Branding the nation: Indonesia as a Brand

Branding has become one of the most powerful tools in marketing particularly in marketing a place as a tourist destination. Recently, academics and practitioners have similar agreement in discussing places as a brand as well as in branding the places in the same way as consumer goods and services. However, destination branding is a relatively new concept, and there is a lack of conceptual framework developed on the topic. The paper examines the history of the nation as a brand, and tries to propose a new idea of building a nation using strategic brand management. It discusses the process of building Indonesia as a brand that consists of four steps: firstly, scanning the environment by identifying and establishing brand positioning and values. Secondly, planning and implementing Brand Marketing Programs. Next, measuring and interpreting brand performance and finally, growing and sustaining brand equity.