How is Belgium doing?

In our blogs, we talked a lot about other countries and destination branding in general. So, how good is the brand Belgium doing?

We should do great right? Ten-million people, over 500 kinds of beer, the best chocolate in the world, The Atomium, Bruges: The Venice of the Nord. Great, we are golden!

Nevertheless, the brand Belgium isn’t doing a magnificent job I’m afraid. The conflict we have on a political level: Flemish politicians striving for greater autonomy or independence, the inability to form a government and the quarrels about little things that don’t really matter (‘yellow and black are to Flemish to be the colors of the new license plates’), give Belgium the image of a country that we are a bunch of little kids who can’t solve their problems like grownups should. The divide between Wallonia and Flanders is continually hampering the development of a strong nation brand. By acting on their own, the regions weaken the image of Belgium. For example: Last year, a federal trade mission to China was immediately followed by a totally separate delegation from Flanders.

Even Simon Anthol, the godfather of destination branding, says: "Belgium branding is a global scandal. As a result of divisive politics, Belgium's brand equity is being squandered." And we can’t blame him. If a country can’t agree on the colors of the new license plate without problems, on what can we agree?

After reading the article and other information I searched for, I hate to say I agree on it. We have assets, a lot of them. But we are throwing them away with the division of our country. I won’t go political in this blog and state who is right and who is wrong, but viewed from the perspective of destination branding, we are doing a horrible job. I think a country should stand united to the rest of the world. If we don’t understand each other, how do we expect the rest of the world to understand us? If we have to fight about every little thing, why do we expect from the rest of the world to work together with us? If we can’t be on the same page in our own country, don’t expect the rest of the world to judge us positively.

Christophe Parrein

                                         

http://www.brandchannel.com/features_effect.asp?pf_id=322

                                                   

Do we buy stereotypes?

In my previous blog, I described how stereotypes define a country. The individuals living in a certain country make the image of that country. But it goes both ways.

Individuals invent products; individuals start firms, individuals apply knowledge. So, we buy from those individuals? No, we buy from countries: watches from Switzerland, chocolate from Belgium, wine from France. If we had the chose between a car with no brand from Japan or a car without a brand from India. We would choose the one from Japan (unless we have a death wish). Is the car from Japan better? Is it more reliable? You don’t know that. The person behind the cars is unknown. But we associate the product made in a specific country with that specific country. Many brands have tried to evade the ‘made in china’ label, and some have succeeded. Why? Because if we think about the quality of product made in china we don’t have a very good image of it. It has a negative connotation.

I personally don’t care where my product is made. We study economics, we know that companies will go to the place where costs are low and laws are flexible. I know that a lot of ‘top’-brands are made in emerging countries. And I know if I don’t pay a lot for a product, I will probably not be the best product. It’s all depends of the perspective of the customer. Do you want a Swiss watch because it sounds good? Buy one, but know that there are probably equal or better watches for less money in the world. Do you want Belgian beer because it is the best in the world? Buy Belgian beer, because you won’t find any better!

Christophe Parrein

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=194922

Russia: mafia, vodka and dictatorship?

As Elien stated in her previous post, stereotypes can be very important for the image of a country. The gourmet French, the sturdy Russians, the annoying Dutch and, maybe, the stupid Americans.

I believe that stereotypes can be very good for a country (France for example, who doesn't like good food?) but if you have a bad image, like Russia, you should try to change it.

And Russia tried this with the creation of a committee to manage its image abroad, for political and diplomatic purposes. they say that stereotypes aren't always there to be corrected, some are good and some are just too established to be changed, also, like in Russia, most stereotypes are still very real: The alcohol abuse, hostile weather, the power of mafia, an aggressive diplomacy and press censorship. If they are still real, it will be impossible to change or erase them. Destination branding can't change facts, it only gives relief to the more attractive aspects of a place.

I like Russia’s approach on this matter. Like I mentioned in my first blog, you can’t make a country perfect, no country is perfect. But with destination branding you emphasize the positive qualities and hide the negative ones.

Christophe Parrein

http://nation-branding.info/2009/06/27/interview-with-ukranian-magazine-on-russia-image/

Behave, your reputation is your country's!

What Sonny said about representing your country when traveling abroad got me thinking a bit. Most people indeed associate your individual actions with how they see your country. At least I know I do, and it feels kind of weird knowing that to some people, my behaviour represents that of the entire Belgian population. I only hope I left a good impression.

Actually we don’t always have to know someone in person before we connect them with other, barely related stuff, do we? Think about the president of the United States. According to a GFK study, the election of president Obama made America the most admired country globally in 2009. He’s just one person, but his charm and intellect make his country rise so much in the world’s opinion.                                                                                                                                                                  Too bad there’s a lot of movies and comments on the internet proving the opposite, because this election almost made me believe Americans had gotten smarter too. Which they have not because believe me, if the chats I had with some of them are a good random sample survey they’re quite self-centered and short-sighted. Or could I be generalizing and stereotyping too much here?

Elien Van den Berge

GFK study: http://www.gfkamerica.com/newsroom/press_releases/single_sites/004729/index.en.html

Sports tourism key to destination branding

Sports tourism is the sleeping giant in the tourism industry, and why not promote a country with it? South Africa has done it by hosting the 2009 British & Irish Lions Tour, which was followed by the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This has been a tremendous promotion for the brand South Africa.
Kenya has also become a destination for sports tourism. Especially by having high profile visits by celebrities. By example Usain Bolt, who travelled to Kenya to adopt the world's fastest animal, a cheetah. But Bolt's visit was just the start of a sequance of visits to the country. World champions Serena Williams and Fernando Alonso and the Brazilian soccer team also visited Kenya. Jake Grieves-Cook, the chairman of the Kenya Tourist Board, announced that the visits have given Kenya a massive boost.

Sonny Selhorst

http://www.bizcommunity.com/

Destination branding: a relay race.

Destination branding, it's not just about a good logo or the development of a slogan, it's about creating an image for a city, country or destination. Slovenia by example hopes to build awareness and sympathy for their destination by sports performances, such as Petra Majdic's Olymic performance or the appearance of the Slovenian Football team at the world championship in South Africa. But these are just events, destination branding is somewhat more, it's a process.

"Brand Ambassador", a term that struck me in the article. It made me realise that I myself am a Brand Ambassador for Belgium. The thought that while on vacation, people that might have never heard of Belgium, would determine their thoughts on Belgium on my behaviour struck me.

Sonny Selhorst

http://www.sloveniatimes.com/

Bye bye, Dubai?

As Nick stated in his latest blog, Abu Dhabi wants to catch up with Dubai. Suffering from the crisis, Dubai hasn't got the right approach to get out of it, while Abu Dhabi has.

Dubai World, the investment company that manages a host of businesses for the Dubai government, has announced heavy debts. While in times of crisis, when consumers want value for money instead of just costs, Dubai comes up with concepts as a man-made island in the shape of the world. Abu Dhabi in the contrary is trying to brand their destination by giving it a cultural bent with plans to build museums as Guggenheim and Louvre.
This proves that Abu Dhabi is setting itself as a destination brand which is able to last through the crisis.

The Louvre in Abu Dhabi

 Sonny Selhorst

What for brand Dubai now?