A couple of decades ago, I had the opportunity to meet Wally Olins, a branding guru for countries and companies. He has since passed away, but his theories remain relevant. Olins said the biggest mistake is assuming that others know anything about us. Let me offer a few examples.

About a month and a half ago, I was in Moldova, chatting with a taxi driver. The driver was talkative, and when he found out I was from Estonia, he said: "Oh, you have that president, Lukashenko. What a smart and capable man!" I had to explain that Lukashenko is not our president, nor is he particularly smart or capable. But that didn't change the man's opinion.

One thing is ignorance; another is intentional disinformation. The Russian TV channel RTR aired a segment about Kaliningrad, praising how beautiful it was. I've never been to Kaliningrad, but the buildings looked familiar. It turned out they were actually showing the Polish city of Elbląg, presenting it as Kaliningrad to make it seem more "German." Quite an amusing lie.

I visited Elbląg in September and marveled at how the Poles managed to restore the city center, which had been reduced to rubble during World War II. Rebuilding the main church from ruins took 50 years. Seeing how towns in former East Prussia were restored made me wonder whether it was a mistake to abandon plans to rebuild Narva's beautiful historic center.

Then there's the matter of deliberately creating false impressions about others. There's no shortage of nonsense spread about Estonia from Russia, but one story in December surprised even me with its absurdity. The author was Tigran Keosayan, a habitual liar of Armenian descent. Incidentally, he's married to Margarita Simonyan, one of Russia's top propagandists and head of RT. Keosayan has his own show on Ren-TV, where he regularly ridicules Vladimir Putin's opponents under the guise of humor.

One of his recent segments was about Estonia's defense tax and the country in general. Keosayan said: "Oh, the Estonians are living so well now with their new tax. They're living really well! Now they'll live not only safely but also without any money. I just don't understand what they're protecting there. Their ten hectares of land? I have two scenarios for what will happen to Estonia after 2028: either Estonia will live safely as part of the Russian Federation or Estonia will no longer exist. But right now, salaries in Estonia will start being paid in sprats."

That's the "witty" version of us, according to him.

Fighting stupidity is pointless, but there are many ways to increase awareness among reasonable people. This is particularly important for small countries. Wally Olins outlined seven rules for introducing oneself, which can also be applied to counties, cities or villages.

The first step is to believe that an image can be changed. It's essential to analyze what people know about us and what words they use to describe us. The reality is, they don't know much — as I've just illustrated.

Next, it's important to ask foreign opinion leaders what they know and compare their responses with our own assessments. You should be prepared for surprises. The goal is to create a central idea, a simple concept that encapsulates our strengths. Start with a page, then condense it to a sentence and finally, a phrase. For example, "Estonia, the e-state" is a good one.

This idea needs to be visualized and used everywhere, from airports to villages. There must be a system of messages for tourism, investment and exports. An information network should be built around this concept, integrating culture, business, media and governance.

It all sounds great, but it's hard to do. Estonia has done well so far thanks to the e-state image, but these are challenging times. Rising prices and inflation are making us one of the most expensive countries in Europe. That would be a lousy reputation to have. The e-tiger, as it seems, is fast asleep. I'm not talking about reality here but about perception — yet decisions are always made based on perceptions.

This is a field that should never be neglected, as it directly impacts our lives and income. We could start with something simple. Cities, counties and villages should check what has been written about them on Wikipedia, especially in English. Most places have far too little essential information available. Interestingly, some places in Estonia have more detailed information in Russian or English than in Estonian.

The entire discussion can be summed up in one sentence, which also happens to be the title of this piece: "The one buried under the pile must shout the loudest!"

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