Abstract
The Nordic region is much admired around the world, but how much of what we know about these countries has been shaped by their adoption of place branding and public diplomacy techniques? This collection of academic articles and practitioner essays digs beneath the veneer of their branding and PD practices to investigate not just the best practice of how the Nordic region has successfully projected its image, but also the weaknesses, clashes and contradictions. This introduction makes the case for what might be called an Anglo-Nordic orthodoxy in the underlying approaches to place branding and public diplomacy, through the example of Norway’s adoption of these techniques in the early 2000s. It then provides an overview of the articles included in this double special issue.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anholt, S. (1998) Nation-brands of the twenty-first century. The Journal of Brand Management 5(6): 395–406.
Aronczyk, M. (2013) Branding the Nation: The Global Business of National Identity. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Bátora, J. (2005) Public Diplomacy in Small and Medium-Sized States: Norway and Canada. The Hague: Netherlands Institute of International Relations.
Clerc, L., Glover, N. Jordan, P. (2015) Histories of Public Diplomacy and Nation Branding in the Nordic and Baltic Countries: Representing the Periphery. Boston, MA: Brill.
Elwes, A. (1994) Nations for Sale, London: DBB Needham.
Freedom House. (2015) Freedom of the Press 2015. Washington DC: Freedom House.
Kaneva, N. (ed.) (2012) Branding Post-Communist Nations. Marketizing National Identities in the ‘New’ Europe. London: Routledge.
Lending, M. (2000) Oppbrudd og fornyelse: Norsk utenrikskulturell politikk 2001-2005 (Januar 2000) [Change and Renewal: Norwegian foreign cultural policy 2001-2005]. Oslo: Utenriksdepartementet.
Leonard, M. (1997) Britain™: Renewing Our Identity. London: Demos.
Leonard, M. Stead, C. and Smewing, C. (2002) Public Diplomacy. London: The Foreign Policy Centre.
Leonard, M. and Small, A. (2003) Norway’s Public Diplomacy: A Strategy. London: The Foreign Policy Centre.
Pamment, J. (2016) British Public Diplomacy & Soft Power: Diplomatic Influence & the Digital Revolution. Palgrave.
Thorkildsen, L.H. and Kavli, H. (2009) Improving Norway’s Reputation. Oslo: The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Utenriksdepartementet. (2008) Geografisk fokus i omdømmearbeidet: Rapport drøftet i Nasjonalt omdømmeforum (26. mai 2008) [Geographical Focus in Reputation Work: Report Discussed at the National reputation forum, May 2008). Oslo: Utenriksdepartementet.
Utenriksdepartementet. (2010) Håndbok i strategisk kommunikasjon og omdømme [Handbook for Strategic Communcation & Reputation]. Oslo: Utenriksdepartementet.
Utenriksdepartementet website 08.02.2010 Møte i Nasjonalt omdømmeforum, http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/ud/aktuelt/taler_artikler/jgs_taler_artikler/2010/omdommeforum.html?id=593527.
Utenriksdepartementet website 15.02.2010 Fjerde møte i Nasjonalt omdømmeforum, http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/ud/aktuelt/nyheter/2010/fjerde_forum.html?id=593491.
Utenriksdepartementet website 03.03.2010 Utanriksstasjonar testar Facebook og andre sosiale media, http://www.regjeringen.no/nn/dep/ud/Aktuelt/nyheiter/2010/sosiale_media.html?id=594354.
Vea J (2006) Omdømmeutvalgets sluttrapport: Nyskapende i samspill med naturen [The Reputation Committee’s final report: Innovation interacting with nature]. Oslo: Utenriksdepartementet.
Walaas, E. (2007) Oppsummering fra møte i Nasjonalt omdømmeforum 4.12.2007 [Summary of the meeting of National reputation forum]. Oslo: Utenriksdepartementet.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
I would like to express my gratitude to Nick Cull, Nadia Kaneva, Efe Sevin and all of the contributors.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pamment, J. Introduction: Why the Nordic region?. Place Brand Public Dipl 12, 91–98 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41254-016-0007-9
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41254-016-0007-9