Canada has slipped from first place to second in an annual survey of the best country brands.
FutureBrand’s Country Brand Index hands top spot to Switzerland, which took second spot last year. Though the branding consultancy doesn’t directly address why Canada lost top spot, it does note that “Switzerland shows that the cultivation of freedom, tolerance, transparency and environmentalism can put a country’s brand ahead—even in difficult economic times.”
But the more notable change is the rapid decline of the United States, which fell to eighth place from sixth last year, and from first place in 2009.
“In the face of successive fiscal crises in both the United States and Europe, the influence and normative values of the West are beginning to lose clout with a global audience,” the FutureBrand report says.
The survey determined countries’ brand strength by surveying more than 3,000 “opinion-formers and frequent international business or leisure travelers,” and broke down their views into more than 20 categories, including political freedom, investment climate and natural beauty. Check out the report for the full breakdown.
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