Press release

Home > About us > News > Press releases > Archive > Press release

First Ever Global Poll of How the World Sees the World

USA Not Even a Runner Up in Anholt Nation Brands Index that ranks Nations as Top, Rising or Falling Brands

Launched today, the Anholt Nation Brands Index is the first analytical ranking of the world's nation brands. Each quarter, the Index led by nation brands expert, Simon Anholt, polls consumers from the GMI worldwide five million-strong market research panel on their perceptions of the cultural, political, commercial and human assets, investment potential and tourist appeal of several countries. This adds up to a clear measurement of national brand power, and a unique barometer of global opinion.

Among the key findings of the first Anholt Nation Brands Index are:

• Sweden is the overall winner. The USA came fourth together with Germany. A relatively low ranking for the USA could be explained by deep unpopularity of US foreign policy which is dragging down positive perceptions about trade, exports, investment and popular culture.
• The UK came second. Although not as highly rated as a producer of products, it scores well as a tourist destination and on popular culture. The highest rated asset of Brand Britain, however, is the British people. Governance is well rated too, with the UK government described as "trustworthy" in stark contrast to the U.S. government which is described as "dangerous" and "dishonest".
• The struggling nation brands are Russia and Turkey behind China and India. Turkey's position at the bottom of the index appears to be down to few people having a direct experience and thus any strong opinion on the country, whereas Russia has a great deal to disprove or remedy before it can overturn negative opinions and acquire positive brand attributes

Nation brand is an important concept in today's world. Globalisation means that countries compete with each other for the attention, respect and trust of investors, tourists, consumers, donors, immigrants, the governments of other nations and the media: so a powerful and positive nation brand provides a crucial competitive advantage. It is essential for countries, both rich and poor, to understand how they are seen by publics around the world; how their achievements and failures, their assets and their liabilities, their people and their products are reflected in their brand image.

As Simon Anholt, the co-founder of the Index and a world authority on nation brands explains: "When we express a preference for French holidays, German cars, or Italian opera; when we instinctively trust the policies of the Swedish government, comment on the ambition of the Japanese, the bluntness of the Americans or the courtesy of the British; when we avoid investing in Russia, favour Turkey's entry into Europe or admire the heritage of China and India, we are responding to brand images in exactly the same way as when we're shopping for clothing or food.

But these are far bigger brands than Nike or Nestlé. They are the brands of nations": Anholt adds.

The full ranking of the nation brands from the top to the bottom rated brands is:

1. Sweden
2. UK
3. Italy
4. Germany / USA
5. Japan
6. China
7. India
8. South Korea
9. Russia
10. Turkey

Consumers in the following countries were polled about their opinion on these nation brands: Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Japan, South Korea, United Kingdom, and the United States. Representative samples of 1000 consumers (3% margin of error) were collected in each country for a total of 10,000 consumers surveyed. Consumers were not asked questions about their own country.

About Anholt Nation Brands Index

The Q3 Anholt Nation Brands Index was conducted August 8-17, 2005 on the GMI Poll Platform which provides integrated solutions for global public opinion polling research. A 1,000 representative sample (3% margin of error) based on age, gender, and where applicable geographical region, race and ethnicity were collected in each country.

About Simon Anholt

Anholt developed the concept of the Nation Brands Index in 2005 and the first Index was published in April 2005. He is recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on the branding of countries, regions and cities. Anholt advises a number of national governments and UN agencies on brand strategy, public diplomacy, cultural relations, investment and export promotion, tourism and economic development. He is the editor of the quarterly journal, Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, and the author of Brand New Justice, Brand America and several other books.

About GMI

GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) is the only company that provides comprehensive integrated solutions for global market intelligence for both market research firms and corporate market research departments at Global 2000 companies. Solutions include Net-MR®, a suite of software tools to manage and automate research throughout the project lifecycle, desktop analysis tools, 24x7x365 service bureau capabilities, and one of the world’s largest, highly profiled, double opt-in managed panels, spanning across 200 countries. In addition, GMI offers high-value, real-time enterprise feedback solutions for customer, partner and employee programs. Founded in 1999 with world headquartersin Seattle, Wash., GMI has operations on five continents.