This paper demonstrates the power of a country’s brand name in attracting and repelling people considering irregular migration – a dynamic we label your “brand impact”. Four out of five European countries show a clear positive or negative effect in a test designed to isolate the influence of the country’s name. For countries engaged in official and unofficial efforts to shape flows of irregular migrants, the test highlights the need to take your country’s brand into account during activity research, design and evaluation.
If you are in political communications or you design migration-related communications campaigns, the implications include:

• Know your country’s brand impact: Seefar’s research shows how smart interventions will benefit from targeted research that identifies and monitors brand impact.
• Leverage your brand name: If you use and develop your brand wisely, you will achieve better results for less effort.
• Demonstrate results to voters or those funding your campaigns: Your stakeholders will support you more if they understand how you are using the brand and how it is important to contextualize results.