Nation Branding: An Analysis of Botswana’s National Brand

Abstract

This paper evaluates Botswana’s national branding using the Gilmore (2002) and the Echtner & Ritchie (2003) models. The methodology involved an examination of the extant literature to identifying key factors that influence brand perceptions for a nation and the nature of those factors. The findings showed that the Botswana branding incorporated most of the variables depicted in the Gilmore model. The nature of the variables chosen were also consistent with the Echtner and Ritchie model in the sense that it made use of functional and psychological characteristics and combined them in a holistic manner to come up with the slogan “our pride, your destination”. The paper advises future researcher to empirically test the robustness of the Botswana brand in terms of its effectiveness on the ground.