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Topic: Student Questions

A Nation Branding Program

Posted by Anonymous on 9/28/2004 at 6:03 AM ET 250 Points
which countries need a nation branding program and what does it imply? who is the best in the field? any other information would be interesting.
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  • Posted by williamarruda on 9/28/2004 at 6:42 AM Member
    EVERY country needs a branding program. Any country that competes for tousits, business, trade, etc. needs to have a plan to differentiate itself and build visibility among its target audience.

    The new ad campaign for Malaysia (Malaysia Truly Asia) is a good example of a country that is working hard to differentiate itself from its neighbors and clearly communicate that differentiation (in the areas of toursim and business) to those people who will help it achieve its goals.

    Today, everything is a brand - and that means you too! We all need to use the principles of branding to help us achieve our goals!

    Best.
    William
    www.reachcc.com
    What have you done for YOUR brand today?
  • Posted by SRyan ;] on 9/28/2004 at 7:07 AM Member
    I think Greece did an excellent job of elevating its brand during the Olympics.

    Nigeria could use a good boost to its brand. In my mind right now, it's equivalent to pervasive email fraud and Enron barge scandals.

    Shelley ;]
  • Posted by koen.h.pauwels on 9/28/2004 at 11:13 AM Accepted
    While I agree that every country may benefit from branding, such effort is most needed if there is a huge gap between what the country has to offer and the foreign perception of it. In the past for instance, Japanese quality was great long before Americans perceived it to be. A current example is Turkey; a major manufacturer of high quality products exported to the European Union (e.g. textiles and Beko durables) and the US (e.g. Mavi jeans). Experiments show that when you tell French or US consumers the product is Made in Turkey, they are negatively surprised. It turns out they are simply not aware about what the country has to offer, apart from a touristical destination (in the best case).
  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 9/28/2004 at 1:32 PM Accepted
    which countries need a nation branding program and what does it imply?

    Koen provides a good answer to this basic question. Countries only need a branding campaign if the perceptions of potential consumers of the country don't meet what the country wants it to be.

    What is a consumer for a country? That depends on the country's goals. Most likely is tourists or business people. One slightly out of the ordinary one is Saudi Arabia trying to get American people's perception to be one of them not being involved with terrorism.
  • Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on 9/28/2004 at 7:13 PM Accepted
    Iustina,

    It seems to me that all countries can benefit from a national branding program (and national marketing plan).

    Each country has a unique story to tell, a unique personality, culture(s) and history, and a unique proposition for business and consumer targets. While a country is different from a product, I predict that countries will do marketing/branding with increasing sophistication in the future.

    What’s the USA’s marketing plan? What’s its brand?

    Hope this helps,

    - Steve
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