Australia became the world’s top country brand for the third consecutive year, according to the 2008 Country Brand Index (CBI) by FutureBrand. The CBI examines how countries are branded and ranked according to key criteria, and identifies emerging global trends in the world’s fastest growing economic sector. The latest developments in this sphere are that Canada has jumped up to second place in the index and the USA has consolidated its position in third. However, the big winner is Australia.
It seems that the rising star destinations are beginning to overshadow the traditional hotspots in world marketing. Italy, Switzerland and France were also members of the top ten.It has been argued that an important factor affecting the success of the given brand is the political stability of the country. Some may argue about the bronze medalists but Canada and Australia are both young and very stable nations with an extremely high standard of living. Along with neutrality, this is the most important factor. Different countries are used for different types of branding. For example, the peace reflected by Australia and Canada means they are ideal for use in marketing family products. For business people, for example, brands such as Germany and UK are more successful. Perhaps the fact that more and more women are now travelling without men also explains the CBI results. China, Croatia and UAE are expected to become top brands in the next 5 years or so. It has also been noted that some countries do not even need any stable political background and just sell themselves, like Italy. Many say that Italy will always be a popular name thanks to the food, culture and history. Country Brand Index 20081. Australia2. Canada 3. United States 4. Italy 5. Switzerland6. France 7. New Zealand 8. United Kingdom 9. Japan 10. SwedenAUSTRALIA IS THE WORLD’S TOP COUNTRY BRAND
Laura Maudlin
- Nov 25, 2008
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There is an irony in making a statement about how Australia is a 'young' country with a very high standard of living when the FACTS are very different. 50,000 plus years of Aboriginal history is not young. And many tourist who come to Australia want to have an 'aboriginal experience' and not just the best beaches in the world. The Aboriginal population in general does not enjoy a very high standard of living - the opposite is true however. So when tourists go to The Alice in the centre be appalled but not with the local aboriginal population.Be appalled with the history since white occupation and the treatment of the original Australians that has left the owners of this land in the position they are in. And DO NOT IN IGNORANCE CLIMB ULURU (AYRES ROCK). It is sacred land. Aboriginal land. Respect it.
Apart from that I feel that New Zealand should be ahead of Australia and certainly ahead of USA.
Belinda, go back to New Zealand. Goodbye.