Comment

Comment by Rafa Luque on February 2, 2010 at 8:06am

Alan,
Very interesting & challenging project about England's Vineyards. Check James Clarke's article about Charles Hamilton & Painshill Park (The World of Fine Wine, Issue 21 2008, pg. 80-85).

Comment by Paul Barnett on January 31, 2010 at 9:14am

The attached document, Why Nation Branding Dissapoints, includes many clues to the reasons why tourism destination branding also frequently dissapoints. But are there other reasons? Why Nation Branding Dissapoints.docx

Comment by Paul Barnett on January 28, 2010 at 7:39am

Alan, The England´s Vineyards project sounds great. I am very interested to see how the project develops and what the issues are as it does, compared to trying to develop similar projects with the public sector driving it. I imagine you have a pretty good idea of the pros and cons already, but I guess also time will tell regarding results.

Here in Brazil I am publishing guide books, but for them I am also developing the kind of tourism I want to promote by establishing branded tourist routes. The first ones will be privately funded. In future I hope to engage public sector support, but not financial dependency or control. Actually I am hoping that my case studies will lead to them outsourcing their miss-guided projects to me, as they are creating routes, but not as brands, and within boundaries that the brand stories extend beyond.

Re-Wine Routes in Brazil, yes they are in the plans for future development, and I may well engage your help. First I must complete the projects I already started, focused on history and culture.

My background is traditional brand strategy development, I ran a boutique agency in London. I see fundamental problems in the concept of country branding as it is currently practiced, due to the critical differences between product and nation / place branding.

I am very interested on your thoughts on the single brand idea. At the moment I have a problem in seeing how that applies to Nation Branding, and the logic in trying to make it fit. If a brand is, as often quoted, the sum of our perceptions, knowledge and experiences of a nation or place, an individual mind made concept, does a one size fits all approach make sense, and should it?

Comment by Alan 'Brand' Williamson on January 28, 2010 at 4:15am

Private Sector-led Regional Branding
Paul, here's an example from my own portfolio:
Project England's Vineyard is a new regional destination brand scheduled to be launched in 2010 comprising the greatest concentration of vineyards in the SouthEast Counties of England: Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire/Isle of Wight & Berkshire.

Led by the private-sector marketing arm of the English Wine Producers trade body and supported by the public sector Tourism South East, Project England's Vineyard is designed not only to generate tourism, but also inward investment and exports.

The Talent and Terroir (the soil is similar to France's Champagne district) is resulting in the unthinkable: English sparklers are beating the French houses in international competitions - the current champ is Nyetimber from Sussex.

Gary Vaynerchuk, the social media sommelier and online global celebrity is returning to the UK in early summer 2010 to help us position this new destination brand online using social media platforms.

Paul, I hope the above has inspired you to get one of the up and coming wine regions of Brazil branded. We'll be happy to support you.

Later, I'll aim to answer your question: Should a destination focus on a single big brand idea or multiple big brand ideas? Meanwhile please swat up via google on DNA Molecules and Anti-Parallels.

Comment by Paul Barnett on January 27, 2010 at 7:54pm

Here is an eye opening article on destination branding in America from the Wall Street Journal. Some of the comments are great too! One comment had a link to an article "When is Destination Branding Really Destination Blanding?" in it he made one great point that is seems many states in the US just aren´t getting, "a tagline does not a destination brand make"

Comment by Paul Barnett on January 27, 2010 at 10:48am

Alan, Do you knwo of particular examples where the private sector is taking the lead with the support of the public sector, and how those projects are working out. It would be interesting to hear of any case studies.

Re-Brand Australia, the example incicates to me why it may not make sense to look for one "big idea" or a single "core essence" iwhen branding a nation, or even a nation´s tourism industry. In the days of mass and broadcast media such simplification may have been necessary, in the age of narrowcast new media rich and detailed messages can be delivered to various segments of the market: backpackers via some media channels and high-spending travellers via others.

Granted, this is complexity that may be difficult to manage, but perhaps it should be the aim?

Comment by Alan 'Brand' Williamson on January 27, 2010 at 6:41am

Rossitza & Paul

Thanks for your insightful comments.

I'm sensing a change, in some countries, where the private sector is taking the lead with support of the public sector in terms of destination branding and marketing - from country to region to city right down to street-level.

Brand Australia
Oz's public sector is trying to change their country's perception from 'backpacker's paradise' to 'sophisticated playground' - a marketing mission impossible when the cultural source code for Australia in many of its key markets - US, UK, Japan & NZ - is 'Crocodile Dundee'.

They have failed to grasp, that the low-spending backpackers return as high-spending travellers and inward investors, provided Oz's sub-brands - its sophisticated wine regions and cities are powerfully positioned.

You see, although Australia and its wine regions, states and cities are lumped together on the world map, in the influential mind map however, they are in very different places.

Witness how the private sector-led wine brands clearly understand this, by co-branding product with place in the US market. Please see 30-sec video Wines of Oz.

Comment by Paul Barnett on January 26, 2010 at 8:55pm

I think it is unfortunate that country branding is usually, if not always, government driven, and thereofore politically influenced if not motivated. This I believe to be the biggest threat to sustainability and a fundamentally important issue. In several countries now the central banks are independent of government for reasons that perhaps country branding programs should be run by an independent institution - for long-term stability, not short-term gain.

Comment by Rossitza Ohridska-Olson on January 26, 2010 at 8:18pm

Australia is rebranding now, from what I have heard. I believe it is a wrong step, as it is for Peru. Peru needed a new logo, but not changing the tagline "Living the legend", which was perfect.

I am starting to think that each time a gov or tourism office manager changes, they start a new branding program. In cases that the brand doesn't perform or doesn't communicate the essence of the country, it is OK, but rebranding for the sake of rebranding is stupid, at least in my opinion.

Comment by Paul Barnett on January 26, 2010 at 4:26pm

Alan, I hadn´t been aware that Australia was suufering from a declining numbers from its key markets and it is not a market focus for me. Initially I was quite surprised, but perhaps it is just that the long haul traveller is getting more and more adventurous and going beyond only English speaking destinations, and / or that having been there and done that, many are looking wider, or to other places such as South Africa which has, I believe, been acheiving significant growth, and offers excellent value for money. Just a few unconfirmed hypothesis I would be investigating.

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