Сучасні стратегії іміджевого позиціонування Королівства Данія на міжнародній арені

Abstract

EN : The present paper is concerned with the tools that the Kingdom of Denmark uses in its internal and external policy with the aim of maintaining an attractive national brand in the international arena. The relevance of the topic. The modern world encourages entities of international policy to participate in direct or hidden competition in order to take leading positions in the influence spheres division. The state’s place in the international arena largely determines its ability to protect and promote national interests on the global agenda. The perception of the state’s image can influence its economic development, which defines its innovation, reliability, and attractiveness in terms of investment, human capital, tourism, education, employment, etc. Taking into account all the above mentioned, it is obvious that reputation management should be one of the state’s main tasks. The complex of measures that the state carries out within the framework of home and foreign policy, as well as their impact on social institutions, form its national and international image. This image and personal experience create an integral state brand, which is quite stable and mostly unchanged. Therefore, there is an obvious need to study the best practices of state brand management, which can be adapted to national needs so that not to make mistakes that can cost the state a lot of resources. The search for modern tools for the state brand development is especially relevant for Ukraine. The Russian-Ukrainian war has already radically changed the states’ approach to the perception of Ukraine as a powerful player in the system of international relations. It is evident that in the period after the war, in the first place, Ukraine will have a qualitatively new basis for establishing further communications, and secondly, it will need new approaches to the international brand development, which will contribute to attracting capital anew. The analysis of Denmark’s brand is relevant in terms of its competitiveness and the high performance indicators of the Danish government. Therefore, this study will reveal possible ways of integrating the Danish brand management experience into Ukrainian realities. The research object of our master’s thesis is the internal and external policy of Denmark. The subject of this research paper is the approaches to Denmark’s positioning in the international relations system. The aim of the research is to reveal the features of the Danish strategic approaches to the national and international brand management. For achieving the above set goals we are to investigate the following specific research objectives: • to disclose the role of national brand in international communications; • to shape the concept of the machinery for creating and supporting the national brand on the example of Denmark; • to analyze the practical cases of international brand management in Denmark; • to explore the successful examples of national branding, which could be relevant for Ukraine after the war. The chronological frames of this study include the period of emergence and development of Denmark’s image-making ideas (the beginning of the 21st century – the present). This choice is due to the development of the first comprehensive brand promotion strategy and further advantages and disadvantages of brand management policies that influence the perception of Denmark today. At the same time, we need to point out some issues more substantively, namely: to analyze the problem origin as well as forecast some prospects of the Danish-Ukrainian partnership, which urged the author to sometimes go beyond the defined chronological frames. The geographical boundaries of the research cover the current territory of Denmark. It should be noted that the novelty of the paper consists in identifying the specific features of the state brand management in Denmark and proving the influence of performance indicators on the state integral brand on the example of Denmark. At the same time, the research reveals the essence of Danish-Ukrainian cooperation in the conditions of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the role of Denmark in European policy, which is faced with the current security challenges. The theoretical significance of our master’s thesis is to generalize the knowledge about the brand management principles of the state which is combined with the analysis of Denmark’s practices for increasing the attractiveness of the country in the international arena. The applied significance of the research is that, firstly, Denmark’s experience can be used by public and private institutions when developing a strategy for Ukraine’s brand promotion abroad, and secondly, the results of the study can help to find the common ground between Denmark and Ukraine for extending long-term cooperation at the bilateral level in the post-war period. Conclusions. The modern globalized world causes unification of political, economic and social processes in many countries. The governments should create unique value propositions for their countries to make them competitive in the international commodity and service market. These propositions should be associated with a specific country and based on its national interests. In general, such associations build the state’s image. This master's thesis is devoted to the analysis of the international experience of the Kingdom of Denmark in realization of image positioning strategies. The interest in Denmark is caused by its leading place in numerous specialized world rankings. This confirms the efficiency of Denmark’s approaches to the implementation of internal and external policy. One of the key objectives of our research was to reveal the essence of national brand in international communications. It is concluded that the brand of a state determines the level of the country’s competitiveness since it directly affects the attraction of foreign capitals and human resources, namely qualified employees, students, entrepreneurs and tourists. Predominantly, success depends on the image of the state. The process of positive image development is called “branding” and means the complex of tools which influence creating and supporting a desired state perception by other entities. Generally, the national brand concept appeared in science in the 1990s. The British expert, Saimon Anholt, is the author of this definition. He developed a “Nation Brand Hexagon” which explains the elements of the national brand creation. It includes tourism, export, governance, people, culture, investment, and immigration. Therefore, Saimon Anholt proves that territory branding needs a comprehensive approach to development with the use of public diplomacy technologies. Having summarized numerous definitions of the national brand concept, we propose to interpret it as a complex of concepts about the state that arises by virtue of associations shaped as a result of the knowledge acquired about the state or its separate territories, long-term policies or short initiatives, as well as due to personal contacts with the state or its representatives. The next important task of our master’s thesis was to shape the concept of the machinery for creating and supporting the national brand on the example of Denmark. In this part we analyzed the main features of external and internal policy which determine the country’s perception in the international arena and among citizens. It should be noted that the Kingdom of Denmark has a long-term experience of supporting its image. However, the first brand management strategy was only developed in 2007 after the Muhammad cartoon crisis which had adversely affected the Danish brand. Nowadays, Denmark participates in many political processes at an international level. Nevertheless, there can be some cases when Denmark remains invisible in the active “geopolitical games”. The current foreign policy of Denmark was shaped in the course of the long-lasting tradition of neutrality, which was followed by the period of adaptation within the international policy. Then Denmark pursued a policy of activism focused on rapprochement with the USA. Consequently, Denmark transformed into the US strategic partner with the image of a powerful state. Currently, Denmark is primarily focused on providing the conditions for sustainable partnership with neighboring countries, promoting security in Europe, developing relations with the US and China as well as participating in global problems resolution. The Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine changed Denmark’s priorities in the defense and security issues, which resulted in the abolition of the defense opt-out in the EU and resolution to participate in the Common Security and Defence Policy. Besides, Denmark plays an important role in the regional integration initiatives, particularly in the Baltic sea region and the Arctic. Therefore, we can conclude that Denmark uses some powerful diplomatic tools with the aim of ensuring its attractive image. As for the analysis of Denmark’s internal policy, it is worth noting that we rather focused on the features of Danish society than on the metrics of social welfare. In some way, these features have become positive stereotypes, serving to shape the Danes’ self perception as a nation. We mean the concept of positioning Denmark as a country of green innovations and bicycles resided by one of the happiest nations proud of their “hygge” mood. In fact, Denmark is the leader in green technologies with an extensive network of alternative energy sources. The Danish government developed an ambitious strategy that included full abandonment of fossil fuels by 2050. This approach to “green transition” demonstrates that a modern state can provide both the dynamic economic development and a high standard of living. In addition, the authorities pay attention to the development of bicycle culture and encourage people to abandon cars in favor of ecological transport, which resulted in the number of bicycles being 5 times as many as the number of cars in Denmark. Moreover, Denmark is characterized by a high level of life satisfaction, which is due to the efficient welfare state model with the government oriented to social needs. At the same time, “hygge” is an important element of Danish society. It is a special practice of creating coziness and a pleasant atmosphere, which is a chief tool for using soft power in international relations. In our research paper, we used the marketing method of STEPV-analysis to consider the practical cases of international brand management in Denmark. As a result, we revealed that Denmark has one of the highest indicators of public trust in the authorities and satisfaction with the government policy, which was especially evident in overcoming the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. In addition, Denmark is famous for its education system which is one of the best in Europe. This can be confirmed by the number of foreign students studying at Danish universities. However, the migration policy is too strict in Denmark. It does not provide opportunities for creating a multicultural environment. The authorities conduct the policy of migrants integration, which is close to assimilation. Furthermore, Denmark is a leader in technology development and has the high rankings in digitalization. Additionally, Denmark takes the first place in the World Competitiveness Ranking, offers one of the best conditions for doing business, is attractive for foreign investments and has one of the most flexible markets due to its efficient management, developed infrastructure, stable economy and loyal legislation. The political situation in Denmark remains stable, which contributes to the implementation of complex reforms. The most important values of Danish society are trust and equality. In general, we can state that Denmark pays sufficient attention to the development and support of its international brand, which is confirmed by the reports of the European institutions on the assessment of Denmark’s achievements. The final task of our master’s thesis was to explore successful examples of national branding, which could be relevant for Ukraine in the post-war period. Firstly, we analyzed the Danish-Ukrainian relations in order to understand the nature of their interaction. It was found that bilateral relations are quite dynamic. The countries cooperate in the areas of security and defense, energy, financing and support for the implementation of reforms, etc. The full-scale war in Ukraine caused the expansion of cooperation formats. Further, we examined the current state of Ukraine’s brand according to the “Nation Brand Hexagon”. The next step was the assessment of Ukraine's brand prospects in the wartime using the SWOT-analysis technology. The practical part of the research consisted in conducting a survey of Danish citizens regarding their perception of modern Ukraine. We suggested some recommendations for Ukraine’s brand management based on the successful cases of Denmark. They include as follows: 1) management of a complex national idea creation that will unite the Ukrainians and popularize the interests of the state abroad; 2) a comprehensive approach to the branding concept development of the regions and cities that will contribute to the integral brand of Ukraine; 3) deepening the practice of public-private partnership, which will help strengthen trust in state institutions and attract foreign capital; 4) participation in global problems solution by promoting the values of honest partnership for the sake of peace. To crown it up, this research work was aimed at studying the strategic approaches used by Denmark to develop its own image and support the national brand. We believe that the key findings of our paper can be of use for Ukraine in understanding Denmark’s logic in the course of creating the desired model of state perception in international relations as well as in searching for the extra common ground for Ukraine and the Kingdom of Denmark with the view of deepening their long-term bilateral relations. Consequently, Denmark’s experience in brand management can be used by Ukraine to develop its own brand in the post-war time. Among the prospects of this line of research, it is worth mentioning the legal framework of Denmark regarding the national brand management, specific features of the regional branding in Denmark, participation of Denmark in international rows as well as changes in the state policy after the 2022 parliamentary elections.

UA : Об’єкт дослідження: внутрішня та зовнішня політика Данії. Предмет дослідження: підходи до позиціонування Данії у системі міжнародних відносин. Мета роботи полягає у розкритті особливостей стратегій Данії щодо управління національним та міжнародним брендом. Новизна наукової роботи полягає у виявленні специфічних рис управління державним брендом у Данії і в обґрунтуванні впливу показників ефективності на інтегральний бренд держави на прикладі Данії. Разом з тим у роботі розкрито перспективу адаптації та впровадження данського досвіду управління державним брендом в українські реалії. Досить тривалий час державний імідж Данії залежав від ініціатив з просування послуг в окремих галузях економіки, як то туризм, культура, торгівля тощо, натомість іміджеве потрясіння у вигляді «карикатурної кризи» 2005 року сприяло виробленню урядом єдиної комплексної стратегії з брендингу держави. Мета програми полягала у зміні уявлень про Данію як сучасну інноваційну країну Європи. У просуванні національного бренду Данія фокусується на формуванні уявлення як про країну-лідера у зелених технологіях. Держава приділяє велику увагу розвитку мережі альтернативних джерел енергії, поступово відмовляючись від викопного палива. Також Данію характеризує розвинута велосипедна культура, чому сприяє динамічна розбудова велосипедної інфраструктури, яка має стимулювати громадян відмовлятися від автівок на користь екологічного транспорту. Разом з тим особливістю данського суспільства є високий рівень задоволеності життям, що пояснюється дієвою моделлю функціонування держави загального добробуту, яка передбачає орієнтацію уряду на соціальні потреби. Крім того, важливим елементом національного бренду Данії є концепція «хюгге», яка відіграє роль потужного інструменту «м‘якої сили» у міжнародних відносинах. Особливості стратегій побудови міжнародного бренду Данії визначені за допомогою методології STEPV-аналізу. Серед них варто відзначити, по-перше, використання практик надання якісних соціальних послуг, які є «магнітом» для людських ресурсів; по-друге, державну підтримку підприємництва та створення сприятливих умов для розвитку іноземного бізнесу та залучення капіталів; по-третє, протидію поширенню глобальних викликів шляхом, наприклад, боротьби зі змінами клімату, сприяння посиленню системи європейської безпеки, підтримки демократій, які розвиваються тощо. Реакція Данії на російське вторгнення в Україну теж багато в чому пояснила стратегію просування міжнародного іміджу Данії, яка полягала у комплексній підтримці європейських цінностей. Це проявляється у всеохоплюючій допомозі Україні у розрізі військової, гуманітарної, фінансової, політичної сфер. На основі отриманих результатів дослідження данського досвіду та SWOT-аналізу іміджу України в умовах війни було сформовано практичні рекомендації для розвитку та підтримки державного бренду України у повоєнний період.