Soft Power

Soft power is the persuasive approach to international relations, typically involving the use of economic or cultural influence. But what does that mean for cities, nations, and places? If you can leverage your soft power effectively in your place marketing and place branding strategy, you can create far greater impact and leverage your reputation to meet your goals. Here, we’ve collated a wealth of resources to help you with your journey.


This Soft Power Topic Zone is sponsored by

Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand evaluation and strategy consultancy. We help place brands measure their marketing activities and develop successful strategies. Headquartered in the City of London, we are present in 25 countries worldwide.

We have published the Brand Finance Nation Brands study into the strength and value of the world’s top nation brands for 20 years. In 2020, we launched the Global Soft Power Index – the world’s most comprehensive research study on perceptions of nation brands, surveying opinions of 150,000+ respondents in 100+ markets and ranking all 193 member states of the United Nations. Our Brand Finance City Index – published for the first time in 2023 will be extended in the coming years to cover more city brands in regional rankings across all continents.

The Global Soft Power Summit is returning on February 28-29th, 2024. Learn more here.


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Konrad Jagodzinski Place Branding Director Brand Finance Bio

Six places that are living their sustainable values

People are getting more savvy and are quick to call out organisations who aren’t walking the talk. However, if you can embed your sustainable values throughout your organisation and ensure that your strategy is reflective of your community, it’s possible to make real impact with your approach. Here are some top examples of how cities and nations around the world are making sure that they’re living their sustainable values to lay the path for a more resilient future.

label_outline Citizen EngagementSoft PowerSustainability

More from Soft Power

Trends & Ideas

Has the pandemic killed soft power?

At the launch of the Brand Finance's 2020 Global Soft Power Index in February - and how long ago that seems now - Ban Ki-moon spoke passionately about the importance of soft power and global citizenship during a time of trade wars and increasingly hardened borders. "Soft power," he proclaimed, "transcends borders, builds bridges, and brings the world together through dialogue and mutual understanding." 

label_outline Crisis ManagementSoft Power
In The Spotlight

Papatūānuku is Breathing: how Māori values underpin Auckland's sustainable destination management

Closing the narrative gap between your identity and your perceived identity is a challenge for many places. Nick Hill, Chief Executive, Auckland Tourism, Events & Economic Development, shared with us how they're working to change perceptions with a new brand playbook - and how they're putting sustainable destination management at the core of their strategy.

label_outline Cultural HeritageDestination ManagementPlace BrandingSoft PowerSustainability
Opinion PieceTrends & Ideas

Now is the time to rethink our communities

In our recent survey looking at Place Branding for the 2020s, we asked our respondents whether their storytelling was rooted in place values or focused primarily on place assets – the answers suggested a slightly stronger focus on assets. The COVID-19 pandemic has given us an opportunity to pause and think about whether we want to continue on the same tracks we've been running along for the last five decades or if there's time for real change in the way that we think about what we are doing, and what our places stand for.

label_outline Place BrandingReputationSoft PowerSustainabilityTourism