| Abstract [eng] |
Nation branding is a new form of forming and managing the image of a country. A proper branding strategy can help ecountries gain international popularity. The State-level formation of Lithuania’s image started thirteen years ago. Nevertheless, Government’s efforts to brand Lithuania have been unsuccessful. Today the process of Lithuania’s image formation has been suspended. The object of the research of the master thesis is the process of creation of Lithuania’s image in the context of nation branding and the search for identity. The goal of the thesis is to analyse the newest concepts of Lithuania’s nation brand and to envisage the complexity of problems for their implementation. The main tasks of the paper are: to ascertain the origins of nation branding and to define its significance in the global image policy, and how it is connected with identity and image; to explore specific characteristics and functions of nation branding; to highlight the advantages of nation branding to new countries; to explore the process of nation branding and to identify most common problems and mistakes; to explore the projections of Lithuanian identity and the present image of Lithuania; to analyse and compare recommendations and contradictions of Lithuanian brand books in the context of Lithuanian identity through the prism of the “brave country” idea and identification with a region; to prove that obstacles in the process of branding Lithuania are due to the absence of a clear perception of Lithuanian identity as well as faulty strategic management of the Nation branding process. Using the methods of scholarly literature analysis and document analysis, this paper draws the conclusion that today one of the biggest challenges in Lithuania are uncertainty on national identity and image, and lack of civil spirit in the perception of the country. The most frequently discussed pathways of the Lithuanian identity are those of the Baltic identity, the Grand Dutchy of Lithuania identity and the European identity. Nevertheless, Lithuania’s image is not among the worst in the National Brand Intex; in the governance category Lithuania stands in the 28th position which is not far behind such countries like the USA, Poland or Czech Republic. In the category of immigration and investment, Lithuania stands in the 36th place, while according to the the tourism index Lithuania is in the 45th place. In the process of branding Lithuania several conceptual ideas emerged, the main being brave country on whose basis additional conceptual ideas thoughtful and reliable and lively and romantic were formed; however, the synonims of these definitions seem to be close or identical. Lithuanans are apt to identify themselves through such elements of identity like language or religion rather than political or economical ties; thus, the process of building Northern identity can be problematic. The same applies for the proposal of avoiding the associations with the Baltic identity which is significant for Lithuanians. Finally, the strategic management of the process of branding Lithuania is inefficient due to lack of coordination in using funds, low-quality institutional cooperation and absence of comprehensive dialogue with the society. The importance of this master thesis is that it seeks to take a profound look into the process of branding Lithuania, searching for reasons why the creation of Lithuanian nation brand has been ineffective. The conclusions made suggest that further research could be done on whether and how the situation changes after the Presidential elections in Lithuania. |
