Several years ago the Danish Foreign Ministry was under siege by the Arab world after defending the right of Danish cartoonists to publish cartoons depicting Mohammad in the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten. To get some answers, ReD fanned out into the Middle East to assess how Arabs perceive Danes and Denmark.
ReD studied the attitudes of academics, businesspeople, journalists, activists, conservative religious figures, and the Muslim Brotherhood. Marginalized by an asymmetrical power dynamic with the West, Arabs felt the publication of the cartoons were typical of Western bullying. Denmark, which they had previously admired for its social democratic values and neutrality, had turned their backs on them.
ReD advised the government to make the publicly funded program, The Arab Initiative, more dialogue-based to show Denmark was committed to listening, and to understanding, Arab values and traditions, rather than simply promulgating the Western world view. ReD also suggested that the government engage in aid or cultural exchange programs with other Nordic countries to remind the Arab would that Denmark still shares the Scandinavian values they admire.
In a follow-up government project, ReD conducted a global study on the perception of Denmark to develop a revitalized marketing and branding platform for the country. ReD looked at how people comprehended Denmark’s exports, tourism, research and education, and work-life balance, as well as the strength of Denmark as a country to invest in. Those findings led ReD to develop a brand platform that could be applied in the global marketing initiative’s various focus areas. With this as the strategic foundation, the Danish Government launched a range of branding initiatives, including a marketing fund, working along the brand guidelines from ReD.