One year after the invasion began, Brand Ukraine launched a new campaign - #WhatWeAreFightingFor – which gave Ukrainian citizens the opportunity to share the reasons they kept fighting for their homeland. We reached out to Maria Lypiatska, Head of Brand Ukraine, to discover how the team are leveraging strong, authentic communication in the face of adversity, and how they’re giving a voice to more than 40 million Ukrainians.

In the face of a complex, dynamic issues environment, what are the points of influence and the methods for controlling your place narrative? How can nation brand teams proactively identify emerging risks to their reputation and take preventative action?

#WhatWeAreFightingFor showed the world over 600,000 reasons to fight, presenting each region of Ukraine to the world and explaining why each square kilometre of their land is essential.

Learn about Ukraine's Award entry for Best Communication Strategy: Place Brand

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Moldova saw thousands of Ukrainian refugees fleeing across their border. As a former Soviet republic, the country was facing a communication crisis. Invest Moldova's Irina Tolstousov explains how they launched the 'Moldova for Peace' campaign and what this means for their citizen engagement and soft power one year on.

We all know that climate change is happening, the evidence is all around us and increasing every year. So why is it so hard for us to think past the short term and make these adjustments? And how do we get people engaged in solving this issue? 

Last week, Brand Finance launched their 2023 Global Soft Power Index. Against a backdrop of uncertainty and instability, it seemed particularly relevant to pause and take stock of how soft power was impacting – and being impacted by – world events. Discover which nations are leading the way and how smaller to mid-sized countries are creating an impact on the global stage.

Maria Lypiatska, Head of BRAND UKRAINE and Strategic Communications Advisor for the MFA, outlines how they’re telling Ukraine’s story to the world during a war and shares lessons from crisis communications that hopefully you’ll never need to use.

On the 24th of February 2022, the war in Ukraine started, forcing hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to leave their home country. As a multinational country, many of whose citizens had previously expressed pro-Russian views, Moldova faced a communication crisis. Discover how Invest Moldova launched a campaign to unite the nation.

As the world went into collective pandemic lockdown, the last thing people stuck inside with their pent-up frustrations needed was a tourism campaign from somewhere they couldn’t go. But with Iceland’s tourism industry and much of the economy on the line, the team at Visit Iceland couldn’t afford to let that stop them. 

Julie Coker, President & CEO of San Diego Tourism Authority, outlines how they're helping event organizers navigate the new normal post-COVID and what you can do to connect your visitors to the lifeblood of your city.

What does an exploding whale have to do with COVID safety measures? Find out how Doncaster Council went viral with their history lessons on Twitter.

What sells newspapers and subscriptions can be hugely damaging to the respective nation, or city, often blowing concerns vastly out of proportion and creating long-lasting reputational impacts that take months or even years to overcome. So how can places retake control of the narrative to tell a new story?

As COVID-19 travel restrictions begin to ease in many countries, destination brands are preparing to spearhead the economic recovery, welcoming new guests and finding ways to ensure they visit again. However, it can be difficult to tell a truly engaging story across multiple channels, so how can destination brands get it right?

Correcting past injustices is critical to  a more positive and equitable future for all our citizens – and to lay the foundations for a more resilient future for our places. To address these challenges, we reached out to our panel of Experts to hear their top tips to ensure your strategies are driving equitable development...