The Great British Soft Power Bubble
Britain’s pride in itself has fallen, but what does the rest of the world think about our greatest soft power exports? ING Media’s analysis reveals what this means for UK plc and the Government’s mission to attract inward investment.
The British Social Attitudes survey has revealed a significant decline in national pride over the past decade across major indices which could be defined as soft power assets.
The survey, conducted by NatCen, reveals that the percentage of Britons (1,600 surveyed) who are either “proud” or “very proud” of each of those assets.
Arts & Literature (79.3%) and Sport (77.0%) evoke the most pride from Britains, with Political influence (47.6%) and Economic Achievements (44.5%) the least.
Despite some of those figures sounding lofty, they have all fallen over the past decade. Arts & Literature, down 1 percentage point, Sports (-7), History (-22), Democracy (-16), Political Influence (-11) and Economic Achievements (-13). Brits, hardly famed for their optimism, have had a tough time of it since 2013. Economic crises and Brexit have combined to sour confidence, trust in politics is at an all-time low and our colonial past is being rightfully questioned.
But – how does this reflect on the global stage? Does this downgrade in pride mirror what the rest of the world thinks about us?
We used ING Media’s digital listening tool to analyse what the rest of the world thinks about Britain’s leading soft power exports, by measuring the overall sentiment attributed to each, both positive and negative.
Arts & Literature (14.8%), Sport (14.1%) and Economic Achievements (15.0%) are viewed by the global community as the most positive soft power assets that Britain has to offer. In a stark contrast, History (21.5%), Democracy (25.3%) and Political Influence (18.5%) elicit a greater proportion of negative sentiment from the rest of the world.
Last year ING created a bespoke Soft Power index, which ranked 50 UK cities by influence of culture, travel, education diversity and the environment. Additional analysis reveals there is a strong correlation between a city which ranks higher on ING’s Soft Power index and the volume of conversations about said city and inward investment.
As global countries compete for inward investment in a competitive landscape, failing to communicate cultural assets effectively can reduce the impact of a country’s inward investment prospects.
As Britain enters an era of new Government, one with a large mandate and elected on a manifesto to get the country building more homes and more infrastructure, communicating our soft power assets will still be key to attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). If we can’t find pride in ourselves, should we expect others to?
Stability and confidence will restore some of that pride. But so will an injection of investment to ensure that our assets are promoted domestically, and internationally. The UK has a turbulent decade, but London and the UK’s largest cities remain the most attractive places to deploy capital in Europe. As investors begin to loosen their purse string and dust off that dry powder, positioning the UK as the global soft power powerhouse will ensure a stream of income.