Updated version: http://goo.gl/VLq5Qb. A prototype of the research I'm developing on nation branding and cultural diplomacy for small and emerging countries, especially those carried out with negative propaganda and stereotypes. How might we erase stereotypes?

1. How might we
erase stereotypes
and
misconceptions
about emerging
countries?

2. Why did I made this research?
This research I made as an application proposal for
Kaospilot, based on the idea to erase negative
stereotypes and stigma against countries/places
around the world through marketing and
positioning.
Although nation branding is not that hottest
concept, there are still many challenges to solve
regarding this topic, especially in the case of
developing countries. Personally, it’s an opportunity
to match my passions for travel and discover
different cultures to a career.
Moreover the proposal, I intend to share the insights
obtained and contribute for relevant discussion on
break stereotypes about countries. I believe travel
and exchanges can connect countries, cultures and
people.

3. Firstly, thanks to everyone!!!!
Firstly, I have to thank everyone that contributed to
this research during the interviews and all the
friends who gave me nice insights to carry on this
work!
By skype, e-mail, inbox – all the answers were
important to inspire me to take this research day
and night. I won’t mention names to don’t be unfair,
as there are a lot of persons who contributed.
Without your time and attention, it wouldn’t be
possible!
I hope, with this initiative, to inspire more
discussions about erase negative stereotypes about
places we don’t know and contribute to connect
different cultures around the world.

4. In the last 3 years, I could travel to 14 countries:
living in India, in Egypt and in Serbia, plus
backpacking through Eastern and Central Europe.
Many incredible places, amazing experiences and a
lot of awesome people along the road that helped
me to discover their countries and cultures, totally
different from what I’d see through the news.
Not all Indians are rapists, Egypt wasn’t in a civil
war, Serbia, Bosnia, Ukraine and Russia don’t
resume by wars and conflicts and so on. Would I
have all the discoveries if I had considered all the
negative news and lack of proper information? I’m
sure I wouldn’t.
How did this idea start?

5. And would you travel to...
Iran?
Pakistan?
North Korea?
Israel?
Kurdistan?
Colombia?
And so on....
WHY?

6. Why not erase negative
stereotypes?
I had great experiences in countries carried out
by negative news and I’ve been seeing that the
negative image and lack of proper information
inhibit people to travel to these places.
So, why not help to break prejudices against
unknown places? Why not help to more people
discover exotic countries as they really are?
As we travel more and more, we not only
discover different cultures, people and
opportunities, but we also discover many
similarities as human beings and feel more
connection to humanity and to the whole
universe.

7. How was the research?
The research was conducted in 2 simultaneous
phases: Qualitative phase and Semiotics phase.
In the Qualitative phase, it was made interviews
with XX persons, among travelers, expats, NGOs
representatives, natives and government’s
representatives. The purpose of this phase is to
understand the several perspectives into promote
countries carried out with stigma.
In the Semiotics phase, studies about nation
branding, travel trends and analysis based on the
answers obtained throughout the interviews.

8. Details about interviewees
44 persons from 15 countries
21 women, 23 men
Ages: 18 to 56 years old
Interviees from: Brazil, Germany,
India, USA, Portugal, Ukraine,
Lebanon, Russia, Argentina,
Bosnia, Pakistan, Iran,
Afghanistan, Australia,
Kazakhstan
They traveled to/lived in/worked
in: Bosnia, Morocco, Colombia,
Egypt, Israel, Malaysia, Vietnam,
Myanmar, Indonesia, Turkey, Iran,
North Korea, Pakistan, Paraguay,
Ukraine, Russia, Jordan, Bahrain,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Ghana,
India, Tunisia, Latvia, Estonia

9. Part I: Semiotic phase
Before analyse the answers given by the
interviewees, it’s important to pay attention to some
concepts to understand the context of the proposal.
More than marketing and positioning, brand a place
– especially when carried out with stigma – requires
understand the deep drivers that are critical to
engage societies within a whole nation or in a
certain region.
History, culture, religion, arts, national icons, places,
politics are a little bit of the many factors that
influence the image of a place, and that make the
work of branding exciting and complex.

10. Identity x Image
Identity: what the country really is
Image: how a place is noticed
externally
x
Work to do,
my baby!
 Correct the gap
 Erase
stereotypes
 Align image
and identity

11. Facilities and opportunities
 Globalization and higher
competition
 Easier access to
information
 Cheaper flight tickets
 People travelling more
 More demand for authentic
travel experiences
 Opportunities to market exotic
places
 Opportunities to position to
niches
Facilities
Opportunities

12. But...we still feel some barriers...
It’s never been so easy to travel as nowadays,
especially to non-clichéd places. In addition, the same
to get to know with different cultures. Even with all the
facilities and opportunities available, what is still
necessary to do?
Facilities
x
Opportunities
 Erase negative stereotypes
and misconceptions
 Showcase unknown potentials
and attractives

13. Part II: Qualitative phase
On next pages, it’s presented the data collected
through the interwiews.
Along the research, it was possible to identify
common drivers among the interviewees and
insights of what was decisive for their
experiences in non-clichéd countries.

14. Travelers/Expats/Natives
In the next section, it’s presented the
insights interviewing travelers, expats
and natives in countries carried out
with negative stereotypes.

15. Reasons to travel
+ 2
persona
Trip
Backpack
Work
Interesting job
description
Project
Tired of the trivial
life/routine
To experience a different
culture
New experiences
A different place!
Get out of my comfort zone
Curiosity for the unknown
Challenge myself
See historical places
Humanitarian work
Meaningful experience
Common
reasons

16. How was the experience?
o Prejudices
o Discomforts and
schocks
o Discoveries
o Women’s rights
Regarding the
experience of the
interviewees, it was
noticed these
drivers beside as
the core insights
• Drivers

17. Prejudices
 Felt prejudices existent
on local societies under
skin
 Sexism is common
among women
 For being foreigner
 Desmitifying prejudices
about the country and
its peoples
 Discover other cultures
through daily life
During their experiences, the
interviewees showed to face prejudices
on a double way: in one side to live it for
being different in another place and, in
the other side, to break previous
prejudices as put in direct contact with
the real situation
Break previous prejudicesLived prejudices

18. Discomforts and shocks
 Sexism/sexual harassments
 Fear of what is unfamiliar
 Challenging personally
 Differences on mindset
Discomforts and schocks are
common aspects of living
abroad, as expats/travelers are
exposed to challenging and
unfamilar situations, as well as
to different mindsets.
Among women, harassments
were appointed as a common
cause of discomfort.
Causes of discomforts
and schocks:

19. Discoveries
 “It was different of
everything I’ve seen before”
 “Most different and
interesting experience”
Learning about other
cultures as a source to
comprehend, a first step
for respect and tolerance
and change perceptions
were appointed as core
aspects of discover
unknown countries.
While discovering the
place, notice how
concepts and
misconcepts can be
transmitted by media.
Some phrases that
resume the discoveries
mentioned:

20. *Women’s rights*
Considering the cultures in
many developing countries
are mostly conservative and
sexist, women’s rights was
noticed as important factor
for women travelers and
expats.
Among the interviewees, it’s
evident the concerns about
the women role in local
society and the experience of
face harrassments.

21. *Main concerns about
women’s rights*
 Women’s safety
 Degree of liberty for women
 How women’s rights are respected
 Dress code
 Degree of strictions
 How they’re going to fit into local
culture

22. Hesitations
o Safety and security
o Health
o Cost of living
o Gender and sexuality
o Concern of their
quality of life
Regarding what
would hesitate
travel to certain
place, safety and
security were the
main answers, with
other topics
decisive to enjoy a
reasonable quality
of life.
• Drivers

23. Safety and security
 Military conflicts
 Wars
 Lack of safety
 Extremist
movements
Interviewees showed
concern with safety and
security when deciding a
destination. In case of
countries carried out with
negative publicity, travelers
show concern about
violence statiscally
comproved, not that one
showed on the news.
Factors that would
make hesitate:

24. Health
 Diseases
 Virus
 Epidemics and
outbreaks
 How hygien is taken
Another factor that was
appointed by interviewees
is health. Situation that are
threating to their health
such as virus and diseases
– Ebola outbreak as
example – are also
detractors when choosing a
destination.
Factors that would
make hesitate:

25. Costs and quality of life
Cost of living and
cost of travelling
were also mentioned
as decisive about a
destination,
especially to
developing
countries. Beside,
it’s presented other
aspects considering
what quality of life
travelers/expats
would have in the
place.
 Women’s rights: concerns
about strict rules, violence
against women, social
freedom of women
 Acceptance and positioning
regarding homossexuality
Another aspects
considered:

26. What is essential to know?
o It depends on what kind of
trip
o Get to know about the
culture
o Costs
o Extra: safety, language,
hospitality
• Drivers
When asked about the
most essential
information about a
destination, the answer
were closely related to
what would hesitate to
travel.
It depends on what kind
of trip, which determine
what information is
critical.

27. It depends!
Each case is relative!
Depending on factors
like the purpose of the
travel, the political
convictions, the sexual
preference, informations
such as openness to
homossexuality, religion,
political situation of the
country, diet and food
are important to decide
the destination.
 Sexuality
 Food and diet
 Lifestyle
 Religion
 Political
ideology
 Cultural values
Some factors that are
also influential when
deciding a destination:

28. Know about the culture
 What and how to dress?
 How to behave?
 What is socially
accepted and what’s
not?
 History and customs
 Women’s social role
Get to know about the
culture is always among
the main questions of
travelers, especially to
those non-clichéd
destinations.
Women show bigger
concern regarding dress
codes and the social role
of women in local
society.
Mentioned
concerns about
local culture:

29. Other essentials
Aligned to what would
hesitate choose a
destination, get informed
about financial aspects
as cost of living and
currency/exchange were
also mentioned as
essentials.
 Safety
 Language: do local
people speak English?
Any other language?
 Openness to foreigners
Other aspects
mentioned as
essentials:

30. Politics, economy, society
o Understand
before arrive
o It depends on
what kind of
travel
• Drivers When asked if they take
into consideration the
political, economic and
social aspects of the
place they’re going to, it
was pointed out that it
depends on their
objectives and the
situation

31. Understand before arrive
 Comprehend the gravity of
the situation in case of
conflicts and instability.
 Understand the risks
related to the local’s
situation
 Concerns with factors that
can risk individual safety
The answers given by
interviewees can be synthesized
on the following topics:

32. It depends on what kind of travel
 Short time: trend to not
consider deeply the political
aspects and economic stability
 Business travel, for example,
tend to require attention to
factors like corruption and
bureaucracies
 Lifestyle and cultural values:
determinant for those who
care about have their sexuality
and political ideology
respected
Depending on the length
and on the purpose of
the travel, as well as
personal values of the
traveler, some aspects
can be taken into
consideration while
others not.

33. Get informed
o Internet
o Friends and
networking
Easier and abundant
information, especially
by internet, is decisive
when searching about
non-clichéd countries. In
the other side, it
represents a great
source of opportunities
to promote and brand
unknown places.
• Drivers

34. Internet
 Google
 Websites in general
 Recent news about the
place
 Videos/movies
 Books
 Cultural life
 Travel guides
*Contents about the
places: develop and
curate relevant content is
one key activity to
connect with travelers
and promote the place!

35. Difficulties faced in the trips
o Visa
o Find the right
information  Long time to process
 Bureucracies
 How to extend/renew the
visa
 No representation in my
country
 Immigration proceedments
are confusing
• Drivers
Difficulties related
to visa issues:

36. What helped?
 Contact with someone who
have already been in the
place
 Information is abundant, the
questions is to use the right
tools to find the right
informations

37. What were the surprises?
o Broken previous
stereotypes
o Schocks
o Fascinating places
o Discoveries
Among the surprises,
discover the places by
themselves was the main
aspect, seeing what they
woudn’t imagine and
what is not so known.
• Drivers

38. Broken stereotypes
 Desmistifying the
negative publicity
transmitted by the news
 Breaking misconceptions
and generalizations
Along their experiences,
interviewees pointed out
the discovery of what the
countries/places really
are in comparison to
prejudices and
stereotypes.
Main surprises
regarding previous
stereotypes:

39. Schocks
 Sexual harassments
 Fear due to
stereotypes
 Extorsions and
overcharging prices
 Negative associations
of islamism to
women’s rights
Among the schocks
and negative aspects of
their experiences,
interviewees pointed
out the following
aspects:

40. Discoveries
 Fascinating places
 Self-discovery: news horizons
and perspectives to approach
life
 Development of soft skills and
of flexibility
 Open new horizons
Discover new places,
develop soft skills while
out of comfort zone and
self-discovery are
mentioned as most
remarkable aspects of
experience, especially in
non-clichéd places.
Main discoveries
mentioned:

41. How to promote?
o Promote more the
attractives
o Access to content
and information
• Drivers

42. Promote the attractives
Increase awareness of what
attractives there are in the
place is critical for erase
stigma and promote places
out of global stage, let the
world know cool things
happening in the country
regarding cultural life,
music, cinema, innovations
and creativity
 Natural beauty
 Architectonical patrimonies
 Recent history
 Culture
 Cost of living
 Transportation facilities
 Security, although
stereotypes
Examples to be promoted:

43. Content and information
 Facilitate the access to
proper information about the
place
 Promote more the good
things!
 Informations shared by
travelers are critical to a
bigger reach out
What could be improved to erase
negative stereotypes?

44. Organizations
In the next section, it’s
presented the insights
interviewing NGOs and
government
representatives, as well as
native citizens from
countries carried out with
misconceptions.

45. Why people hesitate to come?
• Drivers
o Culture
o Security
o Stereotypes/Misconceptions
o Lack of known attractions
When asked about
why people hesitate
people to visit the
place, interviewees
answers converged
to the drivers
Culture, Safety,
Stereotypes and
Lack of known
attractions

46. Culture
Some interviwees showed
concerns regarding
misconceptions people outside
have about the local culture,
normally regarding how is the
culture in relation to dress code,
alcohol comsuption, women
social role, etc.
In some cases, negative PR by
media, movies or any political
incident can contribute for
misconceptions about how open a
place is for foreigners.
Communicate clearly
how open is the
local culture:
 Dress code
 Alcohol consumption
 Women’s social role
 Gay friendly or not
 Receptiveness for
foreigners

47. Security
In the case of post-conflict
countries and those associated to
conflicts, like Lebanon, Serbia,
Bosnia & Herzegovina, Israel,
Afghanistan – it’s common the
challenge to desmistify the
associations of violence for
citizens and tourists, even tough
when the places show a high level
of safety. Even when security
level is low, as mentioned by one
interviewee, “it doesn’t mean the
whole country is inside a huge
trouble of having no security at
al”.
Common
misconceptions
regarding safety:
 Ask about the safety
 Impression of a place
as full of violent and
hostile people
 Impression of danger
about a place
 Generalization to the
whole country as
violent when it’s
concentrated in limited
areas

48. Stereotypes
Erase stereotypes is, of
course, one of the
challenges to promote a
place as a destination.
Stereotypes and constant
negative news feed
erroneous perceptions
about a place, making
people ignore the existent
attractives it offers.
Some
misconceptions
mentioned by
interviewees:
 “(...) some think Lebanon is
in a desert(…)”
 “(…) I suppose they believe
that in Siberia there would
be more kind of traditional
rural society(…)”
 “Of course it is not nice of
Media to spread really
wrong information about
Afghanistan. Well, they
think only by having one or
two workers inside a
country they can find out
what is really going on
there”

49. Lack of known attractions
Due to the challenge of
erase stereotypes and
misconceptions, it was
noticed through the
interviews the necessity to
invent new ways to export
local legends, values and
ideas to play a role in a
bigger sphere – regional,
national and international.
Moreover, raise awareness
of the past and history of the
local to showcase its unique
attractives.

50. Challenges to promote
• Drivers
o Political issues
o Security
o Raise awareness
Regarding the
challenges to promote
places carried out with
stigma, interviewees
mentioned to handle
negative publicity
around political
issues, security and to
raise awareness about
what the place has to
offer.

51. Political issues and Security
Political issues and security represent
a complex challenge to promote a
destination as they represent sources
of negative publicity and exaggerated
news. Defeat statistics and news as a
place of conflict and war were common
answers mentioned by the participants.
Related to the questions about what
make people hesitate to go to a place,
generalizing violence to a whole
country/region when concentrated in
limited space is also a big challenge.

52. Raise awareness
Raise awareness of the
attractives the place has to
offer is another common
challenge pointed out, as if
people outside don’t know
what there is to do/visit,
why go there?
This point is critical for
those places out of
destination routes and
those far away from central
regions such as capitals.
Why raise
awareness?
 erase strong
stereotypes about the
place
 People discover what
are the attractives
 Promote experiences
and innovations that
could be shared
 Offer the right
information

53. What could be improved to
promote?
When asked about what
could be improved to
promote their places,
interviewees pointed out
answers converging to
brand awareness. As one
participant told: “(...) it’s all
about the brand(...)” People
go to places because of the
image they have in their
minds.
How to reach
awareness?
 Better media
coverage
 Highlight the positive
aspects
 Invest in digital
marketing
 Develop contents for
specific niches

54. What else to improve to promote?
Improve a place’s image doesn’t
limit to work on its brand. It also
involves complementary work on
issues like security, corruption
degree, more involvement of local
public and private sector.
Facilities for foreigners travel,
work and live are also important
steps as expats and travelers can
act like ambassadors when
having great experience in a
counry.
What else to promote
awareness?
 Partnerships between
public and private
sectors
 Combat corruption
 Facilities for
foreigners work and
live in the country

55. What attractives are currently
ignored?
• Drivers
o Touristic and
economic appeals
o Human aspects
When asked about
what attractives
and attributes are
ignored because of
misconceptions, it
was possible to
identify 2 groups of
drivers:
Touristic/economic
appeals and Human
aspects.

56. Touristic and economic appeals
Beaches, nature, historical
places, scientific structures,
start up and entrepreneurship
are among the attributes
obscured by misconceptions
regarding the nations of
interviewees.

57. Human aspects
The cultural diversity and
receptiveness to foreigners
are the main human aspects
mentioned among the
answers. Many unknown
places have intense cultural
life and, in some cases,
offer gay friendly and young
environment.

58. Inspiring initiatives
On the next pages, it’s
presented some awesome
initiatives to erase stereotypes
and increase awareness about
stigmatized places discovered
during the research and the
interviews!

59. AFREAKA began in Brazil, in August
2012 through a crowdfunding initiative
on the website, Catarse.
The idea was to completely get away
from the ‘Africa’ stereotype of hunger,
poverty, war and so on.
AFREAKA aims to focus on
individual and collective expressions
of local culture and the values that tie
them together, using text, video,
photography and infographs.
The founders interviewed numerous
artists, intellectuals, and
environmentalists; learned about
innovative initiatives; visited
contemporary art galleries; and
frequented inspiring traditional
communities.
Website:www.afreaka.com.br/english/

60. Being aware of the fact that Iran has a
relatively negative image abroad which
does not correspond at all with the reality
they have encountered throughout their
trips through Iran, Cristian and Audrey
with their kids Emilia and Lucas have
considered initiating an informational and
promotional campaign – Iran is Great -
in Europe starting April 2014 introducing
Iran’s rich culture and civilization,
promoting the cultural, historical, natural
and tourism potentials by motorhome.
Currently, they’re travelling around
Arabic peninsula to continue the
campaign.
Website: www.iranisgreat.com

61. Serbia4Youth is an organization
with an accent on development
of youth travel in Serbia. The main
idea is to present destinations of
Serbia in a new and creative way, to
recreate touristic products and to
offer to young people in order to
encourage more frequent travel in
Serbia. Therefore development
of incoming tourism with the target
group – youth.
Website: www.serbia4youth.org

62. Bem-vindo à Sérvia – Welcome to
Serbia, in Portuguese – was
created in 2011 by Thiago Ferreira,
a Brazilian who was born to live in
Serbia, and he speaks Serbian
fluently!
Living in Belgrade and studying
tourism, he created the blog to show
the touristic attractions existent in
Serbia and to erase misconceptions
many Brazilians have about the
country and other Balkan neighbors.
Nowadays, his blog is the only one
in Portuguese with rich information
about Serbia and the Balkan
countries.
Website: www.bemvindoaservia.com

63. I’m siberian, a campaign inspired
by the legend of Siberia, the most
wild and frosty place in the world.
Acting intuitively and creatively,
inventing new ways to
make Siberia as a symbol entered
the actual important level.
It aims to raise awareness
in Siberia as a place for travel, as a
totally unique place.
Website: imsiberian.com

64. INPRO was an initiative embraced
in 2013 by different people from
different countries, and established
in Poland as a juridical person in
2014.
INPRO aims to educate people and
to make them believe that
international experiences bring
added value to the community.
Its motto is “To live in a smarter
community”.
Website: www.goinpro.org

65. Visit Afghanistan is an awesome
initiative to promote tourism in
Afghanistan throughout their
website and their Facebook page
sharing photos describing the
afghan history and culture, as well
as the daily life in the country.
Website: visitafghanistan.co
Facebook page: Visit Afghanistan

66. Everyday Afghanistan is another
initiative which aims to share the
exact image from Afghanistan and
the real life if its people, created by
the afghan photographers Aryan
Musleh and Naib Beig.
The requirements to post on the
Facebook page are:
1- Only photos taken by mobile
2- Photos must be daily life, urban
street and humanitarian.
Facebook page:Everyday Afghanistan

67. Challenges ahead!
 Assess small and emerging countries coordinate
creatively their assets for branding in absence of
diplomatic, economic and military power
 Help small and emerging countries access the global
stage!
 How to position to women and attend their necessities,
as well as to other niches (explorers, gays/lesbians,
etc.)
 How to inovate on nation branding and cultural
diplomacy for small and emerging countries?

68. We are all one!
Unicity principle: as described by Wayne
Dyer, when we learn this principle and apply
on our daily lives, we begin to feel as part of
humanity, instead to fight against it. We
start to feel we are all connected and that
each individual behaviour affects someway
the whole humanity.

69. For feedbacks,
questions,
whatever...feel free to
contact me in English,
in Portuguese and in
Spanish!
André Fernandes
I was born in Brazil to be a
nomad around the world. I
guess I’m only going to
settle down when I get
married, LOL! I’m always
ready for new horizons. My
dream job: to connect
people, countries and
different cultures!
About me E-mail: andref.anjos@gmail.com