Brand USA, the public-private partnership charged with promoting international tourism to the United States, today announced it has selected Ogilvy Public Relations as its global media relations agency of record following a competitive RFP process.

New Zealand has dropped a place in an international country brand strength report, but academics say the country’s international reputation is still strong.  A country’s brand strength is determined by its performance in goods & services, tourism, talent and investment.

An expert in nation building, Miss Wendy Tlou, has argued that building a successful nation brand is not about a geographical location, but about the people in that location. She also pointed out that before a country's rebranding effort can be effective, the government must obtain the buy-in of the citizens, who then naturally become the project’s ambassadors.

Nelson Mandela died one year ago today, but his legacy lives on. He changed the image of South Africa from that of a country despised for its atrocities to a “Rainbow Nation” (Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s term) that protects and promotes human rights and democratic values.

Madam Secretary gives me flashbacks to the public diplomacy campaigns we drew up in school, as its fictional storylines follow the sort of programs we’d draft and questions we’d examine in class: How do you encourage democracy in this country? How do you encourage peace between different ethnic groups in a region?