If you decide to search “Ukraine’s reputation” on Google, you will find a story by The Guardian called “Welcome to Ukraine, the most corrupt nation in Europe” among the first search results.
Сrisis, conflict with Russia, cheap labor market also are among the first 10 results. There is not a word about our good-natured people, tourist attractions, companies, scientists or, say, agricultural achievements. Of course, we in Ukraine know it very well. But who else does?
For me personally, projects and meetings of the last few months have made Ukraine’s acute problem even more obvious: There is a lack of a regular flow of positive content from our country to the outside world. If they know something about Ukraine, usually these are not the most flattering things: war, corruption, sex tourism, piracy hub, and more.
Making international headlines is a simple matter. Scandals and disasters of different scale are the shortest way to get into the ears and eyes of the world’s community. But this is a road to nowhere. We need systematic and regular work not only at the high state level but also at the level of businesses and public organizations.
Our country’s international branding is a powerful development tool, which, when properly used, can attract not only investors and tourists. When a country creates and broadcasts its own content, filling the information vacuum with useful and positive information about its uniqueness, then the impact of negative news, either random events or a planned flow of misinformation – let us call it an information war – will be weakened. This way the world may learn what we, not someone else, want to tell about Ukraine. This is a truism discussed by everyone, but still, there is a lack of actions.
Power of сommunication
In order to transform the understanding into actions, ensuring a regular flow of communication on different levels simultaneously is of primary importance. Firstly, it should start at the state level. Everyone should learn how to communicate professionally: ambassadors, official representatives, civil servants and organizations that work on creating Ukraine’s positive reputation both at the national and global levels.
We are open-hearted and hospitable people, but when it comes to taking responsibility to assure such openness at the state level, there are no steps taken. What do our embassies in European countries do? What kind of events do they organize and what kind of press releases do they send to news agencies? Our declared openness and pro-European orientation are not worth a dime if the world still perceives us as a part of the post-Soviet space.
Over the past few years, I have been actively communicating and collaborating with journalists and editors of foreign media. For example, when I asked why Ukraine is so little known in the world, my BBC colleagues gave a clear answer: There is a lack of permanent and systematic communication to the outside world, as well as silence in response to official requests from news agencies and systematic “non-participation” in events by our official representatives abroad. In other words, no one knows about us because we do not talk about ourselves, meanwhile, the information vacuum is being filled not by us and not in our favor.
Secondly, communication should be equally thought out and systematic at the corporate level. Journalists will not find out about the achievements of your business unless we start telling them about it and do it competently. After all, many Ukrainian media do not know about your existence, not to mention the foreign ones.
Thirdly, we need to join the competition – to learn from the experience of other countries, draw conclusions, improve professionalism and fight for investment and markets. Ukraine is not unique in its aspirations and problems. We have to fight for attention and resources.
Moreover, one more important aspect I often think about today is the ethics of business. It is important for us to learn how to cooperate with each other within an organization, area of activity and even the market. After all, we will become much stronger, if we stop hogging the blanket and increase the size of this blanket together. This requires ethics, respect, and awareness. Ukraine should have the wisdom to overcome the stereotypes and start changes from within. We can become stronger globally, if we develop and implement significant projects in the sustainable development of business and the country, save the uniqueness of Ukraine and tell the world about it, building a positive image of our country.
Olga Diakova is the CEO of the David Lynch Foundation in Eastern Europe, Managing Partner of O2PR Agency, Head of Slow Food Kyiv NGO.
