A better way to engage the world?

Tuesday, 18 February 2014 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Last week I was at a discussion with a top graduate of journalism and communication from an eminent university, who also happened to be a former Miss Sri Lanka, who commented that the most contestants at the Miss Universe pageant associated brand Sri Lanka with the brutal war that was fought rather than the beauty it has showcased to the world. In her eyes it was very unfortunate given that we supply 90% of global demand of cinnamon, Ceylon Tea in consumed by almost one-third of the world’s population and we are the first country globally to be certified as ‘Ozone Friendly’. In the apparel business, we are referred to as the lingerie hub for ethically-manufactured merchandise. Princess Diana apparently used a Ceylon Sapphire on her ring when she got married. Sri Lanka’s IT/BPO sector serves some of the best companies in the world, be it HSBC to the top Fortune 500 enterprises globally. The million dollar question is, why is the world perception different to the reality that Sri Lanka has to offer? The answer is simple. The world listens to what the world has been convinced to believe. It stems from the psychological principle of selective perception. The challenge is addressing the problem by making people experience the reality. This drives attitude change and in turn reputation starts getting built up. Nation branding? If we analyse the best practices used by countries that have got out of a brutal war, the first thing to remember is that there is nothing called ‘nation branding’. The logic being that it infers that a promise can be built using marketing messages. There is absolutely no evidence that this is possible; no country has ever succeeded in doing it and the experts in this area like Simon Anholt have never advocated it. A better word to use in practice is ‘nation brand,’ which is simply an observation about the importance of national image in the modern world. Literate says that if a country doesn’t like its image – and most countries don’t – then the only way to change, update, enhance or otherwise influence that image is through the things the country does, not by the things it says. Influencing a country’s reputation is primarily a matter of policy, strategy, innovation and investment over a very long period – it has nothing to do with logos, slogans, advertising or PR campaigns. So, one can always argue that getting strong PR companies to talk on behalf of Sri Lanka will have very little impact on the end results. What is more important is building a reputation with actions. Build a reputation It is been proved that countries with powerful reputations and a positive image can export more products, more culture, more people, more services and attract more tourists, more investors, more immigrants and the attention and respect of other governments. Countries with weak or damaged images find it much harder and more expensive to achieve all of these goals has been the past experience. In other words, the need of the hour is driving substance on brand Sri Lanka rather than promises. Share real life stories rather than marketing magic. As Simon Anholt the expert says: “A reputation cannot be constructed; it can only be earned. The question should never be ‘what can we say to make Sri Lanka famous?’ but ‘what can we do to make Sri Lanka relevant?’” Relevance is the only issue that matters. A structure developed to systematically develop reputations on this ethos can be the nation brand hexagon. This consists of tourism, people, exports, culture, governance and investment.

Croatia experience Croatia’s brand was hurt by the lasting associations of the country with the brutal Yugoslav wars in the 1990s, and the unwillingness of post-war governments to cooperate in the prosecution of war crimes suspects. The country has worked hard in building their brand image. Today the brand has an imagery as one of the most successful incoming destinations in the Mediterranean and is ranked ninth in terms of the rate of growth of its national brand as per Brand Finance and was termed as the only two European countries to make the ‘Most Improved’ list. Let me do a deep dive on Croatia. 1) Exports In late 1997, the Croatian Chamber of Economy started the Project to Visually Mark Croatian Products with Croatian Quality and Croatian Creation labels. The Croatian Quality label is given to 110 Croatian products whose properties meet high world standards. With regard to multilateral co-operation, special attention is paid to the EU as the most important foreign trade partner, because full membership of this European integration is the main strategic goal of Croatia. Therefore, branding is also seen as crucial to Croatia because it has realised that timelines for acceptance into the European Union and ability to compete against their neighbours for investment, in part depends on how they are perceived by more developed European countries. 2) Governance Even though Croatia’s brand equity was hurt by the lasting associations of the country with the brutal Yugoslav wars in the 1990s, and the unwillingness of post-war governments to cooperate in the prosecution of war crimes suspects, the country has worked hard in building their brand image. Croatia is a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, NATO, the World Trade Organization, CEFTA and a founding member of the Union for the Mediterranean. Croatia has established diplomatic relations with 174 countries. As of now, Croatia maintains a network of 51 embassies, 24 consulates and eight permanent diplomatic missions abroad. Furthermore, there are 52 foreign embassies and 69 consulates in the Republic of Croatia and engages the world actively on trade and culture. 3) Culture Croatia represents a blend of four different cultural spheres. As of 2009, Croatia has 23 professional theatres, 14 professional children’s theatres and 27 amateur theatres visited by more than two million viewers per year. The professional theatres employ 1,100 artistes. There are 24 professional orchestras, ensembles and choirs in the country, attracting an annual attendance of 323,000. There are 117 cinemas with attendance exceeding 3.5 million. Croatia has 175 museums, visited by nearly 2.2 million people in 2009. Furthermore, there are 1,685 libraries in the country. It shows the people’s positive attitude towards aesthetics. 4) People Croatia has established a high level of human development and gender equality in terms of the Human Development Index and also it promotes disability rights. Literacy in Croatia stands at 98.1%. A worldwide study about the quality of living in different countries published by Newsweek in August 2010 ranked the Croatian education system at 22nd, to share the position with Austria. Primary education in Croatia starts at the age of six or seven and consists of eight grades. In 2007 a law was passed to increase free, non-compulsory education until 18 years of age. Compulsory education consists of eight grades of elementary school. Secondary education is provided by gymnasiums and vocational schools. Croatia has also produced inventors and two Croatians received the Nobel Prize. Such factors will have a positive impact on the overall nation brand value.

5) Tourism Since the conclusion of the Croatian War of Independence, the tourist industry has grown rapidly, recording a fourfold rise in tourist numbers, with more than 10 million tourists each year. Tourism dominates the Croatian service sector and accounts for up to 20% of Croatian GDP. Annual tourist industry income is estimated at €6.61 billion. Sri Lanka issue The key issue as per the Nation Brand Finance report states that Sri Lanka’s political and social reputation poses a drag on the brand. If one digs deeper in this area, we see that even though India had many domestic issues, the brand equity has increased due to the ethos the country communicates to the world – being the largest democracy with free media and freedom to its people and they this demonstrate to the world with action. I guess more work is required to understand the details of the issue we are up against, which includes the power of the diaspora. Next steps – Sri Lanka 1.A national marketing committee must be set up to understand how the components of a strong nation brand come into play, maybe based on the works of Anholt-Roper and best practice of countries like Croatia. 2.Thereafter, one must bite the bullet and understand how the world perceives Sri Lanka. The Nation Brand Finance report will help. 3.Sri Lanka must engage the expertise of a personality like Simon Anholt so that he can guide the policymakers that this is not a strategy but it has to be earned with conscious decision making based on the world current perceptions of Sri Lanka. 4.All key stakeholders must understand the importance and take ownership to the importance of Sri Lanka becoming a strong brand globally with a reputation ‘earned’. 5.There must be a quarterly monitoring system so that corrective action can happen and must be driven ideally from the Ministry of Economic Development.

[The author is a multiple award winning marketer and business leader and respected thought leader in Sri Lanka. A Board Director on many private and public sector companies, he also drives category branding in many sectors in Sri Lanka. The ideas expressed are strictly his views and not the views of any organisation he serves in Sri Lanka or internationally. He is a alumnus of Harvard University (Boston).]