The aims of this paper were to discuss the theoretical framework of nation branding using mega events as a communication platform, and to study the case of nation branding of Russia through the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, using a two-stage qualitative methodological approach.
The literature review outlined the scholarly debate around the controversy and complexity of nation brands and nation branding as a process. Further, some cases of using the Olympic games for place promotion purposes were considered. The case of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics was studied in detail, focusing on the media pressure throughout the preparation period. It was argued that one of the main communication messages of the event, aimed at a global audience, was to project the image of a modern country, to promote positive changes, breaking certain long-established stereotypes about Russia. The notion was widely discussed in many previous academic papers, and was actually confirmed by the current study, grounding on the interviews with the people directly related to the Sochi 2014 communication strategy.
Then, social representations of Winter Olympic Games and Russia were studied through a public survey to explore the relation between the two terms, based on the principles of co-branding process, revealing that from today’s perspective there is no significant influence of the Sochi Games on the perception of Russia among an international audience, despite the proved success of the event itself. Nevertheless, the successful event managed to overcome all the unfavourable predictions of protests and boycotts, and
ultimately, broke a predetermined negative public perception of the host country. Two possible reasons, both involving an undesired level of government intervention, were offered to explain why the impact, however, was not sustainable.
The main two implications of the current research paper for policy makers are as follows. First of all, let us follow the argument that state-led nation branding is often a pointless exercise, sometimes marginally different from a propaganda. Therefore, policy makers should primarily focus on what good national causes they actually take care of, rather than take every chance to impose any ungrounded perceptions of their work on an international audience. Secondly, no success becomes sustainable effortlessly. Thus to maintain a positive influence of a mega event on a nation brand, the communication message should be supported by every following opportunity, but not damaged instantly, as it happened in the case of the first Russian Winter Olympics, followed by the country’s involvement in one of the world’s major conflicts.
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