The purpose of the paper is to discuss concept of place and nation brand, and to analyse attributes which make place unique and differentiate it from rivals. This article presents insights into hidden perception of differential advantages of Serbia, seen through the eyes of internal (Serbian nationals) and the most important external stakeholders – business class in Italy, Austria and Slovenia. The aim is thus to gain from internal and external perception the list of unique attributes that distinguish Serbia from other countries in the region. Qualitative research combined with semantic and sentiment analysis revealed existence of certain similarities and differences in both perceptions. People and unique Serbian mentality were recognized as the greatest differential advantage of Serbia, but also some negative attributes appeared like war legacy in external perception and internal problems in internal perception. Empirical evidence proved the presence of matching differential advantages in both perceptions and pointed to necessity of applying strategic approach in managing perception of Serbia.

This paper aims to understand the concept and fundamental terms related to nation branding as a strategic tool for improving Serbia's international market position, a post-Communist and former Yugoslav country. The author intends to gain insight into Serbia's current brand perception as a developing country that can find an opportunity for rebirth and parting with the legacy implementation of the nation branding concept. The quantitative research methods were applied in this paper, and the questionnaire developed for the research investigated the perception of brand Serbia by leaning on Risitano's framework. Our analysis finds that national treasury, people, tourism and business destination were recognized as the most important points for country and nation positioning.