USA Regains Position as Top Nation Brand from Germany

Nuremberg, Germany (ots/PRNewswire) -

After being pushed off the number one position last year by
Germany, the USA has this year taken back its position at the top of
the Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands IndexSM(NBISM). UK, in 3rd place,
edges closer to the top and is followed by France. Further down the
ranking, Ukraine and Russia achieve large reputation gains, while
Greece stands alone in suffering a steep drop.

The study measures global perceptions of 50 developed and
developing countries - and is unmatched in the level of detail on
which the nation ranking is judged. The study asks questions about 23
different national attributes, which are then combined into six
overall dimensions on which the national image is based. Those are:
exports, governance, culture, people, tourism and
immigration/investment.

Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands IndexSM

Overall Brand Ranking 2015 (Top 10 of 50 Nations)

2015 rank 2014 rank
1 United States 2
2 Germany 1
3 United Kingdom 3
4 France 4
5 Canada 5
6 Japan 6
7 Italy 7
8 Switzerland 8
9 Australia 9
10 Sweden 10

"This year's results stand as a reminder that, although the images
of countries are incredibly stable, changes can and do take place -
particularly when people around the world sense that countries are
contributing noticeably more or less to humanity and the planet. It's
their perceived impact on the world that affects countries'
reputation far more than their assets or achievements." comments
Professor Simon Anholt, the independent policy advisor who created
the Nation Brands IndexSM in 2005.

"Despite its continued perceived leadership in Europe, Germany has
fallen back to second place, largely as a result of losing the gains
it made last year. On top of that, Germany also lost ground on
'governance' (which incorporates both international and domestic
behaviors) following its high-profile stance on European challenges
such as immigration and struggling Eurozone economies. In particular,
Russia's perceptions of Germany's governance dropped significantly,
following Germany's support of anti-Russian sanctions."

The rest of the top ten ranking remains in the same order as last
year, but with certain nations continuing to close in on the one
ahead.

UK, steady in 3rd place, has moved closer to the top nations and
is followed by France in 4th place and Canada in 5th . Japan and
Italy, who hold 6th and 7th places respectively, also showed stronger
than average performance, increasing the pressure on the top five
nations.

Greece, a nation facing chronic economic issues, struggles to
maintain its image, with notable falls across all indices. This means
that it has slipped one place to 21st position in the overall
ranking, while Brazil moves up to 20th.

Looking outside the top 20 nations, both Russia and Ukraine have
seen impressive gains on all six indices that make up the overall
NBISM ranking. Russia has risen from 25th last year to 22nd this
year, overtaking China, Singapore and Argentina, while Ukraine has
moved from 48th to 46th, overtaking Kenya and Qatar. This change
follows a slowing of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, with both nations
seeing their greatest boosts coming from their governance scores and
- in particular - improved perceptions of their behavior in the areas
of international peace and security.

In fact, the conflict's easing appears to be improving the image
of the region as a whole: the Czech Republic (30th last year, now
28th) has edged ahead in the rankings. And Poland (steady in 26th
place) and, to a lesser extent, Hungary (28th last year, now 29th due
to being overtaken by Czech Republic) also raised their scores
somewhat. Turkey increased its rating, but not enough to prevent it
being overtaken by two Asia-Pacific nations, Thailand and Taiwan, so
that it now holds 34th place.

Vadim Volos, GfK's senior vice president of public affairs and
consulting and head of NBISM, comments, "A country's global
reputation can make a critical difference to the success of its
business, trade and tourism efforts, as well as its diplomatic and
cultural relations with other nations. Our clients depend on the
NBISM study because it is unbeaten in the depth of information that
is included in forming the ranking - making it the most thorough and
robust monitor of national reputation available."

About the Anholt-GfK Nations Brand IndexSM 2015

Conducted annually, the Anholt-GfK Nation Brands IndexSM measures
the image of 50 countries, with respect to Exports, Governance,
Culture, People, Tourism and Immigration/Investment. For the 2015
study, a total of 20,342 interviews were conducted in 20 major
developed and developing countries.

ots Originaltext: GfK SE
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
Vadim Volos
T +1 212 240 5408
Vadim.Volos@gfk.com / Press contact : Amanda Martin
T +44 7919 624688
Amanda.Martin@gfk.com