CONSIDERATIONS ON PUBLIC DIPLOMACY`S ROLE IN PROMOTING COUNTRY BRAND

Abstract

The study addresses the issue of the country brand from a new perspective, aiming to identify and analyse the ways in which public diplomacy can support the branding process. An important part of this study presents a comparative analysis on public diplomacy activities undertaken in order to support the brand of economically developed countries and some countries from Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the elements that define each country's public diplomacy. The most important contribution of the current paper represent the identification of 8 fundamental aspects (the allocation of financial resources, defining factors for the goals of the foreign policy and public diplomacy, the features that are promoted, the involvement of stakeholders in the image branding / promotion, the use of new technologies, the study on the perceptions of foreigners, social and environmental issues, the transfer of responsibilities) against which we can assess the relationship between the country brand strategy and public diplomacy, as well as their manifestation in several countries. Thus obtaining resources of possible good practices for developing Romanian's country brand.

Keywords

• country brand
• country image
• public diplomacy