“In a period of restructuring, the development of a national brand is more important than ever”, says Cathrine Pia Lund. She is the director of the Norway Brand, a project designed to contribute to increased growth and value creation by strengthening Norwegian exports and ensure access to capital, knowledge, talent and tourists.
According to OECD, awareness and developing a country’s brand is an important tool for countries in transition. The Norway brand project is one of Innovation Norway’s strategic priorities the next years. The goal is to have businesses and government come together in a common and long-term commitment that will result in increased exports and economic growth across industries.
FIVE FOCUS AREAS
Innovation Norway established Norway brand as a separate division in 2014 and began work on developing a strong common brand for Norway. The project has defined five key focus areas for future work:
- An aggressive export strategy for Norwegian goods and services
- A strategy to attract foreign investors, talents and tourists
- An adaptation of Innovation Norway tools
- Establish collaboration arenas
- Develop a Norwegian brand and communications platform
INTERVIEWED 200 EXECUTIVES
As part of the project, Innovation Norway interviewed more than 200 business leaders in 15 countries this summer, on how they perceive Norway and Norwegian industry. The results were presented at Arendalsuka Thursday.
“Our global survey shows that Norwegian industry does well in most fields, but there is a significant unrealized potential on the marketing side. This is a challenge we will respond to through Norway Brand”, says Lund.
