Canadians make world's best friends
Country ranks as the top 'people brand' in an international survey of 26,000 people
canada.com
Silvia Schugg, 19, who is studying English in Canada, and her sister Meike, 17, of Rottweil, Germany, think Canadians are easygoing, and they love our beaches and parks.
Photograph by : Stuart Davis, Vancouver Sun
Emily Chung, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, August 14, 2006
Canadians are more welcoming and make better friends than people in 34 other countries around the world, says a survey ranking the strength of different countries' "brands."
Canada's brand was ranked third overall out of 35 countries in second-quarter results of the Anholt Nation Brands Index, behind England and the European Union.
The index surveys a total of 26,000 people in the participating countries on their perceptions of tourism, exports, governance, investment, culture and people in other countries. The information is used mainly by governments and industry associations.
Canada topped the survey in the "people brand" category, buoyed by the perception that its people are friendly and make foreigners feel welcome.
That's what prompted student Silvia Schugg to study English in Canada instead of, say, England.
"The Canadians are more easygoing," said Schugg, 19, who is from Rottweil, Germany and who had heard good things about Canada from a friend.
"There are a lot of beaches and parks and it's so clean, I think," added her sister, Meike Schugg, 17, who was shopping with her on Robson Street on Sunday afternoon.
Canada's good reputation has held steady since the quarterly index was first developed at the beginning of 2005, said Simon Anholt, the brand consultant who created the index using analysis software created in Vancouver by GMI (Global Market Insite), Inc.
He described a brand as a deeply held set of stereotypes, not necessarily true, that people in one country believe about another country.
A good brand helps a country generate foreign investment and trade, export products, and earn attention and respect from other countries, said Anholt.
"In theory, Canada having such a powerful and positive brand should make it easier for Canada do to whatever it wants to do," he added. "What these rankings tell me is that Canada has tremendous appeal that it's not really leveraging in the real world."
For example, he said, survey respondents in most countries claimed they loved products from Canada, even though he said few Canadian consumer products exist. And many respondents say they would love to visit Canada, but far fewer actually do visit.
A major problem, Anholt said, is that people in other countries are relatively ignorant about Canada. The fact that Vancouver will host the 2010 Olympic Winter Games has not yet changed that. "Canada is perceived as being a kind of empty, rural paradise," he said.
Laura Fairweather, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Tourism Commission agreed that is a problem.
"We're well-known for nature, landscape, serenity. And one of our challenges is to communicate some of the more exciting urban experiences."
Fairweather said the commission invited Anholt to give it feedback on a new tourism brand it has launched in the U.K. and the U.S., pushing Canada's urban attractions such as restaurants and museums.
As for the results of the brand index, she says, "It's excellent that we came in third again."
BRANDS INDEX
A survey of 26,000 people in 35 countries found that among those 35 countries:
- Canada ranked third overall, behind the U.K. and the European Union.
- Canada came first in the People Brand category. Respondents thought Canadians were welcoming and would make good close friends.
- Canada earned second place, behind the U.K., in the Investment category. Canada was considered the top place to study or to work for a substantial period.
- Canada took third place, after Switzerland and Norway, in the governance category. Americans put the Canadian government first, above their own, for the first time in the survey's history.
- Canada was considered the country richest in natural beauty, and the country people said they would most like to visit if money were no object.
Source: Anholt Nation Brands Index, second quarter 2006
© The Vancouver Sun 2006 |
