For a brand of sportswear, it’s a tick. For a particular beer it is captured by its slogan: “probably the best beer in the world”. And U2 has become widely known as “the best band on the planet”.

In each case, the phenomenon is identical. It’s called branding: a verbal, graphic, visual or thematic moniker, which embodies and represents the essence of the product. Whether it’s a Nike shoe or Bono. And it is, quite literally, what makes today’s economic world go round.

In the Middle Ages, religion and bloodshed were the currency of social interaction. They drove men to achieve greatness as well as perpetrate the most heinous crimes. From the magnificent beauty of religious art and architecture to the gravest injustices and pogroms carried out with uninhibited ferocity in the name of the same God.

During the industrial revolution, the bedrock of social and economic life changed. The greed of capitalist barons mixed with the sweat and grime on their factory shop floor became the deus ex machina. Again, capitalism was a mixed blessing. It ushered in real democracy for the first time in human history. Simultaneously, capitalism condemned millions of men, women and children to 16-hour working days full of drudgery, misery that in many cases brought about disease and early death.

Today, neither religious wars nor inhuman factories have been expunged from the peripheries of European and North American cities. Yet, they are no longer the driving forces behind contemporary social change. Willy nilly, over the last century and a half, as rights and democratic representation grew more robust and aided by the rise of the trade union movement, the worst excesses of capitalism have been progressively removed.

Some, of course, are still unhappy with one downside or another of capitalism and the market. Yet, no one hankers for the return of Marxist regimes, which were the only attempts so far to substitute the market’s “unseen hand”, as Adam Smith once described it. The only viable political debate today is about types of capitalism, not alternatives to it. For all of Blair’s, Chirac’s, Berlusconi’s and Gonzi’s shortcomings, no one is taking to the streets to bring back communism as their antidote.

As market forces became more pervasive and allowed to operate in previously no-go areas, the nature of the game has shifted. Social, cultural and economic life has become one big marketplace where everyone tries to sell their wares. Ideas, products, services and even people are constantly being placed on the market. And all of them have to be marketed to be noticed. Hence the new buzzword: branding. As globalisation expanded the market to the four corners of the world it has become the only way to be noticed in the cacophony of the marketplace. The only way to be heard and seen is to give yourself a particular “brand”, stick to it and push it as hard as you can. The insightful movers and shakers of the world’s best “brands” got wind of this shift pretty early in the game and acted on it. These are the companies whose product is recognised instantly everywhere, from Berlin to Bombay to Beijing.

Now, a need for branding is being felt even in the political world. Successful parties in Europe recognised the need to brand themselves a long time ago. But now the need is being felt even further up the political ladder. As the European market expanded to close to half a billion souls and 25 countries, States are recognising that they need to brand themselves in order to be heard in the marketplace, to attract investment, tourism and generate visible cultural activity. A bottle of beer is branded, given an image and positioned in the market. A nation is branded by projecting itself as a whole – capitalising on its strengths, highlighting its uniqueness and downplaying its weaknesses.

Take the former Eastern bloc States trying to make their way in Europe. According to a branding expert they are still perceived as “a confusing, grey, boring, cold sludge of former communist countries”. Slovakia is still confused with Slovenia, and the Baltic with the Balkans. Because the whole idea of promoting themselves professionally is unfamiliar to these countries, and because the audiences for say tourism and foreign direct investment are so separate, it is not surprising that much of the work they produce is banal, unconvincing and un-coordinated. Every nation is warm, friendly and welcoming: Slovakia is “a small country with a big heart”; Hungary is “the essence of Europe”; and Slovenia is “the green piece of Europe”. Blah-blah-blah

So how does a nation brand itself properly? Or, more accurately, how does branding work in order for a nation to sell its goods. It is worthwhile quoting the branding expert again. “First, it needs to work on an emotional as well as a rational level, to appeal to people’s hearts as well as their heads. Second, it must be relevant to all of the brand’s stakeholders. Third it must be distinctive. After all, the point of branding is to set your offer apart from those of your competitors. Fourth, it must be true; it must get to the heart of the brand, avoid clichés, and outline a concept that is recognised as realistic and inspirational by all target audiences.”

Poland has just finished a two-year branding study to unleash the country on the European market. If a country the size of Poland needs branding, Malta needs it a hundred times over. I understand that some initiatives are being taken locally to follow suit. One hopes that we get it right.

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