Country marketing and its features. Country marketing Country marketing and its features

In relation to a country, marketing is focused on increasing (maintaining) its image, attractiveness for other countries, their economic entities, other social institutions and population, prestige in international organizations.

Marketing a country is not associated with changes in its borders and is non-commercial, although quite a lot of the most important indirect economic results of such marketing can be identified. These are the effects of the implementation of geophysical, financial, technical, technological and human resources (use of internal resources outside the territory and attraction of external ones), growth in volumes and intensification of foreign economic activity, results of participation in international projects, etc.

A key aspect of activities in country marketing is the targeted formation, positive development and promotion of the country’s image. The image of the country (as well as the region and other territories) exists at several levels of awareness - everyday, socio-economic, business, financial, etc.

The image of a country, as defined by the World Tourism Organization, is a set of emotional and rational ideas resulting from a comparison of all the characteristics of the country, one’s own experience and rumors that influence the creation of a certain image. All of these factors make it possible, when a name is mentioned, to immediately build a whole chain of associations in relation to a given country.

The image of the country at the level of everyday psychology

To identify the image of the country in the minds of the population, that is, at the level of everyday psychology, a number of established characteristics and parameters are used: symbols, features of the nation’s mentality, its culture, negative aspects of life support, communication obstacles.

What does modern Russia look like in the everyday consciousness of ordinary residents of other countries? According to the results of a survey conducted in 1998 by the magazine Around the World with the participation of foreign correspondents, the collective image of Russia in the eyes of residents of the USA, France, South Africa, Japan and Australia is: vodka, cold, borscht, economic crisis, poverty, gloomy mood , queues, McDonald's scattered here and there, where, supposedly, you can only buy something for dollars. Many foreigners would not mind drinking with Russians, but they would definitely not want to live in Russia. It turns out that, according to some, Lenin has already been removed from the mausoleum. The good news is that, according to the foreigners interviewed, bears no longer walk around Red Square.

What criteria determine the degree of respect for their country by Russians themselves, and what do they think about their fatherland in this regard? This question is answered to a certain extent by the results of a survey of 2,000 Russians conducted by the Center for Research and Statistics of Science of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Two very significant questions were asked in the context of country marketing:

1. What, first of all, should a country have in order to command the respect of other states?
2. What, above all, inspires respect for Russia from other states today?

The results of the study (see the diagram in Fig. 1) showed that the most significant factors most often cited were a high level of well-being, a high level of development of science and technology, military power, respect for human rights, a highly developed culture and rich natural resources. At the same time, Russia, according to 23% of respondents, is worthy of respect due to its natural resources, 13% noted the military power of the fatherland, including the presence of nuclear weapons, 8% - a large territory and 4% - a highly developed culture. At the same time, almost half (49%) did not find a single factor on which Russia can be respected.

Figure 1. Assessment of Russia’s prestige in the world (% of the number of respondents)

How are they trying to improve the country's image?

Great Britain. Many British people realized that they needed a leader who would improve Britain's image. This is exactly what the new Prime Minister, Labor Tony Blair, who replaced the Conservatives, decided to do. It turned out that this is a political issue.

Outdated and ingrained images of the English as conservatives, with a country full of castles, double-decker buses and funny police bobbies, should become a thing of the past under the new Prime Minister's vision. Thatched ancient houses with well-kept gardens and hanging baskets at the entrances should be transformed into multi-storey buildings, and the well-trained guards of Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, gentlemen in bowler hats hurrying to work in the City, old ladies with poodles and the pomp of parades at the Queen’s palace will no longer be considered “ symbols of London, because, according to Labor, they are outdated and look dull. The old image is preventing Britain from spreading its wings and establishing itself as a new powerful power. It is necessary, the authors of the concept believe, to forget about Westminster Abbey and the royal treasury in the Tower as British symbols and focus on the interests of young people.

Tony Blair made a decision: to create a committee called Panel 2000, which would convene the most fashionable designers, artists and public figures. “Their energy and strength are the positive image that Britain needs,” the official statement said.

It should be noted that from the day this decision was made public, criticism and indignation rained down on the government. Concentrating on fashion and youth culture, rather than focusing on the historical past, seemed to most British people, as suggested by the media, to be a bad dream. The prime minister was reminded of the presence of the Spice Girls jumping on stage and the absence of the queen in the official film about Britain, contacts with youth idols of England who had dubious moral qualities. Without a doubt, changing the image of a country is a very, very difficult both external and internal political task, which marketing is designed to solve.

Romania. Although not so many years ago Romanian resorts attracted a considerable number of tourists, every year fewer and fewer of them come to Romania. The reasons are clear: the hotels are dilapidated and look outdated, the service remains poor, and prices are high. The question arose: why should foreigners go to Romania, which, simply put, they did not see there?

Figures in the Romanian tourism business decided to rectify the situation by answering precisely this question and starting by creating a kind of “information springboard.” This is exactly what 36 firms will do, united in the National Association of Conference and Exhibition Organizers (NAOCV). The association has serious opportunities: last year, 160 thousand tourists who visited Romania used the services of its member companies. Travel agencies are determined to break into the global “event market”; include the country in international tourism catalogs, including business tourism, and take part in competitions for hosting international events. The association decided to create its own catalog of events in Romania until 2015, participation in which may be of interest to foreign clients.

The trump card for Romania-99 was that, of all European countries, only here it was possible to observe the total solar eclipse of August 11, 1999. This exceptional natural phenomenon served as a good attraction for tourists. The hotels were booked four months before the event. There was a big business in specialty sunglasses. The influx of tourists allowed catering establishments, souvenir sellers, etc. to earn money.

Country competitiveness

Stages of development and main factors. M. Porter defined the competitiveness of a state as productivity, which is understood as the effective use of labor and capital and results in the national income per capita. He also developed a system of determinants of the competitive advantage of countries, called the “competitive diamond” based on the number of main groups of such advantages.

These include:

• factor conditions: human and natural resources, scientific and information potential, capital, infrastructure, including quality of life factors;
• conditions of domestic demand: quality of demand, compliance with trends in the development of demand on the world market, development of the volume of demand.
• related and service industries (clusters of industries): areas of supply of raw materials and semi-finished products, areas of supply of equipment, areas of use of raw materials, equipment, technologies.
• strategy and structure of companies, intra-industry competition: goals, strategies, methods of organization, management of companies, intra-industry competition.

According to M. Porter, the development of a country's competitiveness goes through four main stages: movement by factors, movement by investment, movement by innovation and movement by wealth.

Porter argues that government policy is important not in itself, but in its impact on the “competitive diamond.” He recommends that the state invest in the creation of factors, primarily developed ones (education, infrastructure, science). Porter emphasizes the importance of the government's role in improving the quality of domestic demand by using tools such as government procurement to create early and complex demand, providing procurement procedures that facilitate innovation (for example, free testing), and not hindering foreign competitors. The state also retains the function of supporting and strengthening clusters (including regional ones), encouraging internal diversification rather than acquisitions, while simultaneously promoting the foreign economic activity of firms.

Porter's main thesis, main recommendation: Prospective competitive advantages are created not from the outside, but in domestic markets! And Russian territories need marketing within them, among other things, so that marketing of Russia as a whole, as a competitive country, can successfully develop.

Technologies and assessments. Socio-economic image countries are assessed using a comprehensive indicator of their well-being. This is very significant for migration flows, tourism, etc. According to the modernized methodology of the World Bank, four main indicators are used: the share of GNP per capita, as well as levels of provision of the population with: production resources (fixed assets, roads, buildings); natural resources; human resources (level of education).

Business image country is characterized by the concept of its competitiveness. To analyze the competitiveness of countries, experts from the International Institute for Management Development use 288 assessment parameters generated on the basis of statistical data and expert reports. The results of this analysis are presented in Figure 2.

Figure 2. World ranking of countries' competitiveness in 2000 (1999).

An example of more specific levels of a country’s business image (for individual aspects of business) is the assessment of factors of the country’s investment attractiveness. One of the models for such an assessment, developed by specialists from the American non-governmental Heritage Foundation, is presented in basic terms in the table in Fig. 3.

Using this model, the investment attractiveness of the so-called “second echelon” countries was assessed, that is, those that are developing quite quickly and moving towards a state of economic freedom. Unfortunately, Russia was not among the 24 countries that made up the final list. The following developing countries were recognized as the most attractive for investment: Botswana, Indonesia, Israel, Panama, Portugal.

Figure 3. Factors of investment attractiveness of countries

Consequences of lowering the country's investment rating. The main rating organizations in the US and UK announced in October 1996 the following rating of Russian government bonds: MOODY"S (Moody's Investor Service, USA): Ba2; S&P (Standard and Poor", USA): BB; IBCA (The international Bank Credit Analyst, UK): BB+. The levels of the given ratings corresponded to the ratings of Mexico, Argentina, Hungary. But exactly two years later, Russia’s rating as a borrowing country fell to critical level of the CCC, and no Russian region can be indifferent to this: after all, according to international rules, the rating of any region cannot be higher than the rating of the country as a whole.

Following a credit rating downgrade, a change in the very nature of foreign investment may occur. Instead of supporting existing Russian companies and the budget through cheap borrowed money, they will be focused on the so-called restructuring of enterprises, that is, investing in the property of bankrupt Russian companies. And in order to reduce the cost of their purchase, creditors usually initiate bankruptcy proceedings.

A rating downgrade has an extremely painful effect on the state budget if it is dependent on external borrowings and/or on the domestic government securities market. But an even more dangerous long-term consequence of this may be that the state whose rating has decreased is gradually forced out of the financial market. At the same time, the role of direct investment is increasing and foreign presence is expanding.

The country and its regional neighbors. Among the numerous ratings of business attractiveness of countries, special attention should be paid to ratings operating in specific regions of the world. Russia is a Eurasian country and, without a doubt, cannot be indifferent to its perception in the Asian region. In Asia, one of the most qualified organizations operating in this area is the Japan Bud Research Institute (JBRJ). This institute has built ratings for a number of Asian countries, based on the values ​​of a new country risk as “the risk of impossibility of repaying debts or exporting invested capital due to unfavorable changes in the political, economic or social situation in the country”

In order for Russia to be able to count on expanding technical cooperation with foreign countries and attracting foreign investment from them, Japanese economists, in particular, recommend focusing on the following factors: introducing a simple and transparent taxation scheme; improvement of legislation on foreign investment, production sharing, etc.; compliance with contract discipline; setting industrial policy priorities; differentiation of the role of the central government and the regions; stimulating the return of Russian capital exported abroad, estimated at $120 billion, and the influx of domestic investments in the amount of $30 billion in the hands of the population. In this case, a necessary condition must be the stability of the political situation in the country.

What is already being done

The main promoters of the country's image abroad are subjects of international spheres: diplomacy, foreign economic activity (including the financial sector), tourism, transport, and hotel business. Unfortunately, there is no comprehensive program for such activities in Russia, although individual actions in this direction are carried out, in particular, in relations with the World Bank and other financial institutions in connection with the implementation of certain financial, credit, and budget policies.

Country marketing and loans. The directions for forming a positive business image of Russia were probably first defined in the project “Concepts for forming a positive image of Russia”, prepared by the public relations department of the Russian Center for Foreign Investment Promotion under the Ministry of Economy of the Russian Federation. In this document they were formulated as follows:

1. preparation and presentation of investment projects;
2. preparation of a data bank on legislative, regulatory, economic conditions for foreign investors in the Russian economy;
3. attracting domestic and foreign media to cover advanced sectors of the Russian economy;
4. preparation of special publications, holding conferences for large-scale coverage of the conditions and advantages of the Russian investment market;
5. coordination of actions of government bodies.

However, the project remained a project, and the actual practice of the Russian authorities is still far from a truly marketing approach and also demonstrates the inconsistency of positions. An example of this is the unsuccessful placement of Russian bonds (“Eurobonds”) on world financial markets. The efforts of a separate ministry (in this case, the Ministry of Finance) for such work are clearly not enough.

Thus, in the third ten days of March 1998, the optimization of the placement of Russian “Eurobonds” in German marks was greatly hindered by the unexpected announcement two hours before that the subject of the loan, the Russian government, was resigning. The losses were expressed not so much in an increase in interest rates, but in a decrease in the actual volume of proceeds as a result of a sharp depreciation of the German mark, which was quite strongly influenced by the ups and downs of Russian politics and the economy.

A heavy blow to the country's prestige was dealt by the economic crisis that erupted in August 1998, and above all by the bank default. However, a sovereign default—the refusal of a state to pay its obligations—leads to even more dire consequences, threatening the country with international isolation. And in this regard, the key importance of the activities of the country's main economic institutions cannot be overestimated.

Example of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Among other federal ministries, a certain positive example in this regard can be the activities of the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense, Emergency Situations and Disaster Relief (EMERCOM of Russia).

Humanitarian actions are not free. International operations are most often financed by the UN, in some cases from national reserves (targeted gifts from governments). Main types of products: food, blankets, tents, medicines, equipment, building materials, services for transporting goods, maintenance and repair of equipment, training of local personnel. The work of specialists and their equipment in crisis zones is also financed.

The main objects of competition in the market of international humanitarian actions are: the international prestige of the country, multimillion-dollar orders, additional jobs, opportunities for subsequent commercial promotion of goods, concluding new contracts, developing new sales markets, additional equipment for national rescue services, and improving their qualifications.

Over the past three years, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations has been actively increasing its presence in international markets for humanitarian actions, collaborating with a number of international organizations. In this way, the ministry is promoting the revival of Russia’s international prestige on a new, humanitarian basis, the return of domestic industry to markets that have been lost to us, and the promotion of goods (and with them the services of specialists) that are not in demand in developed, but are very competitive in distressed countries. In addition, the Ministry of Emergency Situations earns certain funds for the country and frees rescuers from significant expenses for modern equipment.

How to ensure a positive image of the country? Politicians' opinions in this regard do not differ too much. Thus, the leader of one of the independent countries that recently appeared on the world map, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, identified the following main factors of attractiveness for his republic: political stability, friendly relations with neighbors, and the degree of development of a market economy. Russian politicians and leaders speak in a similar vein. Thus, Yuri Luzhkov, the mayor of the Russian capital, names stability and development (including construction), as well as the transformation of the capital from an industrial into a scientific center of the country, among the leading factors of Moscow’s attractiveness.

Summarizing what has been said, we can state the following. In relation to a country, marketing is focused on increasing (maintaining) its image, attractiveness for other countries, their economic entities, other social institutions and population, prestige in international organizations. Country marketing does not aim at specific acts of purchase and sale and is non-commercial, although there are many important indirect economic results of such marketing. These are the effects of the implementation of geophysical, financial, technical, technological and human resources (use of internal resources outside the territory and attraction of external ones), growth in volumes and intensification of foreign economic activity, results of participation in international projects, etc.

The main arguments for marketing a country are an increase in the standard of living and well-being of its citizens and firms, political stability, the creation of sophisticated domestic demand, the civility of the market, long-term goals and strategies, the spread of modern methods of organization and a high level of management of firms, the growth of investments by domestic residents in production within the country, active government policy aimed at supporting these changes while maintaining the openness of the country's economy, including to international competition.

In relation to a country, marketing is focused on increasing (maintaining) its image, attractiveness for other countries, their economic entities, other social institutions and population, prestige in international organizations.

Marketing a country is not associated with changes in its borders and is non-commercial, although quite a lot of the most important indirect economic results of such marketing can be identified. These are the effects of the implementation of geophysical, financial, technical, technological and human resources (use of internal resources outside the territory and attraction of external ones), growth in volumes and intensification of foreign economic activity, results of participation in international projects, etc.

A key aspect of activities in country marketing is the targeted formation, positive development and promotion of the country’s image. The image of the country (as well as the region and other territories) exists at several levels of awareness - everyday, socio-economic, business, financial, etc.

The image of a country, as defined by the World Tourism Organization, is a set of emotional and rational ideas resulting from a comparison of all the characteristics of the country, one’s own experience and rumors that influence the creation of a certain image. All of these factors make it possible, when a name is mentioned, to immediately build a whole chain of associations in relation to a given country.

The socio-economic image of a country is assessed using a comprehensive indicator of its well-being. This is very significant for migration flows, tourism, etc. According to the modernized methodology of the World Bank, four main indicators are used: the share of GNP per capita, as well as levels of provision of the population with: production resources (fixed assets, roads, buildings); natural resources; human resources (level of education).

The business image of a country is characterized by the concept of its competitiveness.

Cities are leaders in both municipal, regional and federal development in general. This role is played primarily by large cities, where enormous economic potential is concentrated. Some cities create far more wealth than entire nations.

The most important tool for positioning and assessing the marketing attractiveness of a city is the city product per person. This is an indicator of the labor productivity of the urban population. In essence, it is similar to the gross national product, shows the total volume of production in the city and is determined according to the methodology adopted for the system of national accounts.

Particular emphasis in city marketing is placed on operational arguments. To a large extent, the traditional anti-marketing orientation in the organization of public services acts as a barrier to ensuring their effectiveness.

Marketing tools (in particular, positioning of goods and services) can significantly alleviate the problems of urban reform. Let us illustrate this with the example of assessing the functioning of park facilities and solving problems of recreation and recreation for residents and guests of the city.

The main arguments for marketing a country as well as a city are an increase in the standard of living and well-being of its citizens and firms, political stability, the creation of sophisticated domestic demand, the civility of the market, long-term goals and strategies, the spread of modern methods of organization and a high level of management of firms, the growth of investments by domestic residents in production within the country, active government policy aimed at supporting these changes while maintaining the openness of the country's economy, including to international competition.

In relation to a country, marketing is focused on increasing (maintaining) its image, attractiveness for other countries, their economic entities, other social institutions and population, prestige in international organizations. Marketing a country is not associated with changes in its borders and is non-commercial, although quite a lot of the most important indirect economic results of such marketing can be identified. These are the effects of the implementation of geophysical, financial, technical, technological and human resources (use of internal resources outside the territory and attraction of external ones), growth in volumes and intensification of foreign economic activity, results of participation in international projects, etc.

A key aspect of activities in country marketing is the targeted formation, positive development and promotion of the country’s image. The image of the country (as well as the region and other territories) exists at several levels of awareness - everyday, socio-economic, business, financial, etc.

Country image- this is a set of emotional and rational ideas arising from a comparison of all the characteristics of the country, one’s own experience and rumors that influence the creation of a certain image. All of these factors make it possible, when a name is mentioned, to immediately build a whole chain of associations in relation to a given country.

To identify the image of the country in the minds of the population, that is, at the level of everyday psychology, a number of established characteristics and parameters are used: symbols, features of the nation’s mentality, its culture, negative aspects of life support, communication obstacles.

How are they trying to improve the country's image? For example, many British people realized that they needed a leader who would improve the British image. This is exactly what the new Prime Minister, Labor Tony Blair, who replaced the Conservatives, decided to do. It turned out that this is a political issue. Outdated images of the English as conservatives, with a country full of castles, double-decker buses and funny police bobbies, should become a thing of the past under the new Prime Minister's vision. Thatched ancient houses with well-kept gardens and hanging baskets at the entrances should be transformed into multi-storey buildings, and the well-trained guards of Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, gentlemen in bowler hats hurrying to work in the City, old ladies with poodles and the pomp of parades at the Queen's palace will no longer be considered “ symbols" of London, because, according to Labor, they are outdated and look dull. The old image is preventing Britain from spreading its wings and establishing itself as a new powerful power. It is necessary, the authors of the concept believe, to forget about Westminster Abbey and the royal treasury in the Tower as British symbols and focus on the interests of young people.

Tony Blair made a decision: to create a committee called “Panel 2000”, which would convene the most fashionable designers, artists and public figures. “Their energy and strength are the positive image that Britain needs,” the official statement said. It should be noted that from the day this decision was made public, criticism and indignation rained down on the government. Concentrating on fashion and youth culture, rather than focusing on the historical past, seemed to most British people, as suggested by the media, to be a bad dream. The prime minister was reminded of the presence of the Spice Girls and the absence of the queen in the official film about Britain, and contacts with youth idols of England who had dubious moral qualities. Without a doubt, changing the image of a country is a very, very difficult both external and internal political task, which marketing is designed to solve.

Competitiveness of the country. Stages of development and main factors. M. Porter defined the competitiveness of a state as productivity, which is understood as the effective use of labor and capital and results in the national income per capita. He also developed a system of determinants of the competitive advantage of countries, called the “competitive diamond” based on the number of main groups of such advantages. These include:

factor conditions: human and natural resources, scientific and information potential, capital, infrastructure, including quality of life factors;

conditions of domestic demand: quality of demand, compliance with trends in demand development on the world market, development of demand volume.

related and service industries (industry clusters): spheres of receipt of raw materials and semi-finished products, spheres of receipt of equipment, spheres of use of raw materials, equipment, technologies.

strategy and structure of companies, intra-industry competition: goals, strategies, methods of organization, company management, intra-industry competition.

M. Porter argues: state policy is important not in itself, but in its influence on the “competitive diamond.” He recommends that the state invest in the creation of factors, primarily developed ones (education, infrastructure, science). Porter emphasizes the importance of the government's role in improving the quality of domestic demand by using tools such as government procurement to create early and complex demand, providing procurement procedures that facilitate innovation (for example, free testing), and not hindering foreign competitors. The state also retains the function of supporting and strengthening clusters (including regional ones), encouraging internal diversification rather than acquisitions, while simultaneously promoting the foreign economic activity of firms.

Technologies and assessments. The socio-economic image of a country is assessed using a comprehensive indicator of its well-being. This is very significant for migration flows, tourism, etc. According to the modernized methodology of the World Bank, four main indicators: share of GNP per capita, as well as levels of provision of the population with: production resources (fixed assets, roads, buildings); natural resources; human resources (level of education).

Business image of the country characterized by the concept of its competitiveness. To analyze the competitiveness of countries, experts from the International Institute for Management Development use 288 assessment parameters generated on the basis of statistical data and expert reports. The results of this analysis are presented in Figure 1.

An example of more specific levels of a country’s business image (for individual aspects of business) is the assessment of factors of the country’s investment attractiveness. One of the models for such an assessment, developed by specialists from the American non-governmental Heritage Foundation, is presented in Table 1. Using this model (Table 1), the investment attractiveness of the so-called “second echelon” countries was assessed, that is, those that are developing quite quickly, advancing to a state of economic freedom. The following developing countries were recognized as the most attractive for investment: Botswana, Indonesia, Israel, Panama, Portugal.

Table 1

Factors of investment attractiveness of countries

Consequences of lowering the country's investment rating. The main organizations for determining the rating of countries: MOODY"S (Moody's Investor Service, USA); S&P (Standard and Poor's, USA); IBCA (The international Bank Credit Analyst, UK). A rating downgrade, as a rule, seriously impedes the implementation of projects carried out with raised money if government agencies are their guarantors or participants.

Following a credit rating downgrade, a change in the very nature of foreign investment may occur. Also, a rating downgrade has an extremely painful effect on the state budget if it is dependent on external borrowings and/or on the domestic government securities market. But an even more dangerous long-term consequence of this may be that the state whose rating has decreased is gradually forced out of the financial market. At the same time, the role of direct investment is increasing and foreign presence is expanding.

The country and its regional neighbors. Among the numerous ratings of business attractiveness of countries, special attention should be paid to ratings operating in specific regions of the world. For example, Russia is a Eurasian country and, without a doubt, cannot be indifferent to its perception in the Asian region. In Asia, one of the most qualified organizations operating in this area is the Japan Bud Research Institute (JBRJ). This institute has built ratings for a number of Asian countries based on the values ​​of country risk as “the risk of impossibility of repaying debts or exporting invested capital due to unfavorable changes in the political, economic or social situation in the country.”

The main promoters of the country's image abroad are subjects of international spheres: diplomacy, foreign economic activity (including the financial sector), tourism, transport, and hotel business. Unfortunately, there is no comprehensive program for such activities in Ukraine, although individual actions in this direction are carried out, in particular, in relations with the World Bank and other financial institutions in connection with the implementation of certain financial, credit, and budget policies.

How to ensure a positive image of the country? Politicians' opinions in this regard do not differ too much. Thus, the leader of one of the independent countries that recently appeared on the world map, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, identified the following main factors of attractiveness for his republic: political stability, friendly relations with neighbors, and the degree of development of a market economy.

Summarizing what has been said, we can state the following. In relation to a country, marketing is focused on increasing (maintaining) its image, attractiveness for other countries, their economic entities, other social institutions and population, prestige in international organizations. Country marketing does not aim at specific acts of purchase and sale and is non-commercial, although there are many important indirect economic results of such marketing. These are the effects of the implementation of geophysical, financial, technical, technological and human resources (use of internal resources outside the territory and attraction of external ones), growth in volumes and intensification of foreign economic activity, results of participation in international projects, etc.

The main arguments of country marketing- this is an increase in the standard of living and well-being of its citizens and firms, political stability, the creation of domestic demand, market civilization, long-term goals and strategies, the spread of modern methods of organization and a high level of management of firms, increased investment by domestic residents in production within the country, active government policy, aimed at supporting these changes while maintaining the openness of the country's economy, including to international competition.

Region Marketing

Understanding the need for regional marketing today comes in different ways, for different reasons. Somewhere we were faced with the fact that the region’s attractiveness for tourists, investors, and other people who could give the region new strength and inject “new blood” into it was decreasing. Elsewhere, there is concern about the drain of financial, labor and other resources from the region. Finally, a frequently encountered problem is how to ensure the attractiveness of regional goods within the territory and at the same time make their export outside the region more profitable.

Regional marketing creates the basis for the economic activities of regional enterprises, allows for the implementation of effective market mechanisms at the macro- and microeconomic levels, and answers most questions regarding the identification of priority goals and objectives for the development of the region.

Regional marketing considers product-market relations in various aspects:

1) "region as a commodity"– formation of the image of the region, increasing the investment attractiveness of the region, increasing the attractiveness of the region for qualified labor, increasing the attractiveness of the region as a subject of tourism, etc.;

2) "regional business and production as a commodity"– increasing the investment attractiveness of the region, redistributing resources in favor of regional industries and enterprises, targeted support for priority industries and enterprises, increasing the attractiveness of the region for qualified labor, etc.;

3) "intellectual potential of the region as a commodity", "tourist potential of the region as a commodity" and much more.

Currently, regions need to study and assess, on the one hand, intraregional interests and needs, and on the other hand, assess their own capabilities to satisfy them. The method of developing and implementing targeted integrated regional marketing programs allows us to solve these problems. Work within the framework of regional marketing forms a unique information resource of the region, which can be considered as a competitive advantage of the territory.

Regional Marketing Concept requires focusing on the needs of target groups of consumers of goods and services in the territory. All structures and enterprises responsible for the fate of the region must focus on the needs of customers and target consumer groups, as well as on creating better competitive advantages compared to other territories to optimally satisfy all categories of consumers.

Regional Marketing is the basis for the development and implementation of a long-term concept for the integrated development of the economy and social sphere of the territory, the gradual elimination of negative phenomena and the solution of socio-economic problems. To a large extent, it solves the same problems and uses the same means as country marketing, but at the appropriate level.

In recent decades, interesting experience has begun to accumulate in regions of various countries in using the potential of marketing in order to increase the tourist and commercial attractiveness of the regions.

Pragmatic administrators often see regional marketing as using, first of all, marketing tools such as advertising, promotional tools and attracting sponsors in order to increase fame and improve the image of the territory. It is easier for executive managers to understand regional marketing as a function, a set of responsibilities for which they appoint a responsible person in the administration or even create a special unit that conducts regional marketing (often with an informational and PR slant, mainly with political or, even simpler, election goals). Both are better than nothing. At the same time, as some experts rightly believe, it would be more correct to understand regional marketing as the third thing - a philosophy that requires the entire system of government and management to be oriented towards the needs of target groups of consumers of goods and services of the territory. Not just one administration department or special enterprise, but all those responsible for the fate of the region should focus on the needs of customers and target groups, as well as on creating better competitive advantages for the benefit of customers compared to other territories.

Positioning of regions. One of the initial and defining functions of regional marketing is their positioning among other regions, as well as in international sales markets. It helps the regions and the center see in which areas of activity and sales markets it is advisable for a given region to play the role of a leader in the domestic economy, in which areas it should act in partnership mode, and in which areas it should leave. Such positioning involves identifying the proportions between the sales volumes of leading (that is, defining the “face” of the region) groups of goods in specific sales markets in comparison with the leading competitor region, as well as determining the prospects of active efforts in specific markets in connection with the level of their gross domestic product per capita and the share of sales in the sales structure of regional goods, taking into account the level of development of market and social infrastructure.

The widespread deliberate unreliability of regional statistics often acts as a double-edged sword for the regions themselves. It is known that the administrations of many regions deliberately underestimate data, in particular on the gross regional product, hoping that with this they will achieve additional transfers from the center. But in this case, the region looks clearly unattractive in terms of gross per capita product. You cannot play the role of a beggar and at the same time pretend to respect your business qualities. In stimulating positive changes in this regard, one of the key roles is played by inter-budgetary relations and, in particular, the methodology for calculating subsidies to the regions.

Regional goods. Some regions purposefully form in their minds purely regional product brands and their associations with the names of the regions. Most often, the names of regions are associated with food. Examples of such associations in relation to individual US states include Florida oranges, Wisconsin cheese, Kentucky whiskey, and Idaho potatoes. In Russia, the already mentioned “Moscow” and “Stolichnaya” vodkas, Tambov ham, Vologda butter, and Tula gingerbread are known. The situation is similar with items included in the sphere of folk crafts: we know Gzhel porcelain, Khokhloma painting, Tula samovars, Zhostovo trays, Ural gems, Kasli casting, etc. Crimea is associated with recreation, and many are ready to add to the name of the apple variety “aport”: "Alma-Ata".

It is at the regional level that problems often arise with the use of regional brands. In countries where the English legal system operates (in the USA, Great Britain, Australia, South Africa, Canada and other former British colonies and dominions), the right of the manufacturer has priority: he can trade for decades without fear for his intellectual property. For regional marketing, the problem of using the name of the region in the names of goods produced by both local and foreign enterprises is of no small importance.

The French company Pernod Ricard was accused of registering the word “Altai” as the name of vodka, that is, the geographical name of the Russian region. A paradoxical situation has arisen. Pernod Ricard was one of the largest investors in the budget of the Altai Territory, one of the poorest regions of Russia, opening a plant, providing jobs for more than a thousand people, plus providing work for bottle, label, etc. manufacturers. French entrepreneurs were extremely disappointed to learn that the region had claims against them, since they were going to bring Altai to the world stage and export it to 20 countries.

Regional marketing strategy and tactics. Image marketing. One of the most common strategic choices of the region is targeted activities to create, maintain, and positively change the image of the region.

The image of a region, just like the image of a country, is formed at different levels of reflection of existence, but also has its own characteristics. The image of a region is more specifically determined by the quality of functioning of business entities located there, communications, service systems, etc. But more humanitarian, so-called, influences also affect the image of the region. “soft” factors, for example, of philological origin.

In the US, the state of North Dakota attributes much of its difficulty in increasing its attractiveness to an unfortunate name that evokes unfavorable climate associations. It is clear that South Dakota is clearly winning in this competition. Matters reached the point of heated discussions about the need to remove the adjective “northern” from the name of the state.

In Russia, geographical, climatic, national and other differences associated with the large extent and other parameters of a large country play a very active role in shaping the image of regions. On the other hand, the image of a region fundamentally depends on its economy and the role that the region plays in the national economy of the country (donor or recipient), on the nature of relationships with the federal authorities and other central institutions and organizations, on the existing dynamics of macroeconomic regional proportions.

From the statements of various public figures, advertising of travel agencies, and publications in the media, one can identify verbal characteristics that describe both the current state of the image and trends towards its change. This is the first step towards positioning the image of the region, or any other territory (Table 3).

The image of a region, like another territory, can not only be characterized verbally, but measured. For this purpose, as a rule, sociological research methods are used, with the use of semantic technologies. After the selection of target groups (potential consumers of the territory, among representatives of the identified groups) has been made, the degree of fame and popularity of the place is measured, the most significant criteria for comparing places are identified, and then a comparative assessment of competing territories is carried out.

It is more correct to find out and compare the opinions of respondents only about those territories that are relatively familiar to them. In this case, you can invite them to formulate and choose criteria themselves or offer them ready-made ones. In any case, it is advisable to first evaluate them in terms of significance for the audience. Then follows the procedure for measuring relations according to the most significant criteria using the semantic differential technique (author N. Chomsky) on the scale “very favorable” - “very unfavorable”.

Table 3

Examples of positioning the image of territories

(region, city, country)

Marketing of attractions, entertainment complements image marketing. The territory uses either natural attractions (embankments of rivers, lakes, seas, mountains), or historical heritage (museums, architectural monuments, temples), or famous personalities, or cultural and recreational facilities (stadiums, cultural and shopping centers, parks).

The more individual and famous the attractions, the better. Sightseeing strategies, further, differ depending on whether there are many or few of them and how many days it usually takes to see them. But any attraction of the territory cannot be the only object of attention in regional marketing. The integrated design of the territory as a single whole increases its attractiveness, uniqueness, and aesthetic merits. But if the region does not have its own attractions, they certainly need to be created.

Infrastructure Marketing serves as the most important and, in the long term, most stabilizing element of marketing a region, since the infrastructure itself is its supporting frame and foundation at the same time. Reliable energy supply, good education, clean drinking water, developed communications, and safe streets are signs of a sufficiently maintained infrastructure. Its presence does not guarantee regional growth, but its absence or poor condition makes such growth impossible.

Personnel Marketing, working with people - residents of the territory, associations and unions of citizens, politicians, working with the public - aims to ensure support for the marketing activity of the region from within it. The task is, on the one hand, to form local patriotism, on the other hand, to form and maintain benevolent motivation within the region in relation to non-regional residents and structures, to attract them to the region. Unfriendliness towards visitors or a negative image of residents and entrepreneurs of any other territory can nullify all efforts and results achieved in other areas of marketing the region. In other words, the mood of the residents is also an important part of the region as a marketable product. Examples of specific activities within the framework of certain strategic elections are presented in Table 4.

Table 4

Examples of activities of the main sections of the marketing plan

Organization of regional marketing. In the administrations of each region, the marketing approach can be implemented by almost all departments according to the assigned functions of the economy, transport, education, tourism, etc. To a certain extent, the functions of the regional marketing body can be taken over by chambers of commerce and industry, regional antimonopoly departments, and business promotion centers , other structures implementing the principle of partnership between the state and the private sector. Also, it is relevant to create specialized, professional regional and city marketing services (centers).

The organizational and legal forms and status, and the associated sources of financial resources of such organizations may be different. In its form, it can be, for example: a structural unit under the regional administration; joint stock company with the participation of the regional administration; an independent but administratively supported organization. The founders can be executive or representative authorities, enterprises, organizations, banks, regardless of their form of ownership and their organizational and legal form, and organizations uniting enterprises and entrepreneurs on an industry or regional basis (associations, unions), as well as individuals engaged in individual entrepreneurial activities. activities.

In some regions, in particular, individual private projects, initiatives, and teams of specialists are trying to take on this role, while seeking support and funding from regional authorities. There are examples when marketing centers, experiencing difficulties in collecting information and practical promotion of marketing ideas, officially become divisions of territorial administrations, while maintaining actual self-sufficiency. Another way is the consistent and purposeful transformation of information and analytical structures, press centers, public relations departments and other divisions of regional administrations into comprehensive regional marketing services.

The following can be recommended as the main activities of the regional marketing center.

1. Creation and development of a bank of branded information, provision of information and consulting marketing services in accordance with the needs and requests of territorial entities.

2. Organizing, conducting and coordinating marketing research.

3. Analysis of the regional legislative framework on marketing issues, monitoring its compliance and developing recommendations for its use.

4. Implementation of the marketing approach in the form of proposals and projects that contribute to its development in management, legislative and executive authorities.

5. Organization and holding of conferences, seminars, exhibitions and fairs in the region.

7. Development and implementation of programs to form and improve the image of the region as a whole.

8. Communication activities that help increase the attractiveness of natural, material, technical, financial, labor, organizational, social and other resources concentrated in the territory for external entities, as well as the territory’s capabilities for the implementation and reproduction of such resources.

9. Organization and promotion of the effective participation of the territory and its subjects in the implementation of international, state, interregional programs, as well as the placement of state and other orders in the region.

10. Cooperation with regional (other regions), foreign and international organizations.

11. Assistance in the organization and work of marketing services at enterprises and organizations in the region.

12.Distribution and development of marketing education and experience in the region.

13. Marketing of ideas to solve current problems of territory development, market and social infrastructure, etc.

14.Organization of competitions and tenders for the participation of territorial entities in regional projects and programs, as well as in programs of higher levels.

15.Marketing support for small and medium-sized businesses.

16.Assistance to local governments.

17. Anti-marketing of socially unprestigious goods and ideas in the region.

Territorial country marketing has its own specifics for several reasons:

ü each country is a special system that combines several (many) structural units, i.e., it has a certain number of elements (administrative and political units), which, interacting and mutually complementing each other, give the country integrity, unity, and create a new quality;

ü it is countries that act as subjects of international relations, international law, and are members of world economic and political unions;

ü each country has a certain form of political structure and system of organizing public power, which influences the principles and methods of relations between government and society;

ü the quality of life of the population, the level of socio-economic development between countries can vary significantly;

ü most countries are already burdened with existing relations with other countries and are traditionally “friends at home” or in conflict with each other, i.e. have a certain history of relationships, etc.

Marketing a country starts with how famous and recognizable this country. The image of the country is based on general knowledge a person about this country, i.e., on the information that is stored in memory and represents declarative knowledge. Based on this superficial knowledge, a some awareness about the country, which allows the formation of the image of the territory. Associations, associated with the image of the country, carry certain distinctive characteristics of the territory and form the attitude towards the country.

Awareness about a country arises on the basis of knowledge of the official and unofficial symbols of this country.

Official symbols of the country - This coat of arms, flag, anthem, national banknotes . Considering the penetration of television and the specifics of its impact on the viewer, probably the main official symbol of the country is the flag. It is the flag that flies over government institutions and decorates the car (plane) of the country's first person; the flag is raised when an athlete wins, and is used as an attribute of public holidays and important political and economic events (exhibitions, negotiations).

Flags people recognize continental neighbors or friendly countries better because they see them more often. Equally important is the extent to which the flag is “individualized” and stands out from the crowd, which promotes recognition.

People are better able to recognize and highlight flags that have special memorable characteristics, For example:

ü have a special color scheme (Libya, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Germany);

ü are distinguished by traditional symbols (Israel, Türkiye);

ü have large-sized signs-symbols or their combinations with a special color scheme (Great Britain, USA);

ü have a special design (South Korea, Sri Lanka);

ü have a special shape (Nepal).

Sometimes national flags are small in size distinctive elements located in the central part of the flag , which can simply be “lost” in the folds of the flag if it is raised on a flagpole.

ü the flags of India and Niger have three horizontal stripes (the same color and in the same sequence - yellow, white, green) and differ only in the color of the circle located in the center of the flag.

ü The flags of Egypt, Syria and Yemen have three identical horizontal color stripes in the same sequence (red, white, black) and differ only in the presence or absence of small symbols in the central part of the flag.

ü The flags of Mati and Senegal are the same in color (three vertical stripes in the same sequence - green, yellow, red), but the flag of Senegal in the center has a small green star.

ü Three vertical stripes in the same sequence (red, white, blue) contain the flags of Paraguay and the Netherlands, but the Paraguayan flag contains a small symbol in the center.

Difficult to quickly recognize are flags that contain the same elements:

ü Horizontal stripes of three colors (white, blue, red) in different sequences contain the flags of four states. Moreover, the flags of Yugoslavia and the Netherlands have the arrangement of vertical stripes in the reverse order, i.e. if we flip the flag of one of these countries, we get the flag of another country.

ü Red, white, green horizontal stripes in different sequences are located on the flags of Hungary and Bulgaria.

ü Horizontal stripes of red and white in different sequences - on the flags of Poland and Indonesia.

It would seem that they are different in color scheme, but similar in design, the flags of Norway, Iceland, Finland, Denmark, and Sweden are difficult to recognize.

National flags can be distinguished, which almost completely repeat each other:

ü The flags of Australia and New Zealand have the same color scheme and differ only in the color, number and location of small elements - stars along the flag field.

ü The flags of Ireland and Italy each have three identical vertical stripes in the same sequence (green, white, red) and differ in shades of green and red.

ü The flags of the Netherlands and Luxembourg differ only in their shade of blue.

ü The flags of Monaco and Indonesia are completely identical to each other (two vertical stripes of red and white).

ü The flags of Romania and Chad are the same (three vertical stripes in the same sequence - blue, yellow, red).

Respecting the principles of heraldry and the history of each country, which affected the color and design of the national flag, it should be noted how easy or difficult the national flag makes it possible to highlight, recognize, and remember the country.

A similar analysis can be carried out on another official visual image of the country - on national emblems , among which we can also note well-recognized and difficult-to-recognize (similar, with minor differences) coats of arms.

From the point of view of territorial marketing, the most successful can be considered those national flags and emblems that carry well understood and easily reproduced images, which generate stable association territories associated with history, location, and special resources - these are the official symbols:

ü Japan (rising sun),

ü Canada (maple leaf),

ü Lebanon (Lebanese cedar).

If the symbols of the flag and coat of arms coincide or are similar, then this is all the more good; for example, the Lebanese cedar is on both the flag and the country’s coat of arms, a stylized sun is also on the flag and is the coat of arms of Japan.

National anthems sound less often, the more the music is remembered to a lesser extent than the visual image. But even here, if a musical theme with a “big history”, for example the famous Marseillaise of France, becomes the national anthem, then the number of people who remember and recognize the country increases significantly. In this sense, Russia’s decision to preserve the music of the USSR-era national anthem was bold and fundamentally correct.

A kind of official symbol of the country is national money, coins and banknotes . Each country's coins and banknotes are unique. Banknotes from different countries differ in size, image theme, range of colors, font type and size, and security features.

Sometimes images are used as the main subject representatives of flora and fauna, which are in a certain sense unique to this country. But the problem is that the Canadian “belted kingfisher” in Russia is called a kingfisher, and the Canadian bird of prey of the hawk family, the osprey, is called an osprey in Russia. That is, different names arise for the same “picture,” which leads to a certain confusion. Trying to use images of animals and birds as the main theme can have another negative side. For example, all Belarusian money at a certain point in the history of this country received the name “bunnies” in everyday use, which rather reflected a negative attitude towards banknotes and a certain degree of distrust in this national currency as a whole.

Some national banknotes contain on the front side portrait of a famous person this country, which is a sign of respect for the person and a desire to emphasize the importance of his work for the benefit of the country. It is not customary to put signatures under a portrait on banknotes, and this raises the question: how recognizable are these persons to residents not only of their own country, but, no less important, to residents of other countries? Sometimes, to increase the recognition of a “famous” person, the back of the banknote contains hints (a staff for musicians, a microscope for a bacteriologist, a quill and an open book for writers, fragments of paintings for artists, a sextant for mathematicians and travelers, etc.). By the way, how many people recognize this device as a sextant?

When choosing famous personalities, countries generally try to avoid depictions of political leaders, since sometimes history has to be “rewritten.” If there is an image of a political leader on the banknote, then these are undisputed and/or “time-tested” political figures of that country.

Sometimes the main thematic image on the banknote is architectural monuments. Thus, the banknotes of the European Union reflect the architectural styles of seven periods of European culture - classical (antique), Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo, the age of iron and glass architecture and modern architecture of the 20th century. At the same time, all images of architectural structures or their elements are deliberately made generalized so that they cannot be correlated with a specific structure in one of the countries of the European Community and thereby not cause “jealousy” on the part of its other members.

Russian banknotes are interesting and well executed from a marketing point of view. Each banknote contains not only images of recognizable monuments, famous buildings and structures (in many ways unique), but also the names of Russian cities in which these structures are located or the memory of these personalities is kept. Krasnoyarsk, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Arkhangelsk, Yaroslavl, Khabarovsk are six cities in the country, each of which is unique and has great history and significance for Russia.

Coins of national monetary systems also act as official symbols, but due to the small size of the image area and the similarity of the metal of manufacture, many coins are difficult to correlate with a specific country. Although in this case, countries are trying to change the weight, size, thickness of the coin (which is done more for the convenience of users than to evoke certain associations with the country).

In previous Russian coins with a nominal value of 10 rubles. a very interesting series “Ancient Cities of Russia” was presented, thanks to which one could learn about the history and present day of Russia. Each coin contained the name of the series, the name of the city, the landscape and the coat of arms of that city. In the same denomination there was another series, which represents the subjects of the Russian Federation (the name of the subject of the Federation and its coat of arms are given).

In general, when talking about the official symbols of a country, it should be borne in mind that even a symbol that is not very successful in marketing terms can become recognizable if used frequently. In this sense, country marketing begins with how much citizens respect and often use the national symbols of their country as a sign of approval, joy, and victory. Propaganda of a country outside its borders begins with propaganda of the country (and its symbols) within the country. If the residents of a country hang out the national flag on holidays, know the words and sing the national anthem, wear badges and emblems with national symbols on their clothes, and can explain the meaning of the symbols of the national coat of arms and flag, all this is the most important means of promoting the country.

In addition to a person’s awareness of the official symbols of the country, general knowledge is no less important, for example, knowledge of geography, biology, zoology and other natural disciplines. Awareness about the country consists of the well-known characteristics of the climate of this continent, natural resources and minerals traditional for this territory, representatives of flora and fauna.

Small countries on the same continent are similar in many ways; figuratively speaking, they are one “assortment group.” From the point of view of general characteristics, this is not bad, but, on the other hand, it is important to stand out from this general series if you want to attract attention.

For example: Iran and Iraq. These countries are really very similar - have territorial proximity, similar climatic conditions, flora and fauna, in both states the inhabitants profess Islam, and Arabic and Kurdish are the official languages, the countries export oil and gas. Unfortunately, few will remember the differences: Iraq is one of the largest exporters of dates (up to 30% of world exports), and carpets and hides are exported from Iran, or that most of Iran is a plateau with an arid semi-desert climate, and the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flow through Iraqi territory.

Latvia and Lithuania faced a similar problem. Both states are located on the coast of the Baltic Sea, the inhabitants profess Christianity (Catholics, Orthodox), large areas are occupied by forests, mainly coniferous, there are many small lakes, and meat and dairy production is developed. True, swamps in Lithuania occupy 7% of the territory, and in Latvia - only 4.8%.

The easiest way is to highlight the distinctive features of the country, starting from history, traditional crafts and trades, and use easily recognizable architectural, recreational, and archaeological objects as symbols of the country. And monuments that are located on its territory. From the well-known unofficial symbols we can highlight: the Egyptian pyramids, the English Stonehenge, the Grand Canyon in America, the geysers of Iceland, the Great Wall of China. These Unofficial Symbols are associated directly with the country. Sometimes an unofficial symbol “belongs” to a city, but acts as an association of the country as a whole, for example, the Roman Colosseum, Westminster Abbey in London, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Acropolis of Athens, the Moscow Kremlin.

National unofficial symbols can become food and national cuisine : goulash - Hungary, spaghetti - Italy, fondue - Switzerland, lard - Ukraine, potato pancakes - Belarus, sushi - Japan, cigars - Cuba, olives - Greece, caviar - Russia, truffles - France. There are well-established unofficial symbols and alcoholic or soft drinks : beer - Germany, vodka, kvass - Russia, sake - Japan, tea - India, milk tea - England.

Unofficial symbols of the country may include national costumes and their elements , especially those that are largely memorable and individualized: a Tyrolean men's hat, a mantilla for Spanish women, a Japanese kimono, an Indian sari, an Uzbek skullcap, a Russian sundress and kokoshnik, Ukrainian trousers, felt round hats for Bolivian women. You can simply list the names of wardrobe items, and a person will associate this item with the continent and country, for example: sombrero, moccasins, poncho, clogs, hat, burka, veil, kilt.

Unofficial symbols of the country can be animals, birds, plants , for example, tulips of Holland, kangaroos of Australia, herring of Iceland, Russian birch, flightless kiwi of New Zealand, Chinese giant panda.

Can cause lasting associations with the country folk holidays , for example, Spanish bullfighting. There are a number of folk holidays that are characteristic of several countries (in this sense, the holiday unites these countries into certain groups), for example: Maslenitsa is celebrated by all Orthodox Christians, the holiday of young wine is celebrated in all wine-producing countries, the holiday of beer is celebrated in those countries where it is brewed, carnivals Different countries are united by the presence of a special costume. But even if the general name of the holiday is “carnival,” it would be good to achieve recognition and emphasize the differences between the Brazilian carnival and the Venetian carnival.

Household items or consumer goods can also be associated with a country, largely due to the presence of adjectives that emphasize belonging to a particular country: Australian boomerang, Russian matryoshka and balalaika, Bulgarian rose oil, Chinese vase, Indonesian batik, Greek amphora.

The unofficial symbols of the country are images (symbols) of major sporting competitions (summer and winter Olympics, world championships), which take place on the territory of a particular country and are therefore associated with the national symbols of that country.

Sports competitions are an occasion to show their unofficial symbols not only for the organizing country, it is also an opportunity for each participant in the competition to present the unofficial symbols of their countries.

Let us remember how much discussion Cheburashka caused among Russians as the unofficial symbol of the Russian team at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Cheburashka raised a lot of questions among journalists from other countries, was a reason for questioning, and was liked by fans of other countries who attended or watched sporting events on TV. The Russian bear at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow was clearer and more familiar.

Unofficial symbols of the country are also famous people (groups of people) past and present : Washington, Andersen, Leibniz, Voltaire, Gagarin/Pythagoras, Stalin, Malevich, Chopin, Wagner, Beatles, Mozart, Rubik, Fetisov, Karelin, ABBA, Piaf, etc. The personal charm of one person representing a country can create a favorable atmosphere of perception for the country as a whole.

In many ways, Korolev was right when he chose Gagarin from equal candidates, including for his smile and personal charm.

Sometimes the number of famous people of one or similar profession is so great that the country can be associated with specific area of ​​activity , like, for example, Austria is a country of music. Mozart, Brückner, Haydn, Schubert, Johann Strauss the elder and the younger were born in Austria; Beethoven, Mahler, Berg, Richard Strauss and others worked.

The image of a “traditional” resident has generalized features (for example, Europeans will differ from Asians). It is determined not only by general knowledge about the specifics of the race, but is also determined by the types of activities and such informal assessments as the characteristics of temperament and character traits of representatives of a status nationality. The image of the inhabitants of a particular country will be quite vague among people who have never been to this country or live far from it. Opinions about neighbors are always more accurate.

In this regard, it is interesting to compare, for example, what they know (think they know) about the inhabitants of Russia in Latin America and in neighboring Finland. Residents of Finland are no longer likely to talk about the bears that walk the streets of Russian cities. An opinion about the inhabitants of a distant country is a long echo of the opinions of neighbors.

From the position of territorial marketing, the more distinctive features and characteristics are inherent in the residents of a given country, the faster the image “pops up” in memory and a certain emotionally charged attitude towards the residents of a given country is formed. In the folk art of many countries, there are cases when, in the form of anecdotes and humorous stories, certain character traits of the inhabitants of other countries are ridiculed, for example, the slowness of the inhabitants of the northern countries. Sometimes the reasons for jokes are greed, omnivorousness, stupidity, and stubbornness. But, as a rule, some image is better than none. After all, from slowness you can make thoroughness, from stupidity - spontaneity and openness, from greed - thrift and thrift, from stubbornness - perseverance. Every medal has two sides. The image of a country's residents can be improved. Certain actions should be taken that would help improve the image, i.e. carry out repositioning. To improve the image of a country's residents, the best side of national character traits and national temperament should be deliberately promoted.

Thus, creating awareness about the country , improving opinions about the country and attitudes towards the country can be based on a number of actions:

ü support the opportunities and desires of the country's residents to actively use national official symbols, especially on the part of children, youth, and famous people of the country;

ü find positive unofficial symbols of the country and widely inform the public about them;

ü promote the development of interpersonal communications, increase the openness of the country, which allows those who wish to expand their knowledge and form their own opinion about the country and its inhabitants;

ü to form a primary interest in the country and its inhabitants, including by engaging in “branded advertising”, i.e. advertising the country as a whole, supporting this with appropriate slogans; for example, on the Euronews television channel, advertising of Kazakhstan is accompanied by the slogan: “Discovery of the unknown”;

ü welcome the initiative of private corporations to build their advertising campaigns through the brands of the country as a whole, for example, about vacuum cleaners and washing machines: “Sweden, made wisely”, “British Style, German Engineering” (British style, German technology) - German advertising for Rover cars (German build quality supported by British design) or “Feel the rhythm of life in Turkey » - recreation and entertainment in Turkey;

ü make efforts to maintain interest in the country by introducing new unofficial symbols;

ü create new interesting, unique objects, holidays, events that can become unofficial symbols of the country, for example, a museum of a sunken sailing ship from the 17th century. in Stockholm (the Vasa Ship Museum) is a man-made, consciously created exceptional landmark of the city, which has become a recognizable unofficial symbol of Sweden;

ü promote positive traits of national character;

ü inform the public about positive events in the country by all means available today, including using the Internet.

In this regard, you can pay attention to the intensification of work to promote Russia, for example:

Ø communication between the President of Russia and Russian citizens and foreigners live;

Ø personal website of the President;

Ø large press conferences of the President of Russia for journalists from different countries;

Ø holding major international summits, conferences, forums in Russia on a wide range of topics (investments, activities of public organizations, interaction of different world religions, etc.);

Ø intensification of Russia’s international contacts, “political-economic tours”, when the President of Russia is accompanied by a large group of Russian entrepreneurs, which allows economic forums to be held in the country of presence dedicated to the intensification of business relations between countries;

Ø international research and production projects in which Russia plays the role of initiator and leading executor;

Ø successful participation of Russians, with the support of the Russian government, in scientific Olympiads for youth and professional skills competitions;

Ø implementation of comprehensive (annual) programs, such as “2006 - the year of Russia in China”, “2007 - the year of China in Russia”, “2010 - the year of the teacher in Russia”, “2011 - the Year of Italian culture and language in Russia", "2012 - Year of Russian History", "2013 - Year of Germany in Russia".

Analysis of the country's territorial product involves: 1) analysis of the territory’s resources, 2) the level of socio-economic development and 3) the quality of territorial management.

1) When characterizing the country’s resources(natural, technological, social) special attention should be paid to the following:

ü uniqueness (exclusivity) of resources, their quantity, quality characteristics, ease of use, special conditions for restoration and reclamation;

ü identification of new resources, discovery of new deposits of natural resources;

ü qualitative improvements of the resource and its operating conditions;

ü new ways of using previously known resources have been found;

ü interesting, previously closed (difficult to access) objects, animal and bird populations, and local communities have been preserved;

ü the presence of diverse resources in the territory, which allows the investor, over time, if desired, to diversify his activities;

ü special character traits of residents, the specifics of local communities, which, if involved, can bring certain benefits to consumers, etc.

The description of each significant resource should be carried out in dynamics and accompanied by comparative assessments with similar resources of competing territories.

2) Assessment of the achieved level of socio-economic development of the country methodologically well developed. Comparisons between different countries are regularly carried out on a wide range of macroeconomic indicators and indicators of social well-being. It is necessary to adjust some methods for comparing and presenting information about the level of socio-economic development of a country, especially when it comes to expert assessments. Much of the assessment depends on the period with which the comparison is made.

When assessing the socio-economic situation in Russia today, comparisons can be made with any other past date; here, much depends on the honesty and integrity of the researcher. For example, comparing Russia in 2007 with Russia in 1990, or even since 1985, is incorrect if the expert “forgets” to take information from the past only about the RSFSR, and not statistics from the entire USSR.

3) Estimate quality of territorial government a specific country is quite difficult, because each country has a special government structure, its own system of administrative and political division, a special structure of branches of government, different distribution of responsibilities in the vertical of power, and other public institutions can play different roles.

High-quality territorial management assumes that:

ü under the system that was consciously influenced, the country achieved the goals set for a certain period of time through the most efficient use of resources

ü civil servants and employees of government agencies performed their work effectively (correlating the achieved results quantitatively and qualitatively with costs). For example, quantitative: the volume of income from the use of property, the amount of investments attracted per civil servant during the year, the performance of the same amount of work by fewer people. Or qualitative: the number of people who used a public (public) service is less than the time spent on receiving the service, or the necessary information about the public service is provided in an understandable, easy-to-use form

ü level of satisfaction of the population with the quality of public (public) services (availability of application forms, information about the sequence of the procedure, the ability to make a request on the Internet, the degree of satisfaction of the recipient of the service with the service process, forms and methods of interaction, results, etc.)

Since the official provides services to the population, we can say that the level of consumer satisfaction with this service can be increased if:

§ simplify the process of using this service;

§ information about services will be targeted;

§ different forms of service provision will be provided (consultation can be provided orally, in writing, in absentia by telephone and the Internet);

§ there will be a user-friendly work schedule for the official;

§ the principle of comprehensiveness of services will be observed;

§ the decision-making process will become more transparent, which will make it possible to comply with the deadlines for making decisions and increase the personal responsibility of the official;

§ the official will be ready to interact;

§ the official will be able to communicate and take into account the specifics of the service user.

External localization of the country’s territorial product – this is, first of all, determining the position (place) in space and, through limiting a given part of space, correlation with other, neighboring parts of space. It involves defining and describing the place where the territorial product is located, clarifying its boundaries and territorial proximity, as well as how interesting and convenient it will be for the consumer to use such information. It is necessary to construct your description of the place in such a way as to emphasize any special characteristics of location and neighborhood , For example:

§ pay attention to the qualitative characteristics or special advantages of the neighborhood (the duration of the period of well-developed cross-border trade due to friendly relations with the neighboring state);

§ compare the scale of your country with neighboring states, even in cases where the country has a small area; it is important to emphasize that, despite this, the country managed to achieve certain successes (specify which ones);

§ you can clarify the time of establishment of the current borders, especially if any significant, interesting events are associated with the change in borders, architectural and other monuments of material culture arose;

§ You can highlight any common features with neighboring states, for example, the presence of a common coastline or a common waterway.

In addition, it is necessary to evaluate and development of transport communications between countries - ways of communication and connections from one place to another, communication, transfer of information from person to person.

It is necessary to determine what other forms of interaction between countries important to consider. This is especially true in cases of indirect territorial proximity. It is justified to conduct an analysis of political, economic, national, religious, cultural and other unions and commonwealths of which the state is a member. This allows us to identify diverse connections between countries, evaluate the development of these connections, study the most characteristic forms of interaction, make a forecast of the positive and negative consequences of this kind of connections, not forgetting to highlight the special characteristics of the territorial product and the conditions for its consumption that arise among residents and business structures of the study area. countries. The attention of potential consumers of a territorial product should be drawn to the advantages that the country’s membership in any union provides, such as, for example:

ü unity of linguistic and cultural space;

ü recognition of diplomas of professional higher and secondary education;

ü the presence of similar social policies;

ü visa-free visit;

ü developed business and economic connections, which makes it easier to find and obtain work in a specialty in a number of industrial sectors;

ü the presence of common target programs in different areas of life, etc.

By informing a person about the interaction of countries, we emphasize the benefits that a person can receive from this interaction on the territory of his country. As a result, total human utility increases, which can become a special competitive advantage for the country.

Internal localization of the country's territorial product. A country is a specific system that consists of elements of other, smaller spaces: administrative and political units (subjects of the Federation, lands, counties, etc.), territorial units identified according to other criteria, for example, territories of compact residence of one people. It is important to note:

ü proximity of different resources, ease of their integrated use;

ü the existence of traditional economic, scientific, and interpersonal connections;

ü development of internal communications, including the possibility of transportation (moving people, goods) by different modes of transport;

ü the possibility of labor migration of a temporary (seasonal) nature;

ü the ability to create vertically and horizontally integrated business structures;

ü the presence of interterritorial scientific, educational, cultural, social programs to support the population and entrepreneurs (for example, a cooperation agreement between two constituent entities of the Russian Federation).

Assessment of external and internal localization of a territorial product the country will be more complete if we imagine communications between countries and within the country as a certain process of movement of resources (human, financial, material, etc.), as well as goods and services, i.e. evaluate the logistics process as a whole. As special characteristics of the country’s territorial product and its localization in space, one should pay attention to the following:

ü availability and level of development of logistics business services;

ü work experience and qualification level of logistics company employees;

ü availability and level of development of production, road, and warehouse infrastructure;

ü existing “nodes” of all forms of communications (a country can be a convenient transfer point or the only point from which it is possible to travel further to visit an attractive place);

ü special characteristics of the activities of such logistics hubs, for example, fast processing of documents, throughput during a period of time, the presence of unified (universal) accompanying documents, etc.

A detailed description of the localization of a country’s territorial product gives an idea of ​​the country’s possible specialization and creates a basis for the study and development of cooperative ties (production, trade, research, etc.), which have their own history in the past, are developing in a special way today and can change quantitatively and qualitatively in future.

Price of the country's territorial product reflects the costs incurred by the consumer of a territorial product (individual or organization) while living and/or operating in the country. What is important for the consumer is the amount of costs expressed in monetary terms (explicit costs) and the amount of opportunity costs of using human and/or enterprise resources (implicit costs).

In the context of integration and globalization, the costs of living and doing business in different countries (especially if these countries are geographical neighbors and members of the same economic union) are often approximately the same. But sometimes the difference in the costs of living and/or carrying out activities is large and the production process moves to another country (sometimes to another continent). So, in the 1960-1970s. A large number of assembly production enterprises of American and European manufacturers were created on the territory of small Asian countries. The main argument was low production costs due to cheap labor, low cost of raw materials and low local tax rates. But even today the “transfer” of companies continues even in the European Union. For example, Nokia decided to move its production from Germany to Hungary because it believed that it would be economically beneficial due to a significant reduction in production costs.

When determining the price The territorial product of the country is worth paying attention to:

To assess the quality of territorial management. Thus, high quality of territorial management can also lead to a reduction in production and distribution costs;

The uniqueness of the territorial product as a whole (the North Pole zone) or its individual elements (the shungite deposit is located in Karelia), as well as the uniqueness of the localization of the country’s territorial product and its elements;

On the prices of the territorial product of competing countries, including non-price factors of competition;

On the quantity of public goods and their qualitative characteristics (the list of public goods that a consumer can receive for free and thereby reduce their direct financial costs).

Price modifications of the country's territorial product. Four types of price modifications can be distinguished.

1. A country is a space of a certain size with various changing conditions. Accordingly, the price for the same element of the country’s territorial product may change depending on its location and accommodation conditions. Reducing the price of hard-to-reach or remote natural resources makes it possible to stimulate the development of these deposits. The entrepreneur's higher costs for developing resources can be compensated by reducing the costs of obtaining the right to develop these resources.

2. It is possible to modify the prices of the country’s territorial product through a discount system. The price of a resource can be reduced, for example, in the case when an entrepreneur undertakes, after developing a quarry where raw materials for the production of building materials were mined, to restore the landscape or create conditions for using the quarry for other purposes (an artificial reservoir, an industrial museum, a zone recreation).

Discounts may be used depending on budgetary objectives and the financial situation of the country. Sometimes, in conditions of a budget deficit, a potential consumer can receive this or that resource or the right to develop it at a discount if the entire amount is paid at once, in a form convenient for the country.

3. Price modification for sales promotion is also possible. For example, to stimulate the influx of external migrants or direct the flow of internal migrants, a country may offer bonuses (“lifting” payments) for a period of 1-3 years. This group may also include low prices set for the duration of special events or promotions, for example, a country may announce for a limited period of time the provision of a certain resource (in a limited volume) free of charge or at a reduced price in the case of creating priority activities.

4. Price modification in the form of price discrimination, when the same resources and conditions are provided for different prices. For example, certain groups of consumers of a territorial product (persons of certain professions of working age) can receive a land plot for individual housing construction free of charge. Or - higher prices for resources for those enterprises whose activities may be accompanied by a high environmental risk.

Information about prices for the country's territorial product and the conditions for modifying this price should be widely disseminated and targeted. Forms, methods and channels for providing information on the price of a territorial product to individuals and entrepreneurs should take into account the specifics of these groups of consumers of the territorial product.

For individuals this is:

ü description of the budget of the average Russian family, indicating age, profession, number of children and their ages, place and living conditions (territory of the country, locality, living quarters, etc.)

ü characteristics of those public goods that family members and the family as a whole can consume for free, as well as the conditions for obtaining and using these public goods

ü main sources, forms and amounts of family income, including in the form of average monthly income and one-time payments, for example, conditions, terms and amount of “lifting”

ü main items of family expenses, their frequency, size, regularity, clarify which items of expense are permanent

For an entrepreneur, information about the costs of doing business will be different:

ü information on the price and conditions of consumption of basic resources and related factors of production, adjusted depending on the location and profile of the enterprise

ü information about living conditions, housing prices, average food costs, public or private transport and other “everyday” information

It is important for both individuals and entrepreneurs to give an idea of ​​the full price of the territorial product (total costs). In addition to direct financial costs, one should also describe the process, procedure and time interval for making management decisions on the part of territorial authorities, as well as all other points that may affect the amount of opportunity costs for consumers of the country's territorial product.

For example, if the financial costs of acquiring a land resource are small, but the process of land acquisition itself lasts for months and all this time the entrepreneur incurs expenses for business trips (transport, accommodation, etc.) and loses his time, then the total costs may turn out to be so high that they will discourage entrepreneur. In this case, the low quality of territorial management will lead to an increase in the total price of the territorial product, the country will lose another consumer and, as a result, a number of useful characteristics (benefits) from its activities.