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

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.