A Snapshot of Our Experience

East West Communications is one of just a handful of companies in the world specialized in nation branding. Our clients have included dozens of countries, for which we have provided a wide range of consultancy and communications services. These include branding and communications strategies and plans, messaging, advertising campaigns (print, broadcast, digital), publications, specialized magazines, news services, public relations, documentaries and promotional videos, websites, outdoor advertising, banners and innovative promotional programs.

We have worked with some 65 countries, large and small, rich and poor. Here are some of the countries for which we have provided nation branding consultancy and communications services:

Nation Branding
Every nation is a unique brand. The art of nation branding is to identify the assets that distinguish that brand and devise the best ways to project that brand to the world. Countries must shape their own brands or they will forever be subject to the whims and biases of news media and other opinion-shapers to determine how the world views them. International perceptions are critical for a country’s development, whether it be to sustain a good reputation among nations, to attract investment or to tempt tourists to visit.

East West Consultancy
East West works with governments and national promotional agencies to help countries identify the national assets that can serve as a basis for their brand identity. It then suggests a strategy for developing and promoting that brand. Finally, it designs and implements communications campaigns to promote the brand to target audiences.

Nation Branding Tools
East West offers advice on the best media channels to reach targeted audiences. For many governments, primary targets are decision-makers in major capitals, such as Washington, DC and Brussels, or strategically important locations like New York. These audiences can be reached through major media in those markets. However, especially for developing countries, there is often a more basic branding need: introducing yourself to the world. This, for example, was a major concern for the countries that emerged from the Soviet Union. Few people knew much if anything about countries like Ukraine and Kazakhstan. The same is true today for most of the countries in Africa, Latin and Central America, and much of Asia. Thus the right communications tools must be used to achieve the objectives of a branding or rebranding campaign.

Sample Nation Branding Projects
Below are summaries of a few of the projects we have done for a wide range of government clients around the world. These examples give a sense of the variety of approaches that can be used to promote a country under the umbrella of nation branding and communications campaigns.

Kazakhstan
Strategic planning, ad concept development and execution of multi-year media and advertising campaigns in major print, digital and broadcast media. Services included:

1. Websites
2. Newswires
3. Magazines
4. International advertising campaigns
5. Documentaries
6. Events
7. Sponsored programming (mainly on Euronews)

Singapore
Consulting for the Ministry of Arts and Information, including in-country research to engage stakeholders in shaping a national project to create an umbrella brand for the country. The strategy was to identify key stakeholders (tourism, transport, industry, etc.) as brand assets that could strengthen the meta national brand, which in turn could then support these sub-brands. The results were later monitored through an international perception analysis that compared Singapore with its competitors.

Ukraine
In-country research, positioning, brand-creation, ad creation, promotional sections, online content development, production of a documentary for CNBC, and special reports and advertisements in major media, including:

1. The Washington Post
2. The Washington Post Magazine (several sections)
3. The Washington Times
4. Bloomberg Businessweek
5. The Financial Times (London)
6. The Telegraph (London)
7. BBC World (TV)
8. CNBC Europe
9. CNBC Asia

Fiji
Branding and image campaign for the embassy in Washington, DC. This included initial research, brand development and implementation, complete designs for embassy material and website, website hosting and maintenance.

Equatorial Guinea
In-country research, interviews and fact-gathering, production of a glossy magazine in English and Spanish, a promotional video, a documentary for the 50^th anniversary of the country’s independence, in English, Spanish and French, shown on the History Channel; and a print and online campaign for a UN Security Council seat.