Government too often does more harm than good to Ukraine's brand abroad

Bermet Talant, kyivpost.com

Image from article, with caption: Speakers discuss Ukraine's national brand and soft power at this year’s Kyiv Post Tiger Conference, on the Strategic Communications panel, on Dec. 5, 2017.

Key message: Ukraine needs to develop a consistent story and positive message to promote itself and offer a contrast to other nations, especially Russia. Successful commercial products help.

Most people think of foreign investment and tourism figures when speaking about country brands.

But the discussion at this year’s Kyiv Post Tiger Conference, on the Strategic Communications: Branding Ukraine panel, on Dec. 5 revolved around Ukraine’s soft power and how the government is responsible for the nation’s image around the world and how it should resist the Kremlin’s massive disinformation campaign that harms Ukraine’s image.

The key message voiced by the panel speakers was that Ukraine has to find positive stories to build its international brand. This would make it stand out from its neighboring states. Ukraine ranked 48th out of 60 countries in the latest Soft Power Index which assesses countries’ influence in the world in terms of public diplomacy, education, technology, and culture. And countries that Ukraine is most often associated with, like Poland and Russia, rank much higher.

Ukraine’s task becomes even more difficult when Russia continues to overshadow Ukraine’s unique culture and heritage by using deliberate disinformation campaigns undermining Ukraineian sovereignty and claim to statehood.

“People see Ukraine and Russia as similar but they aren’t, Jonathan McClory, general manager for Asia at Portland Communication, said at the panel. “So the challenge for Ukraine is to get out of Russia’s shadow.”

Farzana Baduel, founder and CEO of London-based Curzon public relations strategic communications agency, suggested to start a national audit to understand what Ukraine’s cultural and trade assets are and its characteristics and attributes.

“Country branding isn’t a complicated thing,” she said. “It’s a combination of logic and emotion.”

Barbora Maronkova, director at North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Information and Documentation Center in Kyiv, agreed: “Strategic communication is extremely simple. It’s about a nation and one narrative.”

And Ukraine still has to find this narrative if it wants to be known by the world. Maronkova believes that Ukraine’s path after the EuroMaidan Revolution could be a good idea.

“It can be a success story about a country that overcame the legacy of the Soviet Union and that stood against the aggression of its neighbor and continues doing it every day,” she said. “But this story can be successful only with successful reforms.”

Tetiana Popova, a strategic communications expert at the Kyiv[-]based non-governmental organization Information Security, agreed that without reforms and guaranteed protection of businesses and journalists, no advertising will help Ukraine.

The success of a country’s brand lies not so much in fancy promotional videos but in a clear vision, a strong message, and coordinated efforts, experts underscored. Such a consolidated image should be shared across different government agencies, Ukrainian diaspora, and all goodwill supporters of Ukraine in the world. Unfortunately, however, Ukraine lacks consistency.

The country has to strengthen its soft power through establishing Ukrainian cultural institutions abroad, launching exchange programs, bringing more international students, and working with foreign journalists. But more importantly, it’s up for the government to follow its commitment to reforms backed by the United States and European partners.

But in the meantime, PR experts see the government’s actions as only harming Ukraine’s image.

“Despite grand proclamations from the government, it has not spoken with one voice. Ministries do not communicate with each other, and it holds the country back,” panel moderator Michael Bociurkiw, a former spokesperson for United Nations Children’s Fund and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, said.

“In today’s competitive world what we have to do is to create a good product, by working with anti-corruption agencies, with freedom of speech, and guaranteed protection of journalists. There must be coordinated work between all public affairs offices of the government,” – Tetiana Popova, a strategic communications expert at the Kyiv-based non-governmental organization Information Security.

“A challenge for Ukraine is to get out of Russia’s shadow. People see Ukraine and Russia as similar but they aren’t. And Ukraine has to be able to communicate it not only defining that it’s against Russia but also make sure that it has its own vision of where it stands,” – Jonathan McClory, general manager for Asia at Portland Communication.

“The government has to have a vision of what it wants the country to be known for. It has to be long-term, unified, and coordinated. So that it is government-led with all other segments of society — businesses, artists, civil sector — pitching in to the united effort,” – Barbora Maronkova, director at North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Information and Documentation Center in Kyiv.

“Branding a nation isn’t restricted to the commercial and private sector, but is for the government too. And it seems to me that the Ukrainian government sometimes does more harm than good. It’s developed a savvy knack for shooting itself in the foot,” – Michael Bociurkiw, former spokesperson for United Nations Children’s Fund and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine.

“The biggest obstacle that a nation brand faces is a lack of consistency and a strategy shared by different parts of the government and people,” – Farzana Baduel, founder and CEO of London[-]based Curzon public relations strategic communications agency.