Authenticity & Nation branding: #fail

This text is currently only avaliable in Swedish. I'll just to give you a quick summary. Sweden and Norway are working intensly with nation branding and spreading the word about them selves as nations of peace and environmentally friendly/progressive etc. But looking at the facts another ugly face appears... Norway is one of the top oil-nations in the world, Sweden the biggest exporter of arms IN THE WORLD (per capita) . Looking at how corporate branding has been developing since 1990 it is easy to see that nation branding is lacking in authenticity. The question I ask is when the Nordic countries (and other nations) will start walking the authentic path in terms of communication and leadership. I hope that consultants like Niel Crofts will get some nation branding gigs soon.

(an interesting comparison is how the British Council is spreading the word about Creative Industry, Culture and Creativity in the world but reports from GB tell a story of radical cuts in arts and culture.)

Hurra för fredsnationen Sverige! 300 år av fred inom landets gränser, men Kriget går på export... Dags att vi alla inser faktum: Vi exporterar mest vapen i världen! Samtidigt berättar vi för världen om hur fredsälskande vi är som nation.



Läs artikeln i DN om Sveriges sorgliga världsrekord.

Och Norge som delar ut fredspris i dagarna är inte mycket bättre. För olje-nationen Norge är det tydligt att ser lika dant ut på miljöområdet - höga hästar i ord - slingrande ormar i handling.

Om det är sant som det sägs att "nation branding" är det nya heta så är dags för oss i Norden att gå en kurs i autentisk kommunikation... och då förhoppningsvis inte ändra kommunikationen utan börja leva upp till vad vi säger. (Här är ett konsult-tips: http://www.neilcrofts.com/)

Om de stora varumärkena klarade det vid senaste millenieskiftet så borde vi också i alla fall göra ett försök.

Ush Ghrab

It is a long time since I last saw George. Today I got a video where he is interviewed about Ush Ghrab - a place outside Beit Sahour which was deserted by the Israeli military.

Pangea Day

Pangea Day

Hear Jehane Noujaim giving the background for the project at TED.

Visit the Pangea Day website.

Security in Baghdad

Hometown Baghdad keeps rockin' n' Rollin. I really like the latest entry because it gives a citizens view on a couple of the most discussed issues when it commes to Iraq - security and how to (re)create it for the people of Iraq.



I like the entry because it made me put myself in Ausamas position... imagine having your house invaded by American Soldiers and then... a while later an American soldier walks up to you in your street asking: Is this a safe neighborhood? What would I say? And how would I feel about the security forces? I want to point out that these are not rethorical questions.

Obviously there are worse threats to Ausamas security and feeling of safety. He does say "They should be protecting us!" ...being who he is he sees them as people who should be protecting him. But he doubts it from experience.

I my mind there are very few clear answers on what is a good solution to the problems in Iraq. When Swedish peace-activists say they want the US forces to leave Iraq I get the feeling we have just inherited the American agenda... which primarily is concerned about protecting American soldiers. I would like to save lives too but if we want to do something good for the people of Iraq I am not sure that is the thing... at least not now. But these are just thoughts. As I said, I have no answers.

The power of film

Jehane Noujaim talks about the power of film.

Planet of the Arabs

Planet of the arabs is a medley of clips of how arabs are portrayed in Hollywood film. If you ask me the most racist clips are actually the cartoons. "Ali Baba mad dog of the desert." Where an arab charicature is barking like a dog (dirty animal in arab culture) and using two beer bottles as telescope. Some one has really put an effort in to make this offensive...








I suppose this is one of the reasons I think Chat The Planet is really important.