Treating Denmark as a brand

As globalization marches onward, countries are starting to look like brands – associated more with symbolic soft values than with borders and national currencies. Marketers have taken note, and are using this development to their advantage. Yet as with all marketing, the success of treating a country as a brand depends on associations that people already make, or on the marketer's power of persuasion.

Not so well known after all
Danish marketers are certainly keen on treating Denmark as a brand – as countless Danish companies with the element 'Dan' in their name illustrate. And the words 'Denmark' and 'Danish' pepper the brochures and websites of Danish companies. So do related concepts, such as 'Danish design', 'Danish craftsmanship' and 'Hans Christian Andersen', and typically Danish values like egalitarianism, modesty and 'small is beautiful'.

Treating Denmark as a brand in this way might work well in Denmark, where people attribute positive value to their nationality and already make the associations needed to create meaning. But for it to work internationally, audiences outside Denmark would have to understand and accept these associations too. Do they?

The fact is, Denmark and things Danish have a neutral image in most of the world. If people have any opinion at all about Denmark, it is neither positive nor negative. And some of the values the Danes hold dear do not have the same positive connotations elsewhere in the world.

This presents marketers in Denmark with a challenge and an opportunity.

Danish values the world can understand
The relative anonymity and neutral image of Denmark abroad gives us marketers the chance – in fact, it compels us – to tell people what they should think about Denmark. It means that we can make 'Denmark' and 'Danish' mean whatever we like. But one thing is certain: we must choose the values we associate with Denmark carefully, and convince our audience to accept these associations. In short, we have to brand.

So how do we do that? What do we want Denmark to mean internationally? It depends, of course, on the nature of the company, product or service we are calling Danish. In some cases, very general values such as common sense, simple pleasures and natural beauty could work. While not exactly dramatic, these values are broadly appealing and they ring true.

In other cases, more specific values such as old-world craftsmanship, European design and innovative technology might be in order. These can be varied and combined to create surprising effects like 'handcrafted technology' – which is both appealing and uniquely applicable to a country like Denmark.

Co-branding for success
Finally, Denmark could even be 'co-branded' with successful brands, products or technologies that people in most countries don't even know are Danish. Imagine "Denmark, creator of LEGO" or "Denmark, home to the world's largest shipping company" or "Denmark, the birthplace of Bang & Olufsen". Association with well-known brands is a good way of linking Denmark to the rich stock of values people already associate with these brands.