Maxim Behar: Dedicated "Minister of Image" Can Help Branding Bulgaria Much Better

Exclusively for Novinite, Maxim Behar shared his thoughts on the image and branding of Bulgaria. According to the world-renowned PR expert, a "Minister of Image" is the key to better promoting Bulgaria in front of the world

1. Mr. Behar, as a globally recognized PR expert and Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Seychelles in Bulgaria, you have a unique view on the image and branding of Bulgaria - both at home and abroad. How would you describe the current level of our country?

Quite disturbing and I would say surprisingly passive.

I don't remember a quality campaign for the branding of Bulgaria since many years ago, the last attempts at successful promotion were practically twenty years ago. This makes us desperately uncompetitive and uninteresting.

A week ago, I chaired the annual meeting of the diplomatic corps with businesses and the government, and at it the Minister of Finance Asen Vassilev mentioned that Bulgaria spends about 50 million leva a year on the promotion of the country. I could not believe it. And we're not talking about promoting only tourism, which everyone has so actively focused on. The "Bulgaria" brand must be worked on every day with a lot of energy, with a lot of creativity and a long-term vision, so that our country can be visible with all its advantages. Visible - mainly for investment and doing good business. If this happens, tour operators will be able to sell their packages to Bulgaria much more successfully, but they will also naturally invest in the promotion of the country and its services.

Twenty years ago, together with my good friend and partner, the former governor of Nevada Bob Miller, we held a series of international conferences, which we called...