Categories: Lifestyle

Canada just ranked in 3rd in the world for our ‘nation brand’

A new report from the global market research firm Ipsos has ranked the countries of the world for their ‘nation brand’ in 2020, and Canada came in third! If you’re confused about using the word ‘brand’ for a country, don’t worry, we were too.

And rightfully so, since the term has only been around since the 90s. Basically, the term is used to kind of sum up a nation’s reputation and uses a variety of metrics. Things like ‘tourism’, ‘people’, and ‘culture’ are all criteria used in the rankings. And, those are contrasted with more tangible metrics- ‘governance’, ‘immigration/investment’, and ‘exports’.

A grand total of 50 countries were ranked for 2020. In order to get these results, Ipsos conducted interviews with people in 20 different countries. So, we definitely can’t knock them for not being thorough in their research.

Canada held onto its 3rd place spot this year. And, we’re first in the world of governance, people, and immigration/investment apparently. Hey, we’ll take those pats on the back any day of the week. Two other countries held onto the same spot as 2019 this year- Sweden (7) and Germany (1). Well, shoutout to us three for being consistent, we guess.

Tinfoil hat time! The term ‘nation brand’ has us thinking about our undergrad days. Why? Well usually, the word ‘brand’ has corporate, capitalist connotations. This isn’t bad in itself, but it’s funny in the contrast of the world’s transition from the ‘nation state’ to the ‘market state’. Basically, the creation of a strong ‘nation brand’ signals to private brands that collaboration is possible and mutually beneficial. A good nation brand isn’t good for the country, it’s good for business.

If you’d like to check out this year’s list of the top nation brands in the world, just click here! If you’d like to walk down the rabbit hole of evolving global powers, here’s a quick little something from the CIA.