Entered by Brand Lithuania Unit at the Office of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania

Since 1996, Lithuania has made several attempts to build a national brand. Historically, these have been primarily unsuccessful. There have been several reasons for this, one of which is the disapproval and distrust of the general population impeding the success of the projects. There has been no consensus between experts and the general public regarding the core values and features of the nation’s brand. Moreover, the population has had very few opportunities to be involved in the process and there have even been cases where the opinion of the general public was ignored. Taking into consideration the previous lessons learned, the Brand Lithuania Unit launched a broad consultation with the Lithuanian society. The Brand Lithuania Unit has developed Lithuania’s DNA project, the goal of which is to involve the general public in the discussion on how Lithuania should be presented abroad. Parallel to Lithuania’s DNA project, the Office of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania has initiated a large-scale project - the analysis of Lithuania’s image, and awareness abroad and in Lithuania, the objective of which is to gather information on how foreigners and Lithuanians see Lithuania, the country’s reputation and Lithuania’s identity. Within this framework, qualitative and quantitative surveys have been conducted locally and in 14 external countries. At the same time, the Brand Lithuania Unit organised 4 conferences for public sector representatives with a view to strengthening the stakeholders’ involvement in the project.