Ministries are pooling their efforts to elaborate a concept for Slovakia’s promotion by 2016. Although most countries have been building their own images for decades, it is only now that the government in Slovakia embarks on creating a uniform image of the country.
“It's a shame that Slovakia has only woken up now, after 20 years”, said the economic analyst Jozef Orgonáš, who is not alone in his concerns. “Despite the good reputation Slovakia is enjoying abroad, many countries still don’t know us”, admits the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Miroslav Lajčák. His ministry carried out a study to find areas where the branding of Slovakia could be built from. After public consultation the design and preparation of new logos and slogans were selected as the best option, which should be rolled out in 2015 to encompass four distinct values from Slovakia: authenticity, diversity, vitality, and ingenuity. Lajčák believes such an approach should identify and distinguish Slovakia from other countries. However it is not yet clear how such a move will be financed. “It will be within the budget. I’m in communication with colleagues from the Ministry of Economy, Culture and Transport with whom we wish to focus our options for this project”, added Lajčák.
Unlike the Czech Republic and Poland, Slovakia has not concentrated its efforts on building a brand image, and fictional films such as EuroTrip and Hostel have painted the country internationally in an unfavourable light. Despite these hurdles, Peter Littmann, marketing advisor to Minister Lajčák believes Slovakia is in a good position, saying that, “There are no prejudices against Slovakia abroad. Our problem is that people simply don’t know anything about us. If the country’s image was a tape recording, we wouldn’t have to delete anything; we’d just need to record something new”.
