The world’s smallest nations have found a new weapon to take on to the global battlefield of commerce and fame – branding. Wallpaper*‘s Eric Enno Tamm plots the rise of the brand state and heralds a new epoch of Gucci government.

Call it the Field of Dreams theory of international relations: if you brand it, they will come. That seems to be the logic behind a growing list of countries that are trying to woo the world using the tried-and-true techniques of commercial brand building. What began as a consumer marketing product-as-lifestyle trend – pioneered by the likes of Nike, Disney, Calvin Klein et al – is becoming de rigueur among presidents, prime ministers, diplomats and foreign policy wonks. With swishy logos, catchy tag lines, mammoth marketing budgets, celebrity endorsements and even new lavish ambassadorial flagships (think branded superstore not stuff embassy), this is government gone Gucci.

“Our brand is as important to us as the swoosh is to Nike and the golden arches are to McDonald’s,” says Donald Tsang, Hong Kong’s chief secretary for administration, about Brand Honk Kong, launched in May 2001. With its stylised dragon logo incorporating the letters H and K, “BrandHK” has all the requisites you’d expect of a chic product launch: a flashy premiere with 500 execs and Bill Clinton at a Fortune Global Forum, logos emblazoned on an airliner, a new fleet of Eurocopters and ferries, a tag-line (Asia’s World City), gimmicky media events and a world tour – all slickly packaged by the marketing acumen of Burson-Marsteller. “The practice of branding countries is as old as the hills, which is why we have a stereotype image in our minds for almost every country in the world,” says Tony Allen, managing director of the London office of global consultancy Interbrand.

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