The charisma of United States president Barack Obama and his administration is said to play a major role in why America is now ranked as the most admired country in the world. The US climbed to top spot from seventh position last year and is now ahead of France, Germany, the UK and Japan, which completed the top five.
Compiled by GFK Roper Public Affairs & Media, the Nation Brand Index (NBI) measures the global image of 50 countries each year by interviewing 20,000 people in 20 developed and developing nations. NBI founder Simon Anholt said the radical turnaround in America’s popularity must to some extent be linked to Obama’s impact.

The organisers of the St Patrick’s Day parade in Sydney is on the look-out for new sponsors for Australia’s biggest parade marking Ireland’s national day of celebration. Over 35,000 visitors congregate in Sydney’s city business district (CBD) on parade day, which next year will be March 21st.
Gerard Ryan, president of the St Patrick’s Day Committee in Sydney, said the not-for profit event relies on sponsorships, memberships, grants and donations for funding. Packages now on offer include title sponsor and the Irish batchelor of the year fundraiser in February.
Ryan said that they plan to have sponsorship arrangements finalised by the end of October.

Media advertising revenues will continue to show declines and any recovery in spend will be slow, rating agency Fitch has reported in its mid-year review of European media. While the huge decline in ad spend in Europe in recent times is easing, it will be several years before revenues return to the heady days of 2007 and early 2008.
Free-to-air TV will benefit from any recovery but press and outdoor will come under further pressure. Online spend will continue to increase and will have an estimated share of 16 per cent across Europe by 2011, compared to 12.7 per cent last year.
Search will grow in stature and its spend is more like what direct marketing was compared to media spend. There will be an increasing overlap between internet advertising spend and new media. Fitch warns about the dangers of charging for online content as Rupert Murdoch said he plans to do at News Corp from next year.

The legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, whose best known songs include Like a Rolling Stone and Blowin’ in the Wind, is in talks with two car companies to voice their satellite navigation systems. Dylan, real name Robert Zimmerman, now aged 68, revealed the news on his syndicated radio show, Theme Time Radio Hour, which is broadcast in the UK on BBC 6 Music.

Singer and celebrity figure Kerry Katona has been dropped by Iceland from its ad campaigns following a front page story which appeared in the News of the World last Sunday showing the former Atomic Kitten star allegedly snorting cocaine.
A spokesperson for Iceland said it was “impossible” for Katona to continue fronting their campaigns. Katona worked with the supermarket chain for four years and was reportedly on a yearly fee of £250,000.
Since signing up to Iceland, she has been involved in other controversies.
The Daily Mirror reported that Iceland has had to scrap a series of Christmas ads filmed with Katona two weeks ago. Iceland also uses Coleen Nolan and Jason Donovan in its ads.