All Can Glitter With A Little Gold

Close your eyes.

It’s the night before your first trip overseas. You’ve excited about all the exciting things to see and you can’t seem to resist the urge to keep checking the internet for more information about the country.

What never occurs to you is that most of the information you will come across are deliberate media tactics by the government of those nations to launder their image.

On arrival, you begin to notice slight variations between what you discovered and the reality. Flashback to your research and you recall airbrushed pictures and words like ‘bluest skies’, ‘friendly population’, ‘clean air’ et al. Hmmm, reality bites.

A lot of countries ‘sell’ themselves by painting beautiful images with their choice of words and the use of a lot of photo-shopped images. In actual fact, those descriptors used in the selling technique, becomes the reality for millions of others all around the world who will never have the opportunity to experience the ‘reality’ of those countries.

In some instances though, the ‘sale’ is lost because there are often other sources of conflicting information to what the government or tourist board is marketing. Perceptions are formed via the convergence of various influences but it is intriguing to note that the brand image of a country is sometimes contradictory. That is to say; what you (the external observer) think about these countries, the communication they (the government/tourist Board) put out about themselves and what they (the citizens) as a country think about themselves is often at variance. The pertinent question we should ask ourselves is how these perceptions are formed if different from the intentional branding attempt made by the country.

One author states that ‘a ‘brand’ is a useful summation of the intangible competitive assets of an organization or a country: its vision, its genius, its distinctive character, its people, its promise to the marketplace’. An alignment of these factors under a clear and powerful strategy, productively and harmoniously executed, often brings about sustainable competitive advantage for the organization or country.

Nation or country branding is about using marketing tools and platforms to promote the image of the country. It is not about propaganda but a proactive and creatively conscious selling of the strong points of a country. Some nation branding experts are however of the opinion that nation brands are not necessarily built by conscious marketing techniques but over a period of time by perceptions developed through the media, culture, experiences and word of mouth. Reputation is built over years of consistent effort and activities.

Take for example the ‘American dream’ popularly sold by the United States this idea is rooted in their Declaration of independence “all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights including Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” In simple terms, it is the land of the free; anyone can be successful in the USA and by characterization, her citizens are very patriotic. From childhood they are taught to have allegiance to the flag and they grow up believing they own the world and live in the best country in the world (my opinion). You can almost be certain that on the 3 legs of communication earlier mentioned (government, citizen and tourist); a unified perception will be formed.

Marketing communications is the vehicle upon which brands are sold; and these brands are marketed because they are designed to meet a need in the marketplace. Successful brands are known to meet certain needs in the market; this also applies to a country’s brand. If a country is not relevant or satisfying a need then no one would want to ‘buy’ into it. The pertinent question Nigeria as a nation should be asking is “How can I become indispensable. It’s not what you say but what you’re known for that speaks volumes. Reputation is built over years of consistent effort and activities.

Tourism is steadily becoming a common form of nation branding. You find a lot of ads these days extolling one country or the other as the best location to relax or vacation, with sunshine, cleanest ocean water and floor and an opportunity to swim with the dolphins. These are all lovely selling points but truth be told, with the advent of the internet and rise in usage of social media sites, access to individual opinion polls are easy to come by. These can either buttress or forever tarnish whatever media campaign the government might be putting out.

"Simply announcing one's existence will not attract tourism or investment; people need to be given motivating reasons for choosing to do business with a country… Small states in particular find themselves competing with one another for attention from audiences that are not always well-informed about them."

– Estonia Style produced by the Brand Estonia project, which successfully changed the country’s brand image.

Most countries try to brand or re-brand their countries as tourist destinations. Yes, this also works as a branding technique but if a nation scores low points on issues like good governance and security, this approach is likely to fail. Tourists, like the one described in my opening, tend to do a lot of information digging on the internet or from word of mouth experiences. I once didn’t honor a spa visit because a friend told me about her experience there. Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool.

Attempting also to market the country via the PR route is also a bad idea and a total waste of money and advertising space should that country already be suffering at the hands of the international and local media, from bad publicity. Any government sponsored PR message will be seen for the sham that it is - a total falsehood.

Take the Boko Haram issue presently tormenting Nigeria, perceptions of insecurity just got included to the list of negative attributes associated with the country – corruption, governance issues, bunkering, 419 et al. Selling tourism or the use of PR will be seen as incredulous at this instance owing to some extent to the rise in usage of the social media sites. Reactions and comments gotten from these sites also tell tales about the true situation within the country as was the case with the Occupy Nigeria protests that took place early in the year. Credibility is key to Nation Branding.

In my opinion, everyone has a role to play in building the nation’s brand; the government taking more responsibility. The littlest of actions or comments from its citizens can sow seeds of suspicion and distrust amongst fellow nations. No country is all bad; each secretly manages its sore spots. It is however the place of government to play up the strengths of the country to its fellow nations while trying to tackle its numerous internal issues that border on economic, political, environmental and security related matters. Achieving a harmonized form of communication is a step in correcting already established perceptions. As the saying goes, Perception is Reality.

I’ll re-echo the words of His Excellency, the Governor of Rivers State, “Change Reality and Image Will Follow.”

Ciao