New Zealand named #3 country brand in the world – behind Canada and Australia and ahead of USA

New Zealand is once again ranked the third best country brand in the world in the latest FutureBrand Country Brand Index 2010, behind Canada and Australia, and in front of the USA.

Australia has risen 2 places since last year to leapfrog NZ, while the USA has dropped from #1 last year to #4.

The Country Brand Index is an annual study that examines and ranks country brands, based on FutureBrand’s proprietary research methodology.

The sixth edition of CBI incorporates a global quantitative research study with 3,400 international business and leisure travellers from 13 countries on all five continents, qualified by in-depth expert focus groups that took place in 14 major metropolitan areas around the world. The overall country brand score is calculated using FutureBrand’s Hierarchical Decision Model (HDM), which measures overall country brand performance in the following areas:

AWARENESS: Do key audiences know that the country exists? How top of mind is it?

FAMIlIARITY: How well do people know the country and what it offers?

ASSOCIATIONS: What qualities come to mind when people think of the country? They look at the measured perceptions of five key association dimensions: • TOURISM • HERITAGE AND CULTURE • GOOD FOR BUSINESS • QUALITY OF LIFE • VALUE SYSTEM

PREFERENCE: How highly do audiences esteem the country? Does it resonate?

CONSIDERATION: Is this one of the countries being thought about for a visit?

DECISION / VISITATION: To what extent do people follow through and visit the country?

ADVOCACY: Do visitors recommend the country to family, friends and colleagues?