International branding report sees NZ drop down list

New Zealand has dropped a place in an international country brand strength report, but academics say the country’s international reputation is still strong.

The Brand Finance Nation Brands annual report, released this week, has revealed where New Zealand’s ‘brand strength’ sits in relation to the rest of the world.

New Zealand was bumped down a place from last year and currently sits at 14^th place on the nation brand strength list; sitting just behind Denmark.

Last week, the Corruption Perceptions Index revealed the Scandinavians had replaced New Zealand as the world’s least corrupt country.

A country’s brand strength is determined by its performance in goods & services, tourism, talent and investment.

A score out of 100 is calculated for each of these four elements and is then combined to produce an overall Brand Strength Index (BSI) score out of 100.

Based on the score, each Nation Brand is assigned a rating between AAA+ and D in a format similar to a credit rating.

New Zealand scored a respectable AA- with 68.79 out of 100; the lower end of what is classified as “very strong.”

Brand Finance chief executive David Haigh says the report shows the advantages a strong nation brand can confer.

“Governments, trade bodies and businesses must take steps to ensure that their nation brand is strategically appropriate, well-managed and regularly monitored in order to maximise the benefits.”

Auckland University marketing professor Roderick Brodie says despite dropping a place, there is still a perception in the international community New Zealand has a good ‘brand strength.’

He says there are many different indexes which are similar to this and most of the time, New Zealand is ranked highly.

He adds there has been a shift away from the dependency of the 100% pure brand, to the “New Zealand story” brand which has been a key element of the country’s ‘brand strength’ success.

New Zealand’s ‘brand strength’s’ success seems to be making waved overseas, with British Newspaper The Telegraph today awarded New Zealand the title of “world’s best country”.

New Zealand’s tourism market is a main area of success, according to John Key.

“We believe one of the real strengths of the tourism experience in New Zealand is that it lives up to the hype.”