A Whole Country in One Brand : Matching the Official Nation Brand Strategies with the Destination Branding of the Official Tourism Organisation of Finland

This thesis investigates the connection between the official nation brand of Finland, and the tourism brand, which has been developed by the Official Tourism Board of Finland. In order to do so, the Finnish nation brand is evaluated to find the core elements of the Finnish identity. These core values and keywords then establish the categories for further analysis. In the analysis, the work of Visit Finland, represented through the according English channels and a selection of campaign material, is matched against the official nation brand by using a qualitative content analysis. The material is collected from the website, the social media channels, brochures, and four chosen campaigns. Due to the nature of a nation brand, all sectors aimed at an international audience are of high value for the brand and are meant to generate a fiscal advantage. This includes talent attraction, foreign investments and exports, as well as the tourism industry. However, the research shows that there is a number of values that are less important for the tourism brand while still being a fundamental part of the national brand. This thesis is trying to elaborate on those features that are connecting the brands, by showing a coherence in both branding strategies, as well as the differences between the two brands. The research reveals that while there are fundamental features of nature themes apparent in both the national brand and the tourism brand, themes like education and functionality are mainly aimed at other sectors of the nation brand. Similarly, the themes of diversity and authenticity are stronger in the tourism brand than in the nation brand