Business leaders, politicians and academic experts across the globe all consider Soft Power to contribute strongly to nations’ prosperity and success. How can Soft Power and its impact be measured rigorously and objectively? And which nations are Soft Power leaders and champions?
Brand Finance has created the Global Soft Power Index, incorporating the most extensive market research ever conducted on the topic.
Our online webinar delved deeper into the study and explored which nations are Soft Power leaders across economic, social & cultural, and political arenas, and which nations can do more to punch their weight.
We also discussed how and why soft power matters to every nation and its citizens – not to mention any brand or company originating from that nation. Given its importance, a robust system of measurement is necessary to track nations’ performance, and the webinar will outline our measurement principles and our approach, centred on our survey of over 55,000 people – the general public and experts of many hues – from over 100 countries. And of course we shared the key findings and rankings of the Index, as Western influence is challenged by China and other emerging soft power nations.
We concluded with a discussion on the impact of COVID-19 and how differences in governments’ management of the pandemic might impact soft power, ahead of the next wave of fieldwork that took place autumn 2020.
The online discussion was led by Steven Thomson, Insight Director at Brand Finance, and Parul Soni, Associate at Brand Finance.
The full webinar recording is available to view online here:
Parul leads the team of analysts and consultants behind Brand Finance’s annual Global 500, Nation Brands, and Global Soft Power Index studies. She has a wealth of experience in Business and Brand Valuation working across sectors, specialising in Nation Branding, Food & Drinks, and Utilities. She is an experienced research and data analyst with survey experience across a range of evaluation and research issues.
Parul has worked with a variety of clients such as GREAT Campaign and PromPeru. She has a BSc in Economics and Economic History from the London School of Economics and is a chartered global management accountant, CIMA.
Steve Thomson leads the survey component of the Global Soft Power Index programme. He has a wealth of experience gained across a 30+ year career focussing on understanding consumer values, attitudes and behaviour around the world. Steve leads the market research practice at Brand Finance including management of our proprietary research programme in over 30 markets. He has widespread expertise in consumer values and trends, brand positioning and strategy, public opinion, nation branding, and advertising effectiveness. He has direct research experience in 60 markets across a diverse range of cultures, from single-market deep-dives through to the management of large global insight programmes. He is an acknowledged expert on the impact of social forces (online social media and offline word-of-mouth) on brand choices, and how these drive commercial outcomes for brand owners. As such he is a regular speaker at industry conferences.
