind the line of products, but even more frequently they inspired feelings. If it was the golden arches, my stomach might turn. If it was the distorted letters of Playstation I might smile at the memories of all the games of Madden. It was remarkable the staying power of these often simple visual brands.

        It's with this app in mind that I came to the readings on nation branding. I wondered if there were a similar app for the world, and if every country had an image, or if the country's leading suppliers images could be traced to their country of origin, what it would tell us about the soft power of each nation. While there's a large part of the battle that is altering how one might feel about a particular brand, or country, the first step is in being recognized. In doing this, there are nations that are more successful than others. This is what the measuring of nation branding could help the public diplomacy sector decipher: what is the global renown of their nation? 

       It's easy to see this as just a starting point. The first step being just seeing which 'brands' are most recognizable. The next and the next being questions regarding what feelings those brands might elicit and why. The brands are perfect access point. They dance on that small strip of mental land between the conscious and the sub conscious, as we are everyday bombarded with them that we often keep them in our mental periphery, forgetting their importance and all that we attach to them. 

       I believe that nation branding measurement will begin to become vital to measuring public diplomacy and 'soft power', especially as globalization continues to permeate each and every market. The more international products spread across the globe, the more impact their countries of origin will begin to have. Sooner or later, these products will begin to influence the consumers thoughts on the world. Just as one who enjoys scotch will be more likely to think highly of Scotland or want to visit, one who enjoys a Korean company's product will share more good will with that nation then he/she might've otherwise.