David Aaker, author of the all-time best selling branding textbook – Managing Brand Equity, attempts to identify the most effective nation branding tools
During August, I spoke at the inaugural conference on nation branding, a project the President of Korea initiated in 2009 to create a nation branding programme for Korea. In preparing my talk, I attempted to identify the most effective nation branding tools. I came down to four.
The first is the hosting of global events such as the Olympics, the World Cup, the British Open, The Australian Open, or the G20. Such events get enormous visibility through media coverage, they provide all sorts of positive associations, and they generate visits from influential people and others who will talk about their experiences. The second are events created and owned by the country. They can be within a country, such as the annual Korean Knowledge Forum that attracts luminaries and thought leaders around the world, or the Singapore Film Festival. These events also provide visibility, association involvement and visitors. The events can also be hosted outside the country, such as Korean Day in New York with a K-Pop contest where the winner received round-trip tickets to Korea. Such events provide a culture story, a country experience for those who have not visited, and a chance to allow people to relive a prior trip.
The third is the identification and leverage of country symbols. Symbols can take many forms, such as the Guggenheim at Bilbao, the Edinburgh Castle, a visual of trekking in Nepal, Queen Noor of Jordan, or prominent athletes such as Rafael Nadel of Spain. Such symbols make vivid some aspects, perhaps the central aspect, of the country. A symbol, unlike a verbal description, is easy to remember especially over many exposures.
The fourth is to encourage and leverage corporate brands. Think of the impact Singapore Airlines has on Singapore, or Mercedes has on Germany. These corporate brands control many of the salient country image factors such as cultural values or perceived innovativeness. Further, the sheer budget makes a difference. Samsung plus Hyundai/Kia will spend well over $1.5 billion in media advertising in just the US, a budget that will dwarf the promotion budget of any nation. The impact of Samsung product leadership in the 90s and Hyundai’s ability to get 5% of the US car market with quality and upscale cars has had an enormous impact on the Korean brand.
There are a host of other approaches including advertising (which works mainly to attract tourists) and social media. But, in my view, these four, properly managed, generate the most impact.
In my talk directed at the Council for Nation Branding established by the President of Korea I discussed the importance of creating a strategy that would include objectives, target marketing and brand vision. With a strategy in place, I identified four effective nation branding tools: hosting a global event such as the World Cup, creating events such as the Korean Knowledge Forum, identifying symbols such as the Guggenheim at Bilbao, and supporting the work of corporate brands such as Samsung and Hyundai. My theme was that, in my view, efforts of the council to build the Korean brand should focus on opportunism, support and leverage. I suggested the council should not sponsor or direct brand building programmes, especially local ones, nor expect an ongoing budget to create communication programmes.
For more articles, Click on IIPM ArticleDuring August, I spoke at the inaugural conference on nation branding, a project the President of Korea initiated in 2009 to create a nation branding programme for Korea. In preparing my talk, I attempted to identify the most effective nation branding tools. I came down to four.
The first is the hosting of global events such as the Olympics, the World Cup, the British Open, The Australian Open, or the G20. Such events get enormous visibility through media coverage, they provide all sorts of positive associations, and they generate visits from influential people and others who will talk about their experiences. The second are events created and owned by the country. They can be within a country, such as the annual Korean Knowledge Forum that attracts luminaries and thought leaders around the world, or the Singapore Film Festival. These events also provide visibility, association involvement and visitors. The events can also be hosted outside the country, such as Korean Day in New York with a K-Pop contest where the winner received round-trip tickets to Korea. Such events provide a culture story, a country experience for those who have not visited, and a chance to allow people to relive a prior trip.
The third is the identification and leverage of country symbols. Symbols can take many forms, such as the Guggenheim at Bilbao, the Edinburgh Castle, a visual of trekking in Nepal, Queen Noor of Jordan, or prominent athletes such as Rafael Nadel of Spain. Such symbols make vivid some aspects, perhaps the central aspect, of the country. A symbol, unlike a verbal description, is easy to remember especially over many exposures.
The fourth is to encourage and leverage corporate brands. Think of the impact Singapore Airlines has on Singapore, or Mercedes has on Germany. These corporate brands control many of the salient country image factors such as cultural values or perceived innovativeness. Further, the sheer budget makes a difference. Samsung plus Hyundai/Kia will spend well over $1.5 billion in media advertising in just the US, a budget that will dwarf the promotion budget of any nation. The impact of Samsung product leadership in the 90s and Hyundai’s ability to get 5% of the US car market with quality and upscale cars has had an enormous impact on the Korean brand.
There are a host of other approaches including advertising (which works mainly to attract tourists) and social media. But, in my view, these four, properly managed, generate the most impact.
In my talk directed at the Council for Nation Branding established by the President of Korea I discussed the importance of creating a strategy that would include objectives, target marketing and brand vision. With a strategy in place, I identified four effective nation branding tools: hosting a global event such as the World Cup, creating events such as the Korean Knowledge Forum, identifying symbols such as the Guggenheim at Bilbao, and supporting the work of corporate brands such as Samsung and Hyundai. My theme was that, in my view, efforts of the council to build the Korean brand should focus on opportunism, support and leverage. I suggested the council should not sponsor or direct brand building programmes, especially local ones, nor expect an ongoing budget to create communication programmes.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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