Competitive Identity Project/Nation Brand Austria

What does a country stand for? This question is almost as difficult to answer as the fundamental
question of meaning of life
What exactly should be at the end of the re- branding , is not entirely clear. It 'm not just a matter of
developing a new logo or a new advertising campaign , says Mitterlehner. He speaks of a "
comprehensive communication strategy ", which started from Austria advertisement is to be
implemented through to foreign trade , embassies or in connection with international applications .
In various working groups met regularly from May.

Almost as a working basis for the opinion research institute GfK has raised less than 1,000 Austrians ,
what this incident for their own country (see chart left). What little pleasing to the Minister is that
the policy lies with the negative associations with distance in front, followed by foreigners ,
corruption and crime, and the mentality. What is positive in Austria ? Here the most frequent natural
, security, mountains, Alps , quality of life and tradition are called .

In the summer of 2011 the global image of Austria was surveyed using the Anholt-GfK Roper Nation
Brand Index 2011. Additionally GfK Austria conducted a survey about the Austrian self-image at the
turn of the year 2011/2012.
The Nation Brand process deals systematically with the "Austrian Identity". The main focus is on
what Austria should stand for in the future and where the development should be headed. In
answering these questions, the groundwork will be laid for concrete measures to improve Austria's
image. In the end, the "Competitive Identity Project" will strengthen Austria's image abroad and
ensure a harmonized external appearance.
During a Europe-wide tender, the international policy advisor Simon Anholt was awarded the project.

The members of the working group agreed that the project will build on existing activities and
strengths, especially in the areas of export promotion, tourism and business location as well as
science and culture, and to involve all relevant institutions and stakeholders. Additionally, the project
will follow international best practices to guarantee relevance, internal acceptance and international
credibility of the results. A separate working was established to improve Austria's official internet
presence.





A country's image abroad is elemental for the general economic policy as well as for tourism. The
more positive the external image of a country, the more attractive the country will be for investors,
high potential migrants, tourists, and businessmen and the more successful it will be in promoting its
goods, services and ideas. Tourism as well will play an important role within the "Competitive
Identity Process.

Including all relevant institutions and stakeholders, Austria's core brand core will be identified using
an array of balanced core messages, values, images and associations. The next step will be
developing an implementation strategy.

The development of a unique and modern "Nation Brand Austria" in the course of the "Competitive
Identity" process will improve Austria's image abroad, strengthen Austria's competitiveness and
guarantee Austria's attractiveness as a business location. The result is a strong international
reference as well as a high significance of the process in general.

On June 11th 2012 Simon Anholt presented his concept during the kick-off event in Vienna. During
so-called "conversazioni", Simon Anholt met with opinion leaders subdivided into different working
groups: the Identity, Friday and Saturday groups consisted of people of importance in the fields of
policy, economy, art, culture, science and the civil society. To broaden the spectrum, additional
topical groups like "Diplomacy", "Young Entrepreneurs", "Social Partners" and "Other Institutions",
were established.