Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2010 | Página 12

SIMON ANHOLT
imon Anholt is the leading authority on managing and measuring national identity and reputation, and the creator of the field
of nation and place branding. He is
a member of the UK Foreign Office’s Public Diplomacy Board, and
has advised the governments of some
40 other countries from Chile to Botswana.
Anholt is Founding Editor of the
quarterly journal, Place Branding and
Public Diplomacy, and author of five
books. He publishes two major annual surveys, the Anholt Nation Brands
Index and City Brands Index. b

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According to Anholt, all of us have
need for these comforting stereotypes that
enable us to put countries and cities in convenient “pigeon-holes”. We will hold onto
our stereotypes too – and abandon them only if we really have no other choice.
The point that Anholt wants to make in
his new work is that national reputation cannot be constructed; it can only be earned. Imagining that such a deeply rooted phenomenon can be shifted by so weak an instrument
as marketing communications is an “extravagant delusion,” he believes.

Three Keys to Success
What is the solution then? Anholt digs deep
to uncover the answer and comes back with
this quote from Socrates: “the way to achieve
a better reputation is to endeavour to be what
you desire to appear.”
This means that the countries genuinely interested about doing something to promote their image have their work cut out
for them. There’s no quick fix scheme and
no short cuts. Instead, there’s a three point
agenda that they must follow.
According to Anholt, the first thing
that the governments must do is understand
and monitor their international image, in the
countries and sectors where it matters most
10 Nordicum

to them, in a rigorous and scientific way.
The governments must understand exactly
how and where this affects their interests in
those countries and sectors.
Second of all, if the governments collaborate imaginatively, effectively and openly with business and civil society, they can
agree on a national strategy and narrative
– the ‘story’ of who the nation is, where it
is going and how it is going to get there –
which honestly reflects the skills, the genius and the will of the people.
Third, governments should ensure that
their country maintains a stream of innovative and eye-catching products, services,
policies and initiatives in every sector, keeping it at the forefront of the world’s attention. This public exposure serves to demonstrate the truth of the national narrative and
proves the country’s right to the reputation
its people and government desire to acquire.

Exception to the Rule
But how does Finland fit into the master
plan? Should Ollila’s nation branding team
simply pack up its PowerPoint presentations
and forget the whole thing?
Actually, Anholt claims that it has been
a pleasure working with Ollila’s team because they have understood his point from

the very start. There is hope for the Finns
yet, Anholt insists – even if he is generally
of the opinion that countries get the reputation they deserve, the maestro is willing to
give Finland the benefit of the doubt.
“Perhaps Finland is one of those rare
cases of a country that truly does deserve a
better reputation – it just hasn’t been very
good at telling its story.”
But even a small country like Finland
is flooded with stories –is Finland a dark,
cold place where high school killers run
rampart or is it a hi-tech heaven with the
world’s best education system? Anholt acknowledges that shocking news tends to be
more potent than reassuring news, but it’s
still a matter of proportion.
“Finland just needs to make sure that
it produces a constant, unbroken stream of
achievements which are as good as, or better
than, the PISA results so that the bad stuff is
crowded out. But the most important thing is
that these projects or events