Jay Wang is an associate professor of strategic communication at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. His numerous research projects and articles address the role of nation communication in the contemporary process of globalization, with an area focus on China and public diplomacy. He recently led a research project on “Nation Branding at Expo Shanghai 2010” that explored and examined how countries pursued nation branding and how Chinese visitors experienced the various destinations through the national pavilions.

With the end of the Shanghai World Expo and the conclusions of his research project in preparation, we were particularly interested to hear his thoughts on the overall performance of the Korean pavilion and the role of such a global event in shaping the perception of nations and experiencing destinations.

In this interview, Jay Wang discusses the following points:

• The Korean Pavilion was highly localized for the Chinese audience, with a broad spectrum of experiences;

• The pavilion featured a strong behavioral engagement;

• Coherence and consistency between a focused message and the creative execution are keys to provide a compelling brand experience in a pavilion;

• The competitive context of the Expo has to be taken into account in the positioning of the pavilion and in developing the execution;

• The multifaceted aspect of the Expo and the participation of the general public make it a unique communal experience for a global society, with the potential to enhance the international stature of the host country.

I. The Korean Pavilion

Branding Korea: before we go into more details about your research project at the Shanghai World Expo, what were your impressions on the Korean Pavilion and its overall performance and evaluation by the visitors?

Jay Wang: The theme of the South Korean Pavilion is “Friendly City, Colorful Life.” With an impressive architecture and design, the pavilion offered a broad spectrum of experiences, from exhibits and displays to multimedia interactives; from self-directed touring of the pavilion to a more “controlled” experience of movie presentation. It also highlighted Korean pop culture, and was particularly strong in engaging visitors behaviorally through interactive technologies.

We surveyed 480 visitors at eight different pavilions (Brazil, India, Israel, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, UAE, and USA). Our research of their pavilion experience shows that, among the eight pavilions, South Korea came in third in terms of overall evaluation, after UAE and Spain.

A closer look at visitor experience at the levels of sensory, affective, intellectual and behavioral reveals that South Korea stands out on the behavioral dimension. That is to say the pavilion was successful in eliciting visitor participation, such as engaging in hands-on experiences during the visit. In other words, the South Korean Pavilion is a “high-involvement” pavilion, as compared with UAE or USA, which relied primarily on movies to tell their national story.

But, interestingly, our research suggests that behavioral engagement per se doesn’t lead to overall positive evaluation of pavilion experience; rather the other three dimensions of sensory, affective and intellectual appeared to contribute more significantly to positive pavilion experience.

II. Best Practices for National Pavilions

Branding Korea: based on the results of your research project and your experience as a visitor, what were some of the main successful aspects featured in the Korean and other national pavilions?

Jay Wang: To provide a compelling brand experience in a space, like a retail store or in this case a pavilion, one needs a focused message and creative execution; and, most of all, coherence and consistency between them. It is story-telling through the medium of space, within a short time frame (less than an hour for most of the pavilions). There were many excellent, well-thought-out executions in the four different halls within the Korean pavilion. The brand experience the pavilion delivered is multi-faceted and comprehensive. But how to create a seamless story among the various components of the pavilion to ensure a robust visitor experience as a whole needs further discussion.

In the case of the Expo, perhaps Chinese visitors favored a more linear form of story-telling and a more “passive” experience, as evidenced by the overwhelming positive reception of UAE and Spain. This could be attributed to the interests and needs of Chinese visitors, the limited attention span they had in general at the Expo; not to mention the long wait time to get into the pavilion. After all, visitors’ experience at the Expo is by and large impressionistic. Like tourists, what attracts them tends to be things out of the ordinary.

III. Targeting a local vs. a global audience

Branding Korea: in your research project, we can see that some pavilions were targeted at a global audience whereas others were more specifically localized and tailored to Chinese visitors. In this context, how did the Korean pavilion position itself?

Jay Wang: The messaging at the South Korean Pavilion was highly localized, as opposed to the Spanish Pavilion, for instance. In other words, if the Expo had been held in a different country, for Spain the same pavilion could have been appreciated with only slight tailoring necessary (e.g., the exterior of the pavilion); while for South Korea a totally different pavilion would have to be built.

UAE, in many ways, also tailored its messages to Chinese visitors. But the level of Chinese prior knowledge of South Korea and UAE is decidedly different. The lack of awareness of UAE was tantamount to tabula rasa, making it more efficient to shape Chinese views of the country. On the other hand, for South Korea, it is probably much more challenging to pique Chinese curiosity about the country. The pavilion thus scored relatively low on the “intellectual” dimension of brand response.

Regardless of message tailoring, there needs to be an element of surprise somewhere in presenting and delivering the experience. That moment of delight, when done well and resonant with visitors, is critical to the enjoyment of the pavilion.

Moreover, in an event like the Expo, countries are also competing with each other in showcasing the best about themselves. For years, Korean pop culture has attracted a wide following in China. It is considered cool and trendy. But in our pavilion brand-personality analysis, the Spanish Pavilion scored the highest on measures such as “cool”, “trendy”, and “exciting”. So, it is important to consider the competitive context of the Expo when developing positioning and execution.

IV. The role of World Expos in branding nations

Branding Korea: during recent years, Korea has pursued efforts to organize major international events such as the F1 Grand Prix, the G20 Summit, and the upcoming Expo 2012 in Yeosu, to name a few. What are your thoughts on the importance for Korea to host such international events in terms of nation branding and global image?

Jay Wang: As an international exposition, the Yeosu Expo will be of a much smaller scale than the Shanghai Expo. Still it has the potential of enhancing South Korea’s international stature, like many other important global gatherings the country has hosted. While the evolving World Expo is multifaceted, with an ever broadening array of players and stakeholders, the participation of the general public remains as its core mission. Thus, the Expo is a unique and valuable institution for it provides a communal experience for global society, as it grapples with myriad tensions and challenges. The Shanghai Expo has renewed global interest in this historical institution, and I hope the Yeosu Expo will help to improve World Expo’s global reach and influence.