In many ways countries are like companies in as much as they try to cultivate a reputation.  Some want to be seen as fair and democratic, others as tough or rich, but in all cases, world leaders try to project their country’s identity onto the world stage. That’s way this research into the top 10 nation brands is so fascinating.

Brand Finance’s annual Nation Brands report ranks a nation’s brand strength by taking into account a number of societal and economic factors. They note in this very unusual year, the top 100 most valuable nation brands in the world have suffered a monumental loss to their brand value because of the COVID-19 pandemic, amounting to US$13.1 trillion.

In Asia Singapore and Japan continue to exhibit an impressive global reputation.  Singapore however was ranked number 1 in 2015, so it has slipped.

 

For 2020 thee authors added a Soft Power ranking. “Soft power is a country’s ability to influence the preferences and behaviours of various actors in the international arena (states, corporations, communities, publics etc.) through attraction or persuasion rather than coercion.”

 

In this ranking Japan and China made the top 10.