Building the Country’s Image with the PESO Model: A Strategy Assessment on the ‘Hello Türkiye’ Campaign

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Like brands, countries are in competition with each other, and this competition includes efforts to build a reputation and create a positive perception about the country, not only in the political, economic or cultural field. Public relations, marketing and advertising activities in country image campaigns are the primary targets for ensuring media visibility. In this context, the current study focuses on the strategic communication management practices of country administrations, which aim to create country value in country image campaigns, on an international platform. Accordingly, the image campaign in the ‘Hello Türkiye’ project, in which Turkey changed its name from ‘Turkey’ to ‘Türkiye’, where it is internationally known, is evaluated. With such a campaign, Türkiye's image perception abroad is tried to be increased. The planning and implementation stages of the campaign were followed and examined. Project subject, campaign objectives, strategic planning, indicators, messages, target groups, visual identity, and other issues are evaluated within the framework of the PESO model. The model refers to the coordinated use of paid, earned, shared and owned media channels in public relations and marketing campaigns. This model adds value to the communication strategy of campaigns and allows each channel to be implemented very effectively for the announcement of campaign messages. Using the PESO framework, the focus is on the communication tools and media platforms used in Türkiye's ‘Hello Türkiye’ campaign. The role of campaign planning and strategic communication in campaigns is examined in announcing the country image campaign by integrating communication channels. Research data were collected in June 2024. The data were obtained from the web page and social media accounts of the Presidency of Communication of the Republic of Türkiye and news websites. The collected information is explained by descriptive analysis from qualitative content analysis.