The 2020 Global Talent Competitiveness Index ranks 132 countries and 155 cities for their ability to attract, grow and retain talent. What can we learn from cities who have mastered the art of competing for talent against the economic might of the tier one cities?

Effective digital transformation is key for the future success of place brands, destination marketing organisations and investment promotion agencies. So what lessons can we learn from the place brands that have implemented effective – and ingenious – digital reforms?

What does digital transformation actually look like in the destination marketing and investment promotion space? Emma Håkansson, Head of Destination Development for the City of Helsingborg, Sweden, explained how they transitioned from tourist information centres to a digital-first approach.

Estonia and Costa Rica have learned how to turn nation and place branding theory into practice - but what is the key to their nation branding success?

More and more, people's perceptions are formed online. But how does this impact place brand strategies? Jose Torres, CEO at Bloom Consulting shared his insights with us on how nation brands are evolving to meet challenges of the 21st century.

Digital presence, search results and online reputation. In today’s fast-paced world there’s no way around the growing importance of this correlated pyramid. Countries, regions and cities already know that their Place Brand needs to be strategically managed in terms of having a strong digital presence to achieve great search results, based on a positive online reputation.

With so much on offer, how do people choose where to go on their next vacation? According to the 2014 Google Traveler study, 65% of leisure travelers search the Internet as a trusted source of information when choosing a destination for travel. In many ways, the digital perception of place brand is the prospective tourist’s only reality.

So what is the digital appeal for countries in Latin America & the Caribbean?

Collaboration is the key to a success of your place brand vision. Bettina Garibaldi, Senior Vice President at Ketchum, shared some of her insights with us around how collaboration can be leveraged to maximise the impact of your communication strategy and ensures that you're able to make the best use of your resources.

The FutureBrand Country Index measures the strength of perception of countries around the world in the same way we study consumer or corporate brands. Now in its second decade, the Index reorders the World Bank Top 75 countries by GDP according to strength of perception.

The Index examines what transforms a country from a spot on a map to a place our survey respondents ultimately want to invest in, live in, visit, and buy goods and services from. Countries have traditionally been measured and ranked by measures of might — GDP, population size, even a sovereign’s nuclear arsenal. However, in the current day when our world is defined by rapid change, do these measures continue to make sense in the ranking of nations?

At City Nation Place, we talk about creating and implementing nation branding strategies that engage all stakeholders. The Brand Summit South Africa is a working example of an initiative to bring together all the key voices of a nation to focus on how to develop and promote the brand to the world. Ahead of the second Summit, taking place on 6 & 7 June in Johannesburg, we caught up with Solly Moeng, the convenor of the Summit, to find out more.