SEOUL-- October 28, 2022 -- The results of the 2022 Nation Brand Value were released on October 27, 2022. This was conducted by The Institute of Nation Brand Promotion (Chairman: Dong-sung Cho, Emeritus Professor at Seoul National University in Republic of Korea) during the 2022 Global Conference on National Competitiveness and Global Brand in Geneva, Switzerland. The Top 3 nations stayed the same as the previous year: United States Top 1 with brand value USD 24.5T, Germany Top 2 with brand value USD 15.2T, and United Kingdom Top 3 with brand value USD 7.6T. China and Republic of Korea (“Korea”) slightly rose to #4 with brand value USD 6.5T and #7 with brand value USD 4.7T, respectively. On the other hand, France and Japan both fell in their rankings to #5 with USD 5.2T and #6 with USD 4.9T, respectively (Table 1).

The importance of Nation Brand Power: Case of Korea and China

To achieve high score on Nation Brand Value, the results show that the key is to get a high score on Nation Brand Power, which is determined by Psychological Proximity, and Nation Brand Strategy and IPS National Competitiveness score (See Appendix for further information on methodology). For example, Korea was able to climb its Nation Brand Value ranking (#6 in 2021 to #4 in 2022) mostly driven by increase in Nation Brand Power (#6 in 2021 to #4 in 2022) and successfully maintaining its strength in Nation Brand Strategy (#4 in 2021, 2022). Specifically, among various elements that compose Psychological Proximity, Korea ranked #1 in current relationship, #4 in past relationship, #6 in willingness to visit, which all led to rise in Psychological Proximity (#14 in 2021 to #11 in 2022). In addition, Korea’s people, business, and government were all highly evaluated as strategic entities in implementing nation brand strategies. People were steadily ranked #3 and businesses #4 for the past three consecutive years. Particularly, the government ranking climbed from #6 to #4, potentially due to the government’s significant involvement during the Covid-19.

On the other hand, China took Top 1 in Nation Brand Earnings (USD 49T), but ranked only Top 20 in Nation Brand Power, which resulted in Top 4 in Nation Brand Value. Its low Nation Brand Power was mostly driven by low Psychological Proximity (#33 2022) and stagnant Nation Brand Strategy over the recent years (#20 in 2021, 2022).

Ranking results directs brand efforts for the future: Cases of Switzerland and Korea

This model differentiates from other nation brand models in that it allows for establishing a strategy that can enhance nation brand value in the future. For example, Switzerland’s Nation Brand Value is somewhat stagnant at #11 for the past three years. Switzerland scored very high on Psychological Proximity (#5), much driven by positive images associated with human rights (#1), stability (#1) and morality (#6). However, its evaluation on strategic entities’ roles in implementing nation brand strategies remained relatively low, resulting in #12 in people, #8 in businesses, and #9 in government. Moreover, this evaluation on Nation Brand Strategy remained stagnant for the past 10 years without much improvement. Thus, the Nation Brand Value results direct Switzerland to focus on improving strategic brand implementation led by people, businesses, and government.

The Nation Brand Value model announced by The Institute of Nation Brand Promotion was analyzed based on the IPS National Competitive Index, export volume of services and goods, and survey data from more than 1,300 opinion leaders across 62 countries on Psychological Proximity, Nation Brand Strategy. This study can be meaningful in that the country was recognized as a brand and the brand value was evaluated as the amount of money. In particular, it holds significance because the results allow for establishing a strategy that can enhance National Brand Value by identifying factors deemed insufficient or highly evaluated.