Simon Anholt

“Simon Anholt is one of the mostinfluential and respected advisorsto the governments of countriesseeking to enhance their competitivenessin the global marketplace.”

Simon Anholt is an independent policy advisor, author and researcher who originated the concepts of Nation Branding and Place Branding in 1996. He is today regarded as the leadingauthority on public diplomacy and identity strategy for countries, cities and regions, advises governments, ministries, civil services and NGOs on the branding aspects of public diplomacy, economic development, public affairs, cultural relations and trade, tourism and export promotion.  

He is a member of the UK Foreign Office’s Public Diplomacy Board, and has advised the governments of Chile, Croatia, Finland, Latvia, Australia, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, the Faroe Islands, Jamaica, South Korea, Poland, Scotland, Tanzania, Sweden, Iceland, Botswana, Germany, the Baltic Sea Region, Bhutan, Mongolia, Ecuador, New Zealand, Switzerland and Slovenia, as well as numerous cities and regions. Anholt has also advised organisations including VisitBritain, the British Council, UK Trade and Investment, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Goethe Institute, Invest in Germany, the Hungarian Tourist Board, the Flanders Tourist Board, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, Présence Suisse, the Latvian Institute, the Swedish Institute, the World Travel and Tourism Council, the World Economic Forum, the World Bank, NATO, the United Nations, WIPO, UNCTAD/WTO’s International Trade Centre, the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies and the World Technology Network. 

He gives the highly acclaimed Nation Branding Masterclass series, supported by the BBC, which runs annually in London and in a growing number of other cities around the world. As a leading figure in the measurement of national reputation, he is the founder and publisher of the annual Anholt Nation Brands Index, Anholt City Brands Index and Anholt State Brands Index, three major surveys which use a panel of over 20,000 people in 25 countries to monitor global perceptions of 50 countries, 50 cities and the 52 States of the Union. Anholt is the author of the best-selling marketing book, Another One Bites The Grass, and Editor of the quarterly journal, Place Branding and Public Diplomacy. His book on the role of brands in economic development, Brand New Justice, was published in 2003 and is now in its second edition. He is also a co-author of Beyond Branding (Kogan Page 2003), Brands and Branding (The Economist 2003), Heritage and Identity – Shaping the Nations of the North (Donhead 2002) and Destination Marketing (Butterworth Heinemann 2001/2003). His most recent books are Brand America, which charts the rise and fall of America’s reputation (Cyan Books 2004) and Competitive Identity: the New Brand Management for Nations, Cities and Regions, the standard text on place branding (Palgrave Macmillan 2007).  

Anholt has worked closely with the United Nations for several years, principally with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), a specialized agency of the United Nations which has developed a particular interest in Nation Brand as a result of its collaboration with Anholt. This new strand of activity was mentioned in their last Annual Report, following the first year of successful partnership. As their Special Advisor, Anholt has organised and run nation-brand masterclasses and developed national strategy plans in Jamaica, Bhutan, China, Egypt, Botswana and Tanzania. Anholt and WIPO have jointly published numerous studies and reports on IP and Competitive Identity relating to several developing and least-developed countries. Also under the aegis of WIPO, Anholt has given masterclasses to joint sessions of WIPO, UNESCO, WHO, UNCTAD and several other bodies at UN headquarters in Geneva.  He has also worked with WAIPA, the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies, a joint agency of UNCTAD and the World Bank, advising their member states on Competitive Identity and export strategies. Anholt also works with the International Trade Centre (ITC), a joint agency of UNCTAD and the World Trade Organisation. Here he advises on trade and investment promotion as well as Competitive Identity, and he has given ministerial-level training on many occasions to ITC member countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe and the Americas, usually under the auspices of their Executive Forum in Montreux. Last year he acted as Research Group Leader for the Executive Forum. Most recently, he co-organised, designed, keynoted and led a 3- day consultation on Competitive Identity in Bucharest, to delegates from the governments of Romania, Uganda, Botswana, Serbia, Kuwait, Brazil, Philippines, Turkey, India, Mauritius, Ecuador, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and Cuba. Anholt has done similar work in Africa with the World Economic Forum, and given masterclasses on Competitive Identity to the governments of Egypt, Bulgaria, Turkey and the UAE through The Economist’s Government Round Tables – another similar format – and given seminars at the World Bank in Washington. He is currently developing a Competitive Identity and Development program for the World Bank. He has addressed the European Commission on this subject, and is Chair of President Barroso’s special think-tank on the image of Europe, the Fondation Europe+. Anholt has worked with the Centre for European Reform on Turkish EU accession, and regularly collaborates with the UK think-tank, Demos, on issues relating to public diplomacy and cultural diplomacy. He has addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations on the question ofCompetitive Identity for economic development (the argument of his book Brand New Justice); he is currently working on launching a Dutch overseas aid and capacity-building project based on the ideas in Brand New Justice.Anholt is a member of the Comitado Marca España, the body charged with managing Spain’sreputation abroad, a member of the Romania Think-tank, a member of the organising committee of the World Technology Network and a Parliamentarian of the European Cultural Parliament.