Developing brand identity for Slovenia with opinion leaders

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present the first systematic approach toward brand development of the country of Slovenia. The approach was of a holistic nature as relevant areas (i.e. economy, tourism, culture, science, sport) and related key stakeholders that affect and co-create the Slovenia brand had been determined in advance and invited to participate in building Slovenia's identity. Design/methodology/approach - Specifically, the paper presents the results of creating the identity of the "I feel Slovenia" brand from the viewpoint of 30 Slovenian opinion leaders. The author invited experts to express their opinions through a Delphi method, which was repeated in two iterations. The results of both iterations are presented in the paper. Their opinions represented the first step of the process in developing identity elements of the Slovenia brand. Findings - According to opinion leaders, the key idea of brand identity should be related to Slovenian nature, which should also be reasonably incorporated in other brand identity elements. Practical implications - The development of brand identity with opinion leaders represents the first, but very important step towards a systematic process in developing the country brand of Slovenia. Originality/value - The brand-building process was executed on a real example of the country of Slovenia, which has never been a strong country brand. The paper could serve as a case study for other countries in central and eastern Europe, which have not worked seriously on their country brands until now.