Journal
Journal.
Perspectives on nation-branding, media strategy, destination marketing and investment promotion.
- Our storyThe founders
Reported. Produced. Represented.
More than two decades placing nations in the world's most trusted media, from The New York Times to the World Economic Forum, to representing BBC News, Bloomberg and Robb Report.
Read our story → - AI
What AI Can't Automate in Advertising
AI is automating the machinery of media: planning, buying, targeting, increasingly the creative itself. As reach becomes abundant and cheap, the scarce asset shifts to the one thing AI cannot manufacture: trust, and the credibility of the editorial environment a brand keeps. Why automation raises the value of premium media rather than lowering it.
2 min read → - Nation branding
Nation-Branding (Marque-Pays): A Guide for Governments and Investment Agencies
How governments, investment promotion agencies and tourism boards build national reputation through trusted international media: what nation-branding is, what it is not, the channels that work, and how to measure it.
2 min read → - BBC
Let the Journey Begin: how our work with the BBC started in Myanmar
Image Diplomacy became an official BBC News representative through a single campaign: Myanmar's first nation-branding film, "Let the Journey Begin", launched at the 2013 World Economic Forum in Nay Pyi Taw. How it actually happened, including the part we don't usually talk about.
6 min read → - Premium media
Why Editorial Context Beats Programmatic for Reaching Decision-Makers
Programmatic advertising optimises for cost and scale. For governments, investors and premium brands trying to reach decision-makers, the environment a message appears in matters more than the number of people it reaches. Why editorial context outperforms the open ad market.
2 min read → - Media buying
How to Advertise in Premium International Media Across EMEA
A practical guide for advertisers, governments and brands seeking presence in the world's most authoritative news, business and lifestyle media across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Indian Ocean: formats, audiences, markets and how to buy.
3 min read → - Destination marketing
Why Malta's Future Was Never About More Tourists
For eighteen years we've argued that Malta's future was about which visitors it wins, not how many. The first direct New York flight, the BBC campaigns and the Robb Report programme are that strategy finally coming into its own.
4 min read → - Government communications
How to Select a Government Media Representation Agency
Governments, ministries, tourism boards and investment promotion agencies face a specific challenge appointing a media representation partner: the stakes are institutional, not just commercial. The criteria, weighting and red flags that matter most.
4 min read → - Government communications
Why Government Media Campaigns Fail
Government media campaigns, whether tourism promotion, investment attraction, policy communication or nation-branding, consistently underperform relative to budget. The cause is rarely message quality; it is strategic misalignment between message, environment and audience.
4 min read → - Destination marketing
How Major Tourism Organisations Buy Commercial Media
National boards, destination marketers, luxury hotel groups and sovereign tourism authorities use a mix of five commercial media models. How they work, where the gaps appear, and the one model most organisations underuse.
3 min read → - Nation branding
Why Nation-Branding Belongs in Trusted Media, Not Just Advertising
Investment promotion agencies and tourism boards win attention when their message carries the authority of the platform around it. Here is why placement in trusted editorial brands outperforms standalone advertising, and how to measure it.
2 min read → - Investment promotion
What Investment Promotion Agencies Get Wrong About Reach
Most IPA media budgets are spent chasing impressions in markets where the actual investors aren't looking. A sharper model starts from the investor, not the audience size, and changes where, how and to whom you spend.
2 min read → - Destination marketing
The Case for Live Events in Destination Marketing
Digital reach gets a destination noticed. Convening power gets it chosen. Why the most effective destination campaigns pair editorial media with live, invitation-only rooms, and how the two compound.
2 min read →