Tereshchuk M. Branding technologies in the national interest implementation on the international stage (on example of the CEE countries)

The peculiarities of using branding technologies in support of and promote the national interests are explored. It is proved that the success of the state on the international arena mainly depends on the skills to use intangible resources ("soft power") in modern globalizing world. The role of branding as a tool of foreign policy, aimed at ensuring the country's competitive advantage in the international arena, is characterized, and the place of branding technologies among other components of a state's foreign policy strategy is outlined. The key features of the branding usage by Central and Eastern European countries are reviewed, and both general and specific factors of branding policies of CEE countries are defined. The analysis of policy and institutional aspects of the national branding of countries, conducted in the research terms, allowed identifying the main approaches and directions of branding policies. On the basis of the author's methodology, the practices of using branding technologies by CEE countries in order to advance its national interests are analyzed, which allowed to identify the most successful countries. The practice of branding techniques use in Ukrainian foreign policy is analyzed and as a result, its unsystematic nature and unacceptably low priority in the state's strategy on the international arena is proved. A study of the characteristics of nowadays Ukraine's brand identifies its strengths and weaknesses, as well as its prospects for transforming. On the basis of existing theoretical approaches, best practices in implementing a branding policy of the CEE countries and the analysis of current Ukraine's brand characteristics, a set of recommendations on the branding techniques usage to promote the national interests of Ukraine is proposed.