At the invitation of Editor Igor E. Klyukanov, I contributed a Comment to the recently founded Russian Journal of Communication’s Spring 2008 Forum on ‘Nation Branding and Russia: Prospects and Pitfalls’. The Spring 2008 edition of the journal should be published in June. I was sent the proofs to check for accuracy, and it is very interesting to read the different perspectives that the other contributers bring to the debate on Russia’s nation branding. One of the other contributors is Simon Anholt, who will be familiar to anyone with an interest in nation branding.

Other contributors come from backgrounds in Communication Studies and Theatre Arts; International Studies; Humanities; Russian Studies; Public Relations; and Economics. What struck me most forcefully was the completely different style of language that each contributor uses to express his or her perspective. All the contributions are in English but the linguistic styles employed by each contributor are enormously and vividly varied. Congratulations to the Editor for assembling such an eclectic array of contributors.

My first public talk on nation branding since relocating to Tokyo in January was a presentation to the Institute of Contemporary Japanese Studies (ICJS). It was another diverse audience although with one difference from previous talks I have given – this time there were some economists in the audience. Their contributions to the Q&A session following my talk provided a clear demonstration that the dialogue between nation branding people and economists is in its early days and promises to be a fruitful one.  

The main focus of my talk was a comparison of the nation branding activities of China, Korea, and Japan. To prepare the talk, I held meetings with diplomats at the Chinese Embassy and the Korean Embassy in Tokyo and their insights and information were most helpful.Within the confines of one talk it was obviously not possible to go into great depth for the strategies of all three nations, but it was interesting (for me at least, and hopefully for the audience too) to look at the different approaches each country is taking in its nation branding. China is pursuing an active programme of public diplomacy; Korea has established a brand positioning based on the theme of ‘Dynamic Korea’, supported with extensive advertising on CNN, Asahi TV, and so on; whilst Japan has set up a ‘Japan Brand Working Group’ whose three key goals are to foster a rich food culture, establish diverse and reliable local brands, and establish Japanese fashion as a global brand.

At the end of the evening business cards were swapped with academics, a lawyer, an NHK News producer, a market research executive, and various other attendees. The ICJS events regularly attract this mix of people from different backgrounds and I thank ICJS Director Robert Dujarric for inviting me to give a talk at one of these nights.