The Possible Ways of Country Brand Communication and Their Classification Based on the POE Model

The number of marketing communications tools and channels is steadily increasing – in addition, this growth has been accelerated since the emergence of the Internet and social media. On the one hand, there is an increasing dilemma of which tools one should choose from the plentiful options, and, on the other hand, the (material, human, and time) resources devoted to this are limited. This is valid for the marketing communications of “classic” products, services, and countries. This review article attempts to present the variety of available options with the help of the POE (paid, owned, earned) model and describe their advantages and disadvantages. The novelty of the study is that it focuses on a review of country communication campaigns and initiatives. It offers various visual examples for the different components of the POE model, clarifying the paid media, owned media, and earned media options for country brand communication. It mostly uses examples from Hungary, but other countries’ good practices are also included. Finally, as a result of the analysis, the article summarizes the possible ways of country brand communication according to the POE model in a summary table, which may also contribute to the work of academics and practitioners in the field.