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“Brave Like Ukraine”: A critical discourse perspective on Ukraine’s wartime brand

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Abstract

Two months after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Ukraine’s government launched a major nation-branding initiative, which has come to be known as the Brave Campaign. This is, arguably, the first instance of a state using brand communication as a strategic tool in a war. The campaign also marks a significant departure from Ukraine’s previous nation-branding messages. Drawing on critical discourse theory, this essay considers why this change in messaging strategies was possible and what it signals about the larger geopolitical and ideological context within which the Russia–Ukraine war is being fought. The essay concludes by posing a set of new questions for future research on public diplomacy and nation branding, prompted by the events of this war.

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Notes

  1. Arguably, the campaign introducing this slogan was Ukraine’s first full-fledged nation-branding effort, developed on occasion of the country’s hosting of the 2012 European soccer championship (Ståhlberg and Bolin 2016).

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  1. University of Denver, Denver, USA

    Nadia Kaneva

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  1. Nadia Kaneva
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Correspondence to Nadia Kaneva.

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Kaneva, N. “Brave Like Ukraine”: A critical discourse perspective on Ukraine’s wartime brand. Place Brand Public Dipl 19, 232–236 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41254-022-00273-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41254-022-00273-3

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