USA Regains Position as Top Nation Brand from Germany

PR62565

NUREMBERG, Germany, Nov. 17 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/--

    After being pushed off the number one position last year by Germany, the

USA has this year taken back its position at the top of the Anholt-GfK Roper

Nation Brands IndexSM (NBISM). UK, in 3rd place, edges closer to the top and is

followed by France. Further down the ranking, Ukraine and Russia achieve large

reputation gains, while Greece stands alone in suffering a steep drop.

    The study measures global perceptions of 50 developed and developing

countries - and is unmatched in the level of detail on which the nation ranking

is judged. The study asks questions about 23 different national attributes,

which are then combined into six overall dimensions on which the national image

is based. Those are: exports, governance, culture, people, tourism and

immigration/investment.

    Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands IndexSM Overall Brand Ranking 2015 (Top 10

of 50 Nations)

    2015 rank                2014 rank

    1         United States  2

    2         Germany        1

    3         United Kingdom 3

    4         France         4

    5         Canada         5

    6         Japan          6

    7         Italy          7

    8         Switzerland    8

    9         Australia      9

    10        Sweden         10

    "This year's results stand as a reminder that, although the images of

countries are incredibly stable, changes can and do take place - particularly

when people around the world sense that countries are contributing noticeably

more or less to humanity and the planet. It's their perceived impact on the

world that affects countries' reputation far more than their assets or

achievements." comments Professor Simon Anholt, the independent policy advisor

who created the Nation Brands IndexSM in 2005.

    "Despite its continued perceived leadership in Europe, Germany has fallen

back to second place, largely as a result of losing the gains it made last

year. On top of that, Germany also lost ground on 'governance' (which

incorporates both international and domestic behaviors) following its

high-profile stance on European challenges such as immigration and struggling

Eurozone economies. In particular, Russia's perceptions of Germany's governance

dropped significantly, following Germany's support of anti-Russian sanctions."

    The rest of the top ten ranking remains in the same order as last year, but

with certain nations continuing to close in on the one ahead.

    UK, steady in 3rd place, has moved closer to the top nations and is

followed by France in 4th place and Canada in 5th. Japan and Italy, who hold

6th and 7th places respectively, also showed stronger than average performance,

increasing the pressure on the top five nations.

    Greece, a nation facing chronic economic issues, struggles to maintain its

image, with notable falls across all indices. This means that it has slipped

one place to 21st position in the overall ranking, while Brazil moves up to

20th.

    Looking outside the top 20 nations, both Russia and Ukraine have seen

impressive gains on all six indices that make up the overall NBISM ranking.

Russia has risen from 25th last year to 22nd this year, overtaking China,

Singapore and Argentina, while Ukraine has moved from 48th to 46th, overtaking

Kenya and Qatar. This change follows a slowing of the Ukraine-Russia conflict,

with both nations seeing their greatest boosts coming from their governance

scores and - in particular - improved perceptions of their behavior in the

areas of international peace and security.

    In fact, the conflict's easing appears to be improving the image of the

region as a whole: the Czech Republic (30th last year, now 28th) has edged

ahead in the rankings. And Poland (steady in 26th place) and, to a lesser

extent, Hungary (28th last year, now 29th due to being overtaken by Czech

Republic) also raised their scores somewhat. Turkey increased its rating, but

not enough to prevent it being overtaken by two Asia-Pacific nations, Thailand

and Taiwan, so that it now holds 34th place.

    Vadim Volos, GfK's senior vice president of public affairs and consulting

and head of NBISM, comments, "A country's global reputation can make a critical

difference to the success of its business, trade and tourism efforts, as well

as its diplomatic and cultural relations with other nations. Our clients depend

on the NBISM study because it is unbeaten in the depth of information that is

included in forming the ranking - making it the most thorough and robust

monitor of national reputation available."

    For more information from the Anholt-GfK Nation Brands Index, please

contact Vadim.Volos@gfk.com or visit www.gfk.com

    About the Anholt-GfK Nations Brand IndexSM 2015

    Conducted annually, the Anholt-GfK Nation Brands IndexSM measures the image

of 50 countries, with respect to Exports, Governance, Culture, People, Tourism

and Immigration/Investment. For the 2015 study, a total of 20,342 interviews

were conducted in 20 major developed and developing countries.

    SOURCE: GfK