March 3, 2009

BE DiFFERENT Branding

Late last year, Future Brand, a company out of New York consulted with a number of business and vacation travellers to understand which countries they visited, why they had visited them and whether or not they would recommend them to their friends and family. The results from this survey were then used to create a ‘Country Brand Index’, a measure of how various countries ranked in terms of how they created a positive public image.

The interesting thing to me is that some countries are actually getting into the Holistic Offer BE DiFFERENT by creating packages of value as the country’s brand rather that talking about
the individual features the country offers (things like specific cities, cultural events, famous personalities and so on). For example, Japan positions itself as an exotic destination, the United Kingdom focuses on its cultural and historical dimensions and France loads its brand with emotion around its beauty, quality o life and romance.

Canada ranked #2 in the report and the very positive perception of people surveyed emphasized our country’s natural beauty and friendliness.

The impressive result in my view, however, was not the fact that Australia was ranked #1 on its brand, but the way they did it. Australia understand the power of BE DiFFERENT. They had the opportunity to incorporate the many things they have going for them such as the Great Barrier Reef, the desert lands and Sydney harbor itself. But they didn’t. Instead they focused on the notion that there is something ‘different’ about Australia which I find alluring and a compelling reason to explore the possibilities the country offers.

What a great position! They are essentially saying ‘Why go to a place that is boring, predictable and humdrum (my adjectives only) when you can go to Australia where everything is a bit ‘different’?

A brilliant example of BE DiFFERENT, and cudos to the marketing guys that put the strategy together. Cheers, Roy Osing

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Posted 3.3.09 at 08:24 am by Roy Osing | Read Comments (0) | Leave a Comment