Poland: exploring the relationship between national brand and national culture

Following its break from the Soviet Union, during which time “the Poles … found in the state to which they were subject primarily an enemy” (Cobban, 1969), Poland joined the EU in May 2004. Vincent (1999), conducted work into national identity in the former Eastern Bloc nations of Bosnia and Hercegovina. He found that these nations are also trying to “renegotiate their identities” through the symbols of their cultures. From a marketing perspective, when communicating that national brand to the world, Kotler and Gertner (2002) believe that “to be effective, the desired image must be close to reality, believable, appealing and distinctive (there are already too many 'friendly places' out there)”. The image of Poland varies not only across the world, generations, levels of experience, but also its own citizens have different opinions about their homeland. The Polish Tourist Organisation (PTO) is a national tourist board and as a main stakeholder in the industry it supervises the activities of regional tourist boards. Its role in promoting the country is especially important on the international market and trade. The Polish Tourist Organisation manages the brand, but everything else creates this brand. The real ambassadors of the brand “Poland” are amongst others Lech Walesa (politician), Chopin and Paderewski (musicians), Nicholas Copernicus and Maria Curie-Sklodowska (scientists), Roman Polanski (director) and many others. The aim of this research is, therefore, to identify the elements of national culture that contribute to a feeling of Polish identity among Polish people in order to identify the essence of the Polish national brand, and to identify the way the Polish national culture is being communicated through the Polish national brand by conducting a semiotic study into the meanings the cultural symbols of this nation represent both within and outside of Poland.