Analysing and Comparing Colombia’s and Panama’s Branding Strategies: A Critical Appraisal of the Competition between Nations in the Context of Current Global Challenges.

Due to the globalization a new challenge arose: Countries compete for investment, tour-ism and trade. To attract foreign investors, attract international tourists and to sell ex-ports, countries actively try to influence their image abroad by developing nation brand-ing strategies. Panama and Colombia have both experienced strong economic growth before the COVID-19 pandemic and became increasingly attractive. This research devel-ops strategies for both countries to create a positive national image and to successfully attract investment, trade and tourism. Furthermore, major differences and similarities between Colombia and Panama and their unique strengths and weaknesses, concerning the countries’ competitiveness and current branding practices are identified. To assess attractiveness (a key driver of competitiveness), the macroeconomic environment, cur-rent performance and conditions, findings from the Competitiveness Index are analysed. Additionally, the Nation Brand Equity Model by Dinnie and the Diamond Model by Porter are applied to the countries. Current nation branding practices are examined by analys-ing the organizations responsible for the attraction of trade, investment and tourism and their missions, visions, objectives, slogans, logos and webpages. To quantify both coun-tries’ attractiveness, a scoring model is developed, highlighting strengths, weaknesses and differences. Nation branding strategies are evaluated according to major strengths and weaknesses as well as clarity, competitiveness, coherence and credibility. The scor-ing model shows that both countries are similar with regard to many factors. Neverthe-less, Panama is, according to the selected criteria, slightly more attractive. On the other hand, Colombia’s nation branding approach demonstrates more strengths in comparison to Panama’s. Finally, recommendations for action are given to the governments and to the promotional organizations of both countries. In this context, the concept of compet-itiveness, in respect to global challenges is critically evaluated. Theoretical concepts from Nalebuff, Brandenburger and Anholt show that collaborative actions can have a positive impact on national images and that even in a competitive environment, countries can profit from cooperation.