Scotland’s nation branding has evolved significantly over the years, adapting to changing global perceptions and domestic expectations. Thea McGovern has been closely involved in this journey, working with Leith to shape Brand Scotland’s creative direction for over 15 years.
In this interview, Thea shares insights into Scotland’s branding evolution, the challenges of balancing domestic and international appeal, and the role of creativity in place branding.
Thea, having worked with Brand Scotland for over 15 years, you’ve witnessed its evolution firsthand. What would you say have been the most significant changes in Scotland’s nation branding approach over this time?
Leith has been providing creative support to Scotland’s nation branding work since 2005.
One of the most significant changes I’ve seen is the huge growth in trust and collaboration between the live, work, study, visit, and business partners. Scotland was an early pioneer of a fully joined-up approach to nation branding, but it’s taken time to understand how to get the best out of that relationship. Finding consensus on creative ideas is always tricky, but we’re definitely getting better at it.
There’s also been a big change in how we view the role of communications. In the early years after Scottish devolution, the focus was on facts and figures—showing Scotland was bigger, better, and more world-leading than people realised, summed up in the line “The best small country in the world.”
But as Scotland flexed its devolved muscles, implementing a range of socially progressive actions, we’ve been able to move to a more values-led communications strategy and storytelling platform.
You’ve been deeply involved in shaping Brand Scotland’s story to resonate with both domestic and international audiences. What are some of the key challenges in finding a balance that appeals to these diverse audiences?
Balancing domestic and international resonance can be tough. Angles that work brilliantly for international audiences can be tricky to land domestically. For example, Brand Scotland had a long-term communications platform called “Scotland is Now”, which did a fantastic job of showing international audiences that Scotland is more modern and progressive than their mental images of bagpipes and castles might suggest.
But many people living in Scotland found the expression baffling, and it became problematic when the domestic experience of ‘now’ was dominated by post-Covid fragility and cost-of-living pressures.
In 2022, we went back to basics, listening to a diverse group of native and new Scots about what made them feel proud to say they live in Scotland. The examples they shared were fascinating and often completely unexpected—from the way Scotland has hosted global events like the Commonwealth Games, to small acts of kindness, to the boldly ‘grown-up’ ways Scotland is addressing problems like knife crime and drug deaths.
We explored these emerging values with key international audiences and Brand Scotland stakeholders to find the sweet spot in terms of overlap. This led to our new values-led positioning, which shows how Scotland combines head, heart, and spirit to make good things happen. The fact this is rooted in the feelings of domestic Scots is helping build support and advocacy, which is great to see.
As part of Leith, you bring a creative agency’s perspective to nation branding. What are some of the rewards and challenges of translating nation branding theory into practical, impactful campaigns?
Advertising and design often get a bad rap in academic place branding theory, accused of being a poor cover-up for a lack of policy substance. But in Scotland, it rarely feels like an ‘either/or’ scenario. If Glasgow is hosting a global event like the COP26 climate conference, and Scotland has a strong story to tell around renewables, then leveraging that ‘global moment’ through targeted paid media—and measuring the impact this has on perceptions of Scotland—makes good strategic sense.
And while no business will ever relocate to Scotland just because they like our logo, I’m fiercely proud of the way Scotland’s thistle marque has been embraced by partners and stakeholders across the live, work, study, visit, and business pillars—helping our modest budgets build consistent top-of-mind associations.
One particularly rewarding moment was the audacious love letter we helped Scotland send to the people of Europe on the eve of Brexit (backed by the fact that Scotland voted to remain in the EU). This “symbolic gesture” (to use Simon Anholt’s phrase) unleashed a tsunami of love for Scotland online, with over 8.8 million engagements in just a few hours, including heartfelt messages from people vowing to continue visiting, studying, working, and doing business here.
You’ve worked on everything from behaviour change campaigns to Scotch whisky and healthcare brands. How does this breadth of experience influence your approach to place branding?
I’m sure people who work on place branding 100% of the time have a depth of understanding I’ll never achieve, but I like to think that working on a diverse mix of business and behavioural challenges means I bring a different perspective.
For example, persuading people to wear face coverings during Covid doesn’t seem related to nation branding. But the Scottish Government’s pandemic communications strategy drew heavily on the work of Professor Stephen Reicher, who explored how national identity and shared values can be leveraged to support pro-social behaviours. So, working on Covid public health communications gave me valuable insight into how people in Scotland see themselves and want to be seen by the world.
Humour can be a tricky but powerful tool in place branding. How do you think humour can help countries stand out in a competitive global landscape?
Humour can be hard to land effectively in diverse markets, but that doesn’t mean we should shy away from it. Nation branding communications can sometimes be too earnest, self-important, and predictable—getting lost in a sea of sameness. So, when a place is confident enough to be self-deprecating and funny, it can stand out a mile.
Examples like Iceland mocking the metaverse, VisitOslo’s downbeat spokesperson questioning “is it even a city?”, and Switzerland’s comic use of Roger Federer—these show the massive PR and social media reach that can be achieved when places are brave enough to share their sense of humour.
From your experience with Brand Scotland, what advice would you offer to other nations or regions looking to strengthen their place brand?
The Brand Scotland client team is amazing, and Leith is only involved in a fraction of what they do day-to-day. But one of the benefits of our long client-agency relationship is the test-and-learn culture that creates. That’s the best way to find creative solutions that add value to a broader place branding strategy.
Thank you, Thea!
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