A country as a brand: Israel's evolving branding strategy

Abstract

Countries often need to rebrand themselves every few years — even though the process requires a huge investment of money. Capricious external forces such as economics, politics and social issues influence the way potential visitors perceive a country, and a country's image can become irrelevant seemingly overnight. This paper presents an analysis of the state of Israel's continual rebranding process over the course of its more than 60 years of independence. In contrast to many papers that portray a single successful rebranding process, an evolutionary process is described, which demonstrates how external forces have made Israel reinvent its image over and over again in order to appeal to the global tourist market's ever-changing desires. The conclusions this paper draws from this analysis offer analysts, marketers and planners, working at the national level, practical tools to help them establish the appropriate branding strategy for their countries that will attract tourists from around the globe.