Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, President of Croatia, is the official patron of Communication Management Forum 2019, organised by Edward Bernays University College.

The President recognized the importance of nation branding and, at the end of 2018, President Grabar Kitarović established a Working Group whose main goal is development of identity and the Croatia brand. The Group brings together renowned experts and scholars from varied fields such as marketing, branding, sports and culture for the purpose of preparing a complete model of Croatia as a brand. So far, four workshops have been held by the Working Group, and in mid-April they will present guidelines on how Croatia should be branded in the future. The guidelines will be the basis for promotional campaigns that will address different target groups such as foreign businesspersons, seasonal workers and tourists, politicians, as well as citizens of Croatia.

Some topics of discussion that the Working Group dealt with thus far are ways and possibilities of branding Croatia, the value of the brand and the benefits of branding that would directly affect economic success, product placement abroad and attracting foreign investment to Croatia. The Communication Management Forum Conference will include these topics, and the scholars and experts who will present at the conference will certainly contribute to the improvement of the process of creating a unique Croatian brand.