Nov 17 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi) Brand India ranks a poor 31st out of 50 nations, Germany is No. 1 Chidanand Rajghatta Washington:   Washington: “Products are made in the factory, but brands are created in the mind,“ consumer research pioneer Walter Landor observed. By that token, India still has a long way to go in terms of international image in which manufacturing prowess -PM Modi's current passion — plays only a small role.An annual nation branding survey by research firm Anholt-GfK, ranks India 31st among 50 countries, with Germany overtaking the US for top spot in 2014. The study measures global perceptions based on 23 factors that make up six dimensions on which national image is based: exports, governance, culture, people, tourism and immigrationinvestment. lthough manufacturA sured ing is part of the ex port metric, it is mea in terms of perception, not volume: whether a country's manufacturing makes an important contribution to science and technology; whether it involves innovation and creativity; and whether it makes one feel good to buy things from that country . Which is why China ranks 12th in exports even though it is a low-cost manu facturing superpower; India is 26th. “China ranks very low in terms of exports; the goodwill garnered with culture, where it ranks a high 8th, has not caught up,“ Xiaoyan Zhao, senior vice-president and director of Nation Branding Index at GfK, said. India, at 23rd, also ranks higher with respect to its culture than its overall 31st ranking. Cultural metric includes heritage, tourist landmarks etc. Where both China and India lose out is in terms of governance, where they stand 46th and 42nd, respectively , with India faring marginally better than China. But India's overall 31st rating ­­ between Czech Republic at 30 and Turkey at 32 ­­ is the worst among BRICS nations. Brazil tops at 21, China at 23, and Russia at 25. Whatever the reality is, the top ten nation brands are all OECD countries, with the US ceding ground to Germany for the first time since the survey began in 2009. “Germany benefited not only from the sports prowess at the FIFA World Cup, but also by solidifying its leadership in Europe through a robust economy and political stewardship,“ the survey said. Germany's score gains in the areas of `honest and competent government', `investment climate', and `social equality' are among the largest it achieved across all the aspects covered by the NBI 2014 survey ., The US, however, has , shown the least impressive NBI gain among developed t nations. While it is still No. 1 in several areas, including . creativity , contemporary s culture, and educational institutions, its role in global t peace and security only ranks 19th out of 50 nations.t “In a year of international confrontations, US lost ground where tension was felt most acutely . Both Russia and Egypt have downgraded the US in an unprecedented way , particularly in their pert ception of US commitment to global peace and security , and in their assessment of the competence of the US govern, ment,“ Zhao.