As its nation brand turns ten, Luxembourg retools how it sells itself abroad

Luxembourg is sharpening the way it sells itself to the world. As LuXembourg – Let's Make It Happen, the Grand Duchy's state-run nation-branding initiative, marks its tenth anniversary in 2026, the team behind it is rolling out a refreshed strategy built around the ten letters of the country's name and preparing a larger flagship showcase in the capital — the latest chapter in a long effort to define the country as more than a financial centre.

The initiative is run from the Ministry of the Economy and led by Beryl Koltz, who heads the country's brand-image promotion. In January 2026 she was named Brand Manager of the Year by the business magazine Paperjam and the marketing association MarkCom, an award presented at the Kulturfabrik in Esch-sur-Alzette and shared with Mathieu Rosan of the Rockhal concert hall. The recognition lands as the unit reviews a decade of work and sets its course for the next one.

From an old debate to a national brand

The case for coordinated nation branding had been debated in Luxembourg since the 1990s. The initiative itself was created in 2013 within the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, and a new visual identity — anchored by a distinctive red-and-blue 'X', casting Luxembourg as a crossroads — was developed through a participatory process and unveiled in 2016. A renewed brand strategy was validated by the Government Council on 2 June 2021, and in November 2023 the unit was moved to the Ministry of the Economy, tying it more directly to investment and talent goals.

Today the work is overseen by an interministerial committee that, according to the initiative, brings together more than two dozen ministries, promotion agencies, chambers and institutional partners. Koltz describes the unit's role in modest terms.

Our mission is to inspire and connect those involved in promotion and to promote Luxembourg throughout the world.

A ten-letter pitch

For the anniversary, the centrepiece is a new communication concept built around the ten letters of the word 'Luxembourg', with each letter used to highlight a national strength. It begins, pointedly, with 'L' for Lëtzebuergesch — the Luxembourgish language — which the new strategy treats as a vehicle of authenticity and emphasises far more than earlier, internationally-focused messaging did.

That domestic turn matters: the brand is meant to resonate with residents as much as with foreign investors and recruits. The initiative frames the country around three values — openness, dynamism and reliability — and three priorities: creativity, including economic innovation; diversity, both economic and societal; and sustainability. The pitch is less about a single sector than about a place where ideas can take root.

A new Luxembourg House

The strategy also gets a physical home. A new, larger 'Luxembourg House' is due to open in 2026 at the Konrodseck site in Luxembourg City, near the former Maison de l'Europe and close to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The space will carry a stronger wine-tourism dimension, including a tasting area, and continue to showcase the 'LuXembourg Collection' — a curated line of local, sustainable products, each tied to a story about the country's know-how.

The ambitions are backed by relatively lean means. Koltz's team runs on an annual budget of about €2 million, excluding salaries, with eight people spread across six departments. The unit reports that in 2024 it handled around 400 files, reached some 2,500 people through presentations, financially supported 21 projects or events and materially supported 95 more, while its social-media following rose 21% and orders of brand products climbed 28%.

Selling diversification

The branding push is inseparable from Luxembourg's broader economic strategy. Long defined by its financial sector — and, more recently, by ambitions in space and technology — the country has spent years trying to broaden its base and attract the skilled workers a small economy cannot grow on its own. Talent attraction has become a core theme of the initiative, which is associated with a High Committee for Talent Attraction and held its first 'LuXembourg Community Event' in June 2024.

Lex Delles, the Democratic Party minister who has led the economy portfolio since November 2023, has cast that effort in deliberately broad terms. "Any person that the Luxembourg economy needs is a talent, regardless of their level of qualification," he said as the talent drive was stepped up.

How well the message travels is hard to measure, but the team's recent campaigns have drawn notice abroad. Its 2025 effort, 'Oops, I stayed in Luxembourg', won a special mention at the City Nation Place Awards in London, a Silver at the Luxembourg Design Awards and recognition in adada's 'Campaign of the Year 2025'. For Koltz, the decade's lesson is that a country's image is owned collectively, not dictated from a ministry.

"The LuXembourg – Let's Make It Happen brand is unique because it belongs to everyone," she said on receiving the Brand Manager of the Year award — a line that doubles as the unit's theory of the case as it heads into its second decade.