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Nation branding and the social imaginary of participation : An exploratory study of the Swedish Number campaign

Pamment, James LU and Cassinger, Cecilia LU (2018) In European Journal of Cultural Studies 21(5). p.561-574
Abstract
The Swedish Number is a 2016 marketing campaign by an independent tourist association that relies heavily on a developing heritage of Swedish nation branding initiatives. It uses media technologies to encourage citizen participation in promoting Swedish values, partly for the purpose of showing the country’s authentic side and partly for generating publicity. This article conducts a case study of the campaign in order to explore the ways in which media technologies were used to circulate tropes originating in the official nation brand in the service of a commercial interest. We argue that Brand Sweden has established a set of national identity resources that may be leveraged through public participation, vast publicity drives via media... (More)
The Swedish Number is a 2016 marketing campaign by an independent tourist association that relies heavily on a developing heritage of Swedish nation branding initiatives. It uses media technologies to encourage citizen participation in promoting Swedish values, partly for the purpose of showing the country’s authentic side and partly for generating publicity. This article conducts a case study of the campaign in order to explore the ways in which media technologies were used to circulate tropes originating in the official nation brand in the service of a commercial interest. We argue that Brand Sweden has established a set of national identity resources that may be leveraged through public participation, vast publicity drives via media technologies and through mimicry of the national interest. Such a study supports a closer analysis of the ways in which nation brands influence identity politics via media technologies. This article will be of much interest to scholars of nation brands, cultural studies, participatory culture, national identity and transmedia engagement. This article forms part of the ‘Theorizing Media in Nation Branding’ Special Issue. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
European Journal of Cultural Studies
volume
21
issue
5
pages
561 - 574
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • scopus:85041917891
ISSN
1367-5494
DOI
10.1177/1367549417751152
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
12d68e75-c43f-4244-b8c2-8c5a4ba15e16
date added to LUP
2017-12-20 16:23:37
date last changed
2022-04-25 04:29:44
@article{12d68e75-c43f-4244-b8c2-8c5a4ba15e16,
  abstract     = {{The Swedish Number is a 2016 marketing campaign by an independent tourist association that relies heavily on a developing heritage of Swedish nation branding initiatives. It uses media technologies to encourage citizen participation in promoting Swedish values, partly for the purpose of showing the country’s authentic side and partly for generating publicity. This article conducts a case study of the campaign in order to explore the ways in which media technologies were used to circulate tropes originating in the official nation brand in the service of a commercial interest. We argue that Brand Sweden has established a set of national identity resources that may be leveraged through public participation, vast publicity drives via media technologies and through mimicry of the national interest. Such a study supports a closer analysis of the ways in which nation brands influence identity politics via media technologies. This article will be of much interest to scholars of nation brands, cultural studies, participatory culture, national identity and transmedia engagement. This article forms part of the ‘Theorizing Media in Nation Branding’ Special Issue.}},
  author       = {{Pamment, James and Cassinger, Cecilia}},
  issn         = {{1367-5494}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{561--574}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{European Journal of Cultural Studies}},
  title        = {{Nation branding and the social imaginary of participation : An exploratory study of the Swedish Number campaign}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1367549417751152}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/1367549417751152}},
  volume       = {{21}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}