When a nation becomes a commodity: The Country Brand Index 2008

by Anna Brones on

We live in an era of global brands. McDonald’s, Starbucks, H&M, Coca Cola, Australia… Wait, what???

You read correctly, Australia recently won the top spot of the 2008 Country Brand Index. Nation branding, as it’s officially referred to, is the theory and practice of measuring and building the reputations of countries; basically applying standard commercial brand management that you’d find with commodities and using it to analyzing everywhere from Austria to Zimbabwe.

The 2008 study conducted by Future Brand, a global brand consulting firm, used rankings from 30 different categories to come up with the final index. Among the categories were History, Standard of Living, Friendly Locals and Environmentalism. It’s like a beauty pageant for countries, with the most well-rounded coming out on top. Here are the top ten:

  1. Australia
  2. Canada
  3. USA
  4. Italy
  5. Switzerland
  6. France
  7. New Zealand
  8. United Kingdom
  9. Japan
  10. Sweden

When you look at that list, referring to countries as specific brands starts to make a little sense. Don’t we all have pretty concrete associations with France for example? Wine, croissants and cheese. And what about Sweden? Meatballs, moose and blondes. Looks like what we once referred to as stereotypes has a new name.

The Sounds of Travel 6: “Oh My Sweet Carolina”

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Here at Gadling we’ll be highlighting some of our favorite sounds from the road and giving you a sample of each — maybe you’ll find the same inspiration that we did, but at the very least, hopefully you’ll think that they’re good songs.

Got a favorite of your own? Leave it in the Comments and we’ll post it at the end of the series.

“Oh My Sweet Carolina” by Ryan Adams

Nick Hornby, a favorite author of mine, first tipped me off to this amazing Ryan Adams song in this essay on the McSweeney’s website. “Oh My Sweet Carolina,” which Hornby describes as “so quiet that you don’t want to breathe throughout its duration,” might seem to be an odd choice for a series celebrating great travel songs. After all, it’s about the unfulfilling, disappointing journeys– to Vegas, Cleveland, San Antonio– that we take because we’re looking for something that we can’t find at home:

Oh my sweet Carolina
What compels me to go
Oh my sweet disposition
May you one day carry me home

This is a lesson many travelers, including myself, have had to learn first-hand: that travel is not a panacea for all your problems. Running away from life is only a quick, temporary fix, and sooner or later everything you fear must be faced head-on.

Another thing the song addresses is this: once we’ve been away from our friends and family for a while, sometimes home starts to look, well, not so bad. In his Pulitzer-prize winning novel American Pastoral, Philip Roth writes that when people die, their imperfections tend to disappear, or even to become appealing: “This can happen when people die– the argument with them drops away and people so flawed while they were drawing breath that at times they were all but unbearable now assert themselves in the most appealing way, and what was least to your liking the day before yesterday becomes in the limousine behind the hearse a cause not only for sympathetic amusement but for admiration.”

In my experience, the same transformation happens to your hometown and your friends and family when you’ve been away for a while.

Lyrics here; awesome Elton John cover here; Nick Hornby essay here. Listen to the song, it’s good.

British Airways CEO Sees Little To Be Excited about in the US

by Josh Lew on

After the election of Barack Obama and a Democratic Party majority in the house and senate, British Airways CEO Willie Walsh sees little to be optimistic about as far as stateside operations go. Many European carriers would like to see additions to the Open Skies Agreement, which provided greater rights for foreign-owned airlines to operate within the US. Walsh is worried about Obama’s support of US labor groups. “I think it’s very clear Obama has taken a strong line in relation to any change in the ownership and control regulations. So at this point I would not be expecting any major progress to be made.”

Right now, foreign companies can have no more than a 25% share in US-based airlines. That is not likely to change, especially considering the weak state many airlines are currently in. With a rumored merger with American Airlines now seemingly out of the question, BA is focusing on partnering with AA to offer better trans-Atlantic service. Before going ahead with that, though, they must receive approval from US antitrust investigators.

[Via Airwise]

Daily deal – Panasonic network security camera for $50

by Scott Carmichael on

Welcome to my daily deal for Tuesday November 11th. My deal for today is something you’ll actually leave at home instead of carrying along with you.

The Panasonic BL-C1A is a network security camera and is great for keeping an eye on things at home, when you are on the road.

The camera connects to the network in your home (wired only), and allows you to remotely monitor your kids or pets. Of course, it is also a great solution to keep an eye out for packages left at the front door.

The camera also features a built in motion sensor, and it can send you an email if motion is detected.

Of course, as with all network equipment, you’ll need a basic understanding of what you are doing, but the Panasonic camera has several built in features that should make installation fairly easy.

This camera usually retails for $99, but Amazon.com currently has it on sale for just $50.12 with free shipping.

(Via Fatwallet)

Cathay Pacific Freezes Recruiting Because of Low Demand

by Josh Lew on

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific has always been one of the world’s top airlines. But the ever-lower demand for air travel has touched them as it has every other airline. An article in an internal publication distributed to Cathay’s employees two weeks ago announced that there will be a company-wide recruiting freeze. No layoffs yet, but the hiring stoppage will include Cathay’s subsidiary, Dragonair. The freeze was confirmed today.

That means no fresh faces in an airline that is famous for its top-notch service (and leggy, poised flight attendants). Exec Tony Tyler remains optimistic that the industry, and Cathay, will return to their old ways in short order. ”I remain unashamedly optimistic about the future of aviation in Asia – just think of the potential in China and India alone.”

Cathay, like the regions other major players, is straining on its leash, waiting to carve out its space in new, lucrative routes in China and on the subcontinent. They just have to make it through these slow times intact.

[Via The Standard HK]