Takeaways from telling a country’s story

People from different fields and organizations often ask me, “Storytelling sounds nice, but how can we apply it in a practical way?” The best way to explain it is based on my own experience.

A few years ago, I was part of a large-scale project developing a nation branding strategy for Latvia, where I lived before moving to Sweden. What does “nation branding” mean? Simply put, it's about crafting and sharing a country's story with specific goals in mind.

Sounds straightforward, but in reality, getting to that story was a complex process involving many stakeholders from public and private sectors. Not every organization that tells its story has to go through something of this scale, but I do want to highlight that storytelling is so much more than just sharing a founder’s journey or company’s values. When applied effectively, it’s a long-term tool for engagement, onboarding towards a mission, and making sense of complex ideas beyond data and facts.

How it all started

When Latvia set out to create a new national branding strategy—its international positioning and the stories that highlight it—the goal wasn’t just to come up with messages or a marketing campaign. It was about something much bigger—defining Latvia’s role on an international scale and aligning it with its national strategies and global developments, including EU policies and mission areas. All of this—with society’s engagement throughout.

Whenever you tell a story—whether for a country, an organization, or an initiative—there is always a specific goal behind it. It might be about driving economic growth, attracting investment, share impact achieved, gaining support, or engaging society.

For a country’s story, the goal is to define what the country stands for in the global context and how it contributes—while ensuring this vision is aligned with the developments of its industries, as well as the values and aspirations of its people. Of course, countries evolve and change, but there is still this DNA, this key thread that echoes in its people, whose stories become central to this work.

But before we could tell Latvia’s story, we had to define what that story actually was.

The process started with workshops, where experts from industries, public organisations, science field, and communities came together to identify core values that represented the country. We also had to find the common thread—something that tied together these values, Latvia’s national strategies, and developments at the EU level. A key theme emerged - we are mission-oriented people. People across industries and fields recognized that Latvia is a country where people are driven by something beyond themselves. Whether in science, entrepreneurship, or policy, their work is rooted in a deeper purpose, something that contributes to a greater whole. At the same time, a new initiative—MissionSea, aimed at helping the Baltic Sea—was taking shape. It wasn’t just a project; it was a part of Latvia’s story.

A country on a mission

Once we had the core values and key theme, the next step was to develop them into a clear and compelling narrative and concept. That’s when MissionLatvia was born. To highlight this theme, we gathered real-life stories from both history and the present that illustrated how this narrative evolved and made us who we are today. These stories weren’t just for communication—they were used in onboarding sessions and design thinking workshops to introduce people to the mission and encourage participation.

This is a method that any organization can use. When introducing a new initiative,

a policy, or an innovative product, stories help people relate and see the bigger picture.

A concept alone isn’t enough. A mission has to feel real for people to believe in it. So, we needed to show—not just tell—what this mission looked like in action.

Bringing the story to life

People connect with real-life experiences, with other people. That’s why we focused on real-life stories that reflected Latvia’s mission-driven mindset. We looked at the scientists making breakthrough discoveries, the entrepreneurs launching innovative startups and the industry leaders contributing to sustainability. Beyond that, we highlighted individuals who embodied these values in their daily work—people who weren’t just talking about change but actively shaping it through their dedicated work in their communities. Instead of making broad statements about progress and potential, we let those at the forefront of Latvia’s present and future tell their own stories. Their voices, their experiences, and their work became the foundation. This approach made Latvia’s story feel authentic, relatable, and most importantly, helped to engage wider audience so they would become the voices of this movement outside Latvia within MissionLatvia ambassador programmes. Me in some way being one them.

Practical ways

To bring Latvia's story to life, we developed a mix of digital and offline activities—a combination that can also be used in organizations, initiatives, and businesses to make storytelling a practical approach.

A web platform about Latvia’s story and mission.
A toolbox within the digital platform, including detailed information about industries, promotion materials, industry insights.
Stories in different formats with innovators, leaders, communities, entrepreneurs.
Social media campaigns to share these stories globally, attracting investments, tourists, and partners while contributing to EU missions.
Onboarding workshops where storytelling was used as an engagement tool.
Events where storytelling was part of public engagement.

Each of these tools helped ensure that Mission Latvia wasn’t just words—it was something people could experience, relate to, and take part in.

Lessons from the experience

This was one of the most exciting and challenging projects I’ve worked on.

Bringing together different stakeholders, defining a vision that felt true and inspiring, and navigating complex national and international discussions—all of it was an incredible learning experience. It also required diving deep into EU strategies and data analysis on the industries.

What I’ve observed is that storytelling can be a game-changer in complex processes, especially when so many stakeholders are involved. Data and facts matter, and must be part of any such process, but when combined with human experiences, the message becomes more engaging, more credible, and easier to relate to. A country’s story isn’t just about what it says—it’s about what it does. This project was a once-in-a-lifetime experience—a possibility to work withing many sectors—both public and private—and contribute to a mission.

But the most important takeaway?

Stories shape how we see the world. If we tell them well, they don’t just inform. They inspire true engagement leading to action.