The Nigerian government has signed a contract worth more than $1.2 million with a Washington DC public relations firm to deal with the fallout from the Boko Haram kidnappings. In a report in The Hill, documents show that the Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, who is up for re-election in February, is seeking to counter the perception that he has not done enough to combat the Islamic extremists in his country who abducted more than 270 schoolgirls in Chibok in April.

A new brand campaign from Tahiti Tourisme seeks to establish a deeper mystique lying beneath the surface of the “picture postcard” beauty of the destination. With the rise of competition in the Pacific from such island destinations as Fiji and the Cooks, Tahiti Tourisme saw a need to create more differentiation. The branding is global and not specific to any particular market.

In Akihabara, Tokyo’s centre of anime and manga sales and fandom, a new government plan is wildly popular. The idea is to project an image of “Cool Japan” around the world (like Cool Britannia in the 1990s, but without the rhyme). Kyon, a costumed maid touting one of the area’s many maid cafes, says she feels fully part of the effort. Tsukamoto Hiroshi, a retail buyer of manga, says that the fragile Japanese comic industry could do with some official support. But isn’t a government-driven attempt to manufacture “cool”, well, just the opposite?

While the interest is only increasing among nations in applying branding practices in promoting tourism, investment and overall country perception, the academic treatment of the subject has been narrow and cursory. In my new book Shaping China’s Global Imagination: Branding Nations at the World Expo, I delineate the concept and practice of nation branding by comparing the various ways nations sought to engage the Chinese populace through the medium of pavilion space at the Shanghai World Expo.

While mega-events can involve colossal facilities of little use post-event, they can also provide reputational benefits and be seen as an investment in a nation's brand.