The significance of branding for each business in this world was presented in an article in The Sofia Echo's previous issue, written by guest columnist and PR and media professional Nikolai Simeonov.

This week's Economist Round Table with Bulgaria's Government however opened the floor for exploring another sub-topic of the science of branding - country branding.

The Economist forum gives Bulgaria a great opportunity to establish the attributes of its future brand that will bring more foreign investment and will turn the country into a heaven for both its citizens and foreigners.

It is quite apparent that the concept of branding itself has conventionally been associated with business entities and their products and services, which puts the emphasis either on the consumer or on the business-to-business markets. It would also be wrong however, to miss the chance and point out that branding is also being used for the shaping the image of an entire country.

Known as country, state or nation branding (in different literature), it has usually been tied to the matter of national tourism promotion. The problem, though, is not that simple and it has reached a new level of complexity in today's globalising world society.

Governments today are tasked with the economic and political development of their countries. National development cannot be achieved in isolation of the international community, as markets and foreign policies compete in the international arena. The complex of these elements and a nation's political, economic, legal and cultural environment all contribute to a nation's identity and image.

In this sense, every country is already a brand. It already exists in the minds of others as an entity with positive and negative attributes. Based on these perceptions, other countries and individuals will interact with it, either contributing to its development or hampering it.

This raises a question for any nation wishing to raise its profile in the world and increase the key factors in development, like trade, investment and tourism.

For Bulgaria this is of great importance now that the country is about to join the European Union. Not because of the accession, which will become a fact very soon but because of what follows after that and how Bulgaria will position itself as a member state. Will it be known as one of Europe's tourist destination, or an outsourcing heaven? The answer to this question will have a long-term impact on the development of this country's economy.

Peter van Ham, a senior research fellow at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael in The Hague and the author of "European Integration and the Post-modern Condition", claims that over the last two decades, straightforward advertising has given way to branding, thus giving products and services an emotional dimension with which countries can identify.

In an article in Foreign Affairs magazine, he has given examples of how countries like Singapore and Ireland have become "brand states", with geographical and political settings that seem trivial compared to their emotional resonance among an increasingly global audience of consumers.

Singapore has a smiling, beautiful face offering the world public tasty appetisers on an airplane, whereas Ireland is a windy, green island full of freckled, red-haired children. And quite natural as a brand is best described as a customer's idea about a product. The "brand state", according to van Ham comprises the outside world's ideas about a particular country.

Naturally, examples can be found even closer to Bulgaria. In the aftermath of the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s, war-torn Croatia was left with a very negative international image. Its government decided that trying to rectify the situation head-on would directly play into the hands of its critics by making it an easy target to counter.

The strategy chosen, still in effect today, was to promote the tourism sector aggressively. This paid off in a number of ways. First, Croatia came to be seen as a country of lovely beaches and picturesque towns - an ideal vacation spot. Second, based on this attractive image, investors and tourists brought much-needed revenue to the economy.

In a short time, Croatia has managed to escape from its negative image and brand itself as an attractive place to visit and do business.

In fact, this is what Bulgaria needs, as it also shares a part of the negative image of the Balkan region and needs to focus the attention on some of its positive attributes. Such a development has already been observed in the real estate section, where a lot of Westerners are lured by the possibility to buy a cheap second home in this country. What they still need to see is not the yield on the property investment, which is a short-term asset but also that their second home will be in a country with tourism traditions, rich cultural and historical heritage, beautiful nature and perfect climate. The list can go on...

The point of these examples is that unlike countries such as the US, UK or France, which have developed their image and brand value through decades of political and economic development, against a background of rich cultural and tourist offerings, many countries now have to consider how to catch up and compete with these well-established brands.

However, the examples also demonstrate to the always pessimistic Bulgarians that even without decades of image-building, it is possible for a country to shape its brand in a relatively short time if it has a clear strategy to do so and devotes the necessary resources to the task.

An excellent example of this is Spain, which under the anachronistic fascist rule of Franco was an impoverished European backyard. After the death of Franco in 1975, Spain flourished. Armed with an attractive, modernistic sun symbol designed by the artist Joan Miro, it mounted an aggressive marketing campaign to reshape its image, offering "Everything Under the Sun" to visitors.

The 1992 Barcelona Olympics and Seville's World Fair helped propel it into the international spotlight, and today Spain is a major modern European player.

It would be hard to find someone who would argue that Spain's branding efforts were not the key to its modern transformation. Yes, it had a long and rich history and fabulous tourist destinations, but without collecting them under a unifying and heavily promoted brand, the development of the tourism industry, and with it the nation as a whole, could not have been achieved.

For some years now, it has been almost universally recognised that government promotion of tourism is a good idea that brings excellent results for the money invested. The tourism industry generates jobs as no other, and its development typically leads economy-wide advancement, in everything from infrastructure to education and related construction and service industries.

To facilitate this development, governments set up tourism ministries or agencies and assign budgets for national tourism promotion.

However, tourism is only one of several areas that every nation needs to develop and only one of the sectors that can benefit from country branding. After all, a country with fine beaches might also be an easy or safe place to invest in if relevant legislation is in place and the rule of law firmly established.

How a country is perceived, both domestically and from abroad, from the quality of its goods and services, to the attractiveness of its culture and its tourism and investment opportunities, to its politics, economic policies and foreign policy, can be shaped under a brand. The branding process strengthens democracy and helps both internal development and successful integration into the world community, on all levels.

One has to believe the above mentioned van Ham that "the traditional diplomacy of yesteryear is disappearing".

To do their jobs well in the future, politicians will have to train themselves in brand management. Their tasks will include finding a brand niche for their state, engaging in competitive marketing, assuring customer satisfaction, and most of all, creating brand loyalty. "Brand states will compete not only among themselves but also with superbrands such as the EU, CNN, Microsoft, and the Roman Catholic Church (boasting the oldest and most recognised logo in the world, the crucifix)," van Ham says.

A successful branding effort delivers benefits that exceed any government or administration. In the same way that Coca Cola is sold through a successful global branding and marketing campaign, year after year, irrespective of who owns or runs the company in Atlanta, so too a good branding and marketing campaign for a country can reap benefits for it, irrespective of who is at the top of its government.