Brand-standing - how does your country look?

Interesting article by the chief economist of the Australian Trade Commission looking at the increasing focus by countries on managing their 'brand standing', that is, the way in which they are are perceived by others.  Very topical as President Obama embarks on what we might describe as a radical 'brand standing' recovery program around the world, and pehaps at home too.

He refers to work being done in the UK, which develops a "brand 'hexagon' of six areas on which a country is measured – exports, governance, culture, people, tourism and immigration/investment."

This is the reference for the article - http://www.austrade.gov.au/brand-standing/default.aspx.

Short excerpt:

Anholt (the UK analyst) also believes that 'symbolic actions' (like signing Kyoto, saying Sorry to the indigenous communities etc..) does matter for a country's brand ranking and that culture and sport play integral roles as well. Whilst Australia isn't the land of Mozart or Shakespeare, Anholt believes that our own style of popular culture and authenticity and our unique indigenous culture are very important to our country brand. Popular culture and entertainment matters to country brand standing as potentially more people will see the movie Australia than will actually visit the country Australia. In terms of sport, Anholt believes that the Sydney Olympics are a long time ago and that we need more prominence in global sports – like football – to lift our brand. Hence, a hosting of the FIFA World Cup in the future would enhance our prospects.