Comment

Comment by José Balido on January 18, 2010 at 3:48pm

You're right, Rafa, the new Andalucía campaign is brilliant work. One thing though: they have a major grammatical booboo on the home page at http://www.andalucia.org/nueva_campana/: "te acaricia sus pies" is formal, where the rest of the copy uses the informal "tú" ... and in correct Spanish, it should be "te acaricia los pies," since "tus" would be redundant with "te" ... should we tell them? Guess they haven't noticed!

campaign at

Comment by Rafa Luque on January 18, 2010 at 3:34pm

Good question, Paul. Regional Authorities have been pouring huge quantities of money on these clichés (made by Bassat Ogilvy). Hopefully, if the new Marketing Plan is taken into a serious consideration, things will change!.This new plan was coordinated by Eulogio Bordas and his team of THR. And they've done an excellent job.

Comment by Paul Barnett on January 18, 2010 at 3:12pm

Re Andalucia, I can´t comment on the timing of branding actions, but I did take a look at the link, and the site in English. I spent a great Christmas period there some years ago, and know it to be a great place. The images used in the marketing just don´t reflect they place I liked so much. Most images sell the attractions and sights,but not the experience or the atmosphere, and certainly not the food and wine which were fantastic, and the main reason I would return. Some of the beach images (with people) sell some of the feeling, but are pretty generic and cliché. Thankfully I didn´t see the "Andalucia loves you" strapline on anything in English as that just makes me cringe - emphasising the issue of cultural sensitivities I guess. I think this case also highlights the fact that past visitors are perhaps your best marketing assets - I would definately recommend anyone to visit! But how many marketing strategies make the most of this salesforce?

Comment by Rafa Luque on January 18, 2010 at 12:54pm

Just a brief note to update Rossitza Ohridska-Olson' info about Andalucia, Spain branding strategy. Since the Expo 92, Andalucia has undertaken two major re-branding actions (Andalucia there is only one and the newest, Andalucia loves you) and it's the main destination among locals. http://www.andalucia.org/nueva_campana/

Comment by Paul Barnett on January 16, 2010 at 2:22pm

Alan, thanks for an excellent contribution. I now see where you are coming from.

I think your assessment and examples are elightening, and I am intrigued to hear you expand on the last paragraph if you would, expecially the sentence, "It's the journey not the destination which might prove to be the most valuable aspect for us brand developers."

Comment by Alan 'Brand' Williamson on January 16, 2010 at 1:15pm

Brand America
Paul, many thanks for keeping the creative conversation rolling. I aim to deal with your insightful questions below which as you will soon see, takes us to a new, rarely-explored destination - where the cultural source codes that drive our behaviour patterns live in the dark recesses of our sub-conscious minds – our tour guides being cultural anthropologists and regression analysts, who take people back to their earliest imprints – the most impressionable times of their lives - usually when they're 7-8 years old.

Q: “ ...if 'Home of the American Dream' and / or 'Decade of Hope' are the big brand idea, I would say that there is hardly any re-positioning in that.”

A: Spot on! Which is why it is vital for destination brands to be perceived as a brand leader in their market category. The market will quickly forgive and forget any mis-steps as the brand recovers and continues its leadership role to a fabulous future. Recall how Brand France, the world's No.1 destination, recovered from a series of international boycotts when it triggered a nuclear test in the Pacific despite worldwide condemnation. I very much hope that an Obama-led Brand America will do the same. Time will only tell.

Q: “Were tourists ever attracted by the American Dream?”

A: No, if you use the traditional focus group methodology, because people oftentimes can only respond based on information in their conscious mind. But we are now beginning to improve our understanding that people's behaviours are driven by their sub-conscious minds – the repository of their earliest imprints – and sadly they cannot easily articulate why they do or not do things – until and unless they are regressed to their early childhood.

Brand Australia's recent tourism campaigns in the US and elsewhere – 'In a different light' & 'Where the bloody hell are you?' - are good examples of campaigns that tested well in focus groups but failed in the marketplace. You see, the cultural source code for Australia in America is CROCODILE DUNDEE: tough, rough & macho.

So, let's now speculate how 'American Dream' generates tourism among two of the world's most frequent traveller nations: The Germans and the English.
First, most of America's man-made destination sub-brands – Disneyland, Las Vegas, New York – were all influenced by 'American Dream'.

Next, the culture source code for America in Germany is JOHN WAYNE: the benevolent cowboy who rode into town and tamed the wild west frontier so Americans could build their dream. Also the American GI's (cowboys) rode into town (on their tanks) and saved the ordinary Germans during their darkest hour in their history.

However, for the English, the cultural source code for America is ABUNDANTLY BIG: super-sized meals, long & wide freeways, tall skyscrapers.

There is a further complication and that is the code for the Germans in Germany is ORDER or The Rules while for the English in England it's CLASS or Higher Social Status. 'American Dream', the code for Americans in America, must align itself to 'John Wayne/Order' and 'Abundantly Big/Class' if Brand America is to continue to attract two of the world's most frequent traveller nations.

Paul, we live in interesting times, with globalism triggering tribalism, and multi-culturalism spreading like wildfire throughout the world - online and offline. It's the journey not the destination which might prove to be the most valuable aspect for us brand developers.

Comment by Paul Barnett on January 14, 2010 at 3:24pm

Alan, thanks for your thoughts. Regarding Brazil and latin America I share your goal of inspiring improvements in the country brands, particularly in relation to tourism, and especially sustainable tourism that is focused on delivering benefits to all. That is what I am trying to do here in Brazil.

Regarding Brand America, for sure I agree that Brand America may get the re-positioning it badly needs after the damge done in the last decade. But, if "Home of the American Dream" and / or "Decade of Hope" are the big brand idea, I would say that there is hardly any re-positioning in that. Sure, Obama´s policy changes may help re-establish the American dream for many, but are they going to attract more tourists? And, were tourists ever attracted by the American Dream?

I am not really following the logic, but am keeping an open mind and hope you will share your views. And yes, we will keep the discussion rolling!

Comment by Alan 'Brand' Williamson on January 14, 2010 at 10:44am

Paul, thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to highlight an example of a country brand developing a 'future-focused big brand idea'.

Arguably, Brand America: Home of the American Dream, is one of the best examples, where anybody, including immigrants, have the 'freedom' to pursue their dream. From tourism (eg. Destination Disneyland & Las Vegas) to economic development (eg. Destination Wall St & Silicon Valley).

Over the last decade, however, Brand America has 'exported' its brand of 'freedom' using military might on a false premise. But in this new Obama-led decade of 'Hope', Brand America has a new chance to re-position itself at home and abroad as once again the Home of the American Dream. Time will only tell.

I shall soon be blogging about how Singapore could find its 'uniquely' big brand idea within its cultural collisions and contradictions - the mother-lode of many big brand ideas, in order to accelerate its international visitors from 8 million to over 10 million. And hopefully this would inspire other Asian country brands such as India to find its own big brand idea so it can attract more than its non-so-incredible 5 million international visitors - despite being the world's largest democracy.

Paul, it would be great if you could inspire the South American countries starting with Brazil. Perhaps land-locked Boliva, one of the poorest South American countries, could be a source of inspiration?

Let's keep the creative conversation going!

Comment by Paul Barnett on January 14, 2010 at 9:13am

Alan, What examples can you point to for "future focused big brand ideas?" And, how are they arrived at?

Comment by Alan 'Brand' Williamson on January 14, 2010 at 8:04am

Welcome to ADjectiveLand: Home of 7 BlandTrashtic Country Slogans
'Brand' the Marketect says: "Ditch the superlatives and re-position on a future-focused big brand idea"

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