A deep dive into Thai soft power by the Director of Research and Insights at Brand Finance
Key Takeaways from the talk session “The Role of Culture and Heritage in Strengthening National Soft Power: Strategic Framework and Measurement” This session provided a platform for those interested to delve deep into the pivotal role of culture and heritage in propelling and reinforcing Thailand's soft power.
This talk session was held as part of the Creative Excellence Awards 2024 (CE Awards 2024) on 29 October 2024. Mr. Benjamin Webb, Director of Research and Insights for Asia Pacific at Brand Finance PLC., a leading brand valuation and strategy consultancy, and is renowned for its contributions to the Global Soft Power Index, shared profound insights into the key factors driving strong soft power, particularly emphasizing the roles of culture, heritage, and creativity."
Mr. Benjamin provided an in-depth perspective on the factors influencing the creation of strong soft power, emphasizing the significance of culture, cultural heritage, and creativity in driving the nation's soft power to new heights.
This forum offers a unique opportunity to explore the perspectives of international experts and foreign nationals on Thailand's soft power. CEA invites you to discover the insights of a renowned global brand management firm regarding Thailand's potential to enhance its soft power. We have summarized the key points from the presentation for your convenience.
Soft Power is Increasingly Important in an Era of Rising Coercion
Benjamin Webb began his lecture by defining soft power as “the ability of a nation to influence the preferences and behaviors of various stakeholders in the international arena (states, companies, communities, individuals, etc.) through attraction or persuasion rather than coercion.” He emphasized that in a time when the use of force is on the rise globally, the role of soft power becomes even more crucial.
He further explained that soft power yields results in two main areas: diplomacy and commerce. In this Talk, he focused particularly on the latter. Soft power plays a role in reflecting the strength of a nation’s brand perception and leveraging these perceptions to attract investment, trade, skills, and tourism. Consequently, soft power enhances economic growth.
Brand Finance has been tracking the strengths and distinctive values of leading nations worldwide for over two decades. Since 2020, they have been compiling the Global Soft Power Index, covering 193 UN member countries through research and collaboration with academics. This has resulted in various metrics and pillars used to rank the soft power of each nation.
Similar to most brand valuation research, Benjamin Webb stated, “Our study of soft power serves both a control function (where we are now and how we can develop further) and an analytical function (where we should focus for continuous improvement).”
This Talk emphasized the crucial pillar of culture and cultural heritage, one of the eight pillars, which include governance, international relations, business and trade, education and science, future sustainability, media communication, culture and cultural heritage, and people values. In terms of culture, Italy and France hold the top two positions, respectively. Japan leads in Asia at 6th place, and Thailand holds the highest position in ASEAN at 23rd in the world, moving up 9 places from the previous year.
When delving deeper into the pillar of culture and cultural heritage, which is divided into six subcategories—namely, influence in the arts and entertainment industry, globally beloved cuisine, being a great place to visit, leadership in sports, attractive lifestyle, and richness of cultural heritage—Thailand has moved up 9 places from 2023 (from 32nd to 23rd).
In the cultural details, “globally beloved cuisine” ranks the highest at 6th in the world (and 2nd in Asia). Areas for potential improvement include tourism, which has strong potential but saw a slight drop in ranking this year (from 9th to 16th), and investment in the arts and entertainment industry, which moved up just one place from last year to 35th.
The research also reveals that the arts and entertainment industry, attractive lifestyle, and cuisine are three factors that strongly influence people’s decisions to visit a country.
Focusing on Asian countries, Thailand has several strong indicators in the cultural pillar, including globally beloved cuisine (ranked 2nd), great places to visit (ranked 3rd), and richness of cultural heritage (ranked 16th). However, there are three areas with significant potential for improvement: influence in the arts and entertainment industry, having an attractive lifestyle, and leadership in sports.
Beyond the cultural and heritage pillar, Benjamin Webb also discussed the business and trade pillar. The survey identified two key factors that enhance a country’s soft power: a stable and strong economy and the production of globally loved products. The latter presents an opportunity for the creative industry to fill the gap, strengthening brand products to showcase the nation’s leading brands to the world.
Regarding Thailand’s position in the global soft power index, Benjamin Webb concluded with a strategy for enhancing cultural prominence and appeal: “The most interesting and influential cultures often reflect a distinctive blend of tradition and modernity,” a concept emphasized by Professor David Ellwood. Simply put, integrating past experiences with continuous innovation is key to maintaining relevance and desirability. He praised this approach as highly suitable for Thailand, as evidenced by all the winners of the CE Awards 2024.