Nation branding: what is being branded?

Nation branding and nation brand are two different concepts. A nation has a brand image with or without nation branding. This paper examines the concept of nation branding, focusing on the central question of what is being branded. It differentiates nation branding from product branding, and draws comparisons between nation branding and product-country image. Paradoxical issues around the concept and the wider context in which nation branding can be applied are also discussed. More research is needed to find out if and how nation branding could help the economic development in a country. As many other non-marketing factors also affect a nation’s image the role played by nation branding may turn out to be only a modest one

Soft power: Power of attraction or confusion?

Despite its popularity soft power remains power of confusion. The paper examines the concept, with a special focus on the nature and sources of soft power. Nye’s notion of soft power is largely ethnocentric and based on the assumption that there is a link between attractiveness and the ability to influence others in international relations. This poses two problems: Firstly, a country has many different actors. Some of them like the attraction and others don’t. Whether the attraction will lead to the ability to influence the policy of the target country depends on which groups in that country find it attractive and how much control they have on policymaking. Secondly, policymaking at the state level is far more complicated than at the personal level; and has different dynamics that emphasise the rational considerations. This leaves little room for emotional elements thus significantly reducing the effect of soft power. Given the nature of soft power being uncontrollable and unpredictable, it would be impossible to wield soft power in any organised and coordinated fashion as Nye suggested. Furthermore, the relationship between two countries is shaped by many complex factors. It is ultimately decided by the geopolitics and strategic interests of nations, in which soft power may play only a limited role. The paper also discusses the link between soft power and nation branding as both concepts are concerned with a nation’s influence on the world stage. Public diplomacy is a subset of nation branding that focuses on the political brand of a nation; whereas nation branding is about how a nation as whole to reshape the international opinions. A successful nation branding campaign will help create a more favourable and lasting image among the international audience thus further enhancing a country’s soft power

Branding the nation: Towards a better understanding

This paper aims to clarify some misunderstanding about nation branding. It examines the origins and interpretations of the concept, and draws a comparison between nation branding and commercial branding. A new definition is offered that emphasises the need to shift from “branding” the nation to nation image management

Nuclear Envelope Composition Determines The Ability Of Neutrophil-Type Cells To Passage Through Micron-Scale Constrictions

Neutrophils are characterized by their distinct nuclear shape, which is thought to facilitate the transit of these cells through pore spaces less than one-fifth of their diameter. We used human promyelocytic leukemia (HL-60) cells as a model system to investigate the effect of nuclear shape in whole cell deformability. We probed neutrophil-differentiated HL-60 cells lacking expression of lamin B receptor, which fail to develop lobulated nuclei during granulopoiesis and present an in vitro model for Pelger-Huët anomaly; despite the circular morphology of their nuclei, the cells passed through micron-scale constrictions on similar timescales as scrambled controls. We then investigated the unique nuclear envelope composition of neutrophil-differentiated HL-60 cells, which may also impact their deformability; although lamin A is typically down-regulated during granulopoiesis, we genetically modified HL-60 cells to generate a subpopulation of cells with well defined levels of ectopic lamin A. The lamin A-overexpressing neutrophil-type cells showed similar functional characteristics as the mock controls, but they had an impaired ability to pass through micron-scale constrictions. Our results suggest that levels of lamin A have a marked effect on the ability of neutrophils to passage through micron-scale constrictions, whereas the unusual multilobed shape of the neutrophil nucleus is less essential

Colour in urban places: A case study of Leicester City Football Club blue

By communicating an integrated story, the Leicester City Football Club blue inherits and persists the history and legacy of the football club, which further provides a stable and consistent meaning for the local sports culture. Colour as a medium and agency creates an intimacy and loyalty between the different ethnic and social groups across local, regional, and global contexts. The case study demonstrated that colour could give place identity through branding practice, identity mediation, and visual culture formation. The process reflected that economic and cultural force had a large impact on place‐making, and could be the decisive influence upon colour symbolism

Extreme genetic fragility of the HIV-1 capsid

Genetic robustness, or fragility, is defined as the ability, or lack thereof, of a biological entity to maintain function in the face of mutations. Viruses that replicate via RNA intermediates exhibit high mutation rates, and robustness should be particularly advantageous to them. The capsid (CA) domain of the HIV-1 Gag protein is under strong pressure to conserve functional roles in viral assembly, maturation, uncoating, and nuclear import. However, CA is also under strong immunological pressure to diversify. Therefore, it would be particularly advantageous for CA to evolve genetic robustness. To measure the genetic robustness of HIV-1 CA, we generated a library of single amino acid substitution mutants, encompassing almost half the residues in CA. Strikingly, we found HIV-1 CA to be the most genetically fragile protein that has been analyzed using such an approach, with 70% of mutations yielding replication-defective viruses. Although CA participates in several steps in HIV-1 replication, analysis of conditionally (temperature sensitive) and constitutively non-viable mutants revealed that the biological basis for its genetic fragility was primarily the need to coordinate the accurate and efficient assembly of mature virions. All mutations that exist in naturally occurring HIV-1 subtype B populations at a frequency >3%, and were also present in the mutant library, had fitness levels that were >40% of WT. However, a substantial fraction of mutations with high fitness did not occur in natural populations, suggesting another form of selection pressure limiting variation in vivo. Additionally, known protective CTL epitopes occurred preferentially in domains of the HIV-1 CA that were even more genetically fragile than HIV-1 CA as a whole. The extreme genetic fragility of HIV-1 CA may be one reason why cell-mediated immune responses to Gag correlate with better prognosis in HIV-1 infection, and suggests that CA is a good target for therapy and vaccination strategies

A very conscientious brand: A case study of the BBC's current affairs series Panorama

The reputation of British current affairs and documentary series such as the BBC's Panorama, Channel 4’s Dispatches or the now defunct Granada series World in Action have rested on an image of conscientious ‘public service’. These popular, long running series have, at various points in their history, acted as the ‘conscience of the nation’, seeking to expose social injustice, investigate misdemeanours by the powerful and take on venal or corrupt vested interest. The BBC’s flagship current affairs series Panorama is Britain’s longest running television programme and, according to the Panorama website, ‘the world’s longest running investigative TV show’. It has provided a template for other current affairs series both in Britain, Europe and around the world while undergoing several transformations in form and style since its launch in 1953, the latest and arguably most dramatic being in 2007. This article will chart the development of Panorama as a distinctive, ‘flagship' current affairs series over six decades. It will attempt to answer why the Panorama brand has survived so long, while so many other notable current affairs series have not. Using research and material from Bournemouth University’s Panorama Archive, the Video Active website, the BFI and other European archives this article explores the development of an iconic current affairs series that has, at different stages in its history, proved a template for other news and current affairs programmes. Various breaks and continuities are highlighted in Panorama’s history and identity, and an attempt will be made to characterise and specify the Panorama ‘brand’ and pinpoint the series’ successes and failures in reinventing itself in a rapidly changing media context

Role of Histone Tails in Structural Stability of the Nucleosome

Histone tails play an important role in nucleosome structure and dynamics. Here we investigate the effect of truncation of histone tails H3, H4, H2A and H2B on nucleosome structure with 100 ns all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. Tail domains of H3 and H2B show propensity of -helics formation during the intact nucleosome simulation. On truncation of H4 or H2B tails no structural change occurs in histones. However, H3 or H2A tail truncation results in structural alterations in the histone core domain, and in both the cases the structural change occurs in the H2A3 domain. We also find that the contacts between the histone H2A C terminal docking domain and surrounding residues are destabilized upon H3 tail truncation. The relation between the present observations and corresponding experiments is discussed

Corporate identity at the stakeholder group level

There is a paucity of literature regarding the construction and operation of corporate identity at the stakeholder group level. This article examines corporate identity from the perspective of an individual stakeholder group, namely, front-line employees. A stakeholder group that is central to the development of an organization’s corporate identity as it spans an organization’s boundaries, frequently interacts with both internal and external stakeholders, and influences a firm’s financial performance by building customer loyalty and satisfaction. The article reviews the corporate identity, branding, services and social identity literatures to address how corporate identity manifests within the front-line employee stakeholder group, identifying what components comprise front-line employee corporate identity and assessing what contribution front-line employees make to constructing a strong and enduring corporate identity for an organization. In reviewing the literature the article develops propositions that, in conjunction with a conceptual model, constitute the generation of theory that is recommended for empirical testing