Technology for positioning the military-industrial complex in the strategy of Russian national branding as a response to global threats and challenges
Authors:   Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Danilova Elena A. ,   National Research Tomsk State University
Published: February 2023

The article is aimed at studying the symbolic and political grounds for the formation of a strategy for national branding of the Russian Federation using the innovative competencies of the domestic military-industrial complex and their positioning in the context of modern global challenges and threats. A study of the foreign policy situation indicates an increase in geopolitical tension and an increase in the values of national security and defense capabilities, which form the basis of the identity of the national brand of the Russian Federation. The intensification of efforts in the field of international branding of armed forces and military associations indicates the need for similar measures by Russia. The study is based on value and historical approaches that allow us to determine the competitive identity and symbolic foundations of the Russian national brand in the field of defense industry, method of unincorporated observation, the induction method in terms of studying certain successful practices of positioning the defense industry for their possible further replication as part of the implementation of the national branding strategy. An important part of the national branding strategy is the implementation of an active memory policy in order to consolidate in the mass consciousness a special perception of some historical events to design a projective image of the future. Political elites and the state as a whole play a key role in carrying out events within the framework of the policy of remembrance and national branding in general. The topic of the defense industry occupies a significant place in the rhetoric of the Russian top leadership, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, which indicates the possibility of implementing national branding in this way. Imagery and visualization in systematic messages about products, projects and developments in the domestic defense industry, which is strategically significant and one of the most innovative industries in the Russian economy, ensure the effectiveness of the national branding strategy of the Russian Federation. The modern policy of innovation contributes to the fillability of the national brand, specifies it. The use of innovation tools by innovative actors in strategic industries, including in the field of defense and security, allows us to identify Russian “innovative belts”, whose representatives can co-realize the strategy of national branding. The article identifies key target audiences and subjects of national branding, offers recommendations for its practical step-by-step implementation. A forecast of the prospects for the implementation of the policy of forming a national brand on the basis of innovative competencies of the defense industry in the domestic and foreign policy aspects has been given. A conceptual model of the national branding of the Russian Federation is presented, based on the innovative competencies of the defense industry and including a memory policy.