CAN NATION BRANDING SAVE KENYA?

Thursday, 24 January 2008 05:53

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Nation branding is more than just placing some pretty adverts on CNN and waiting for tourists and investors to flock in. Tom Sitati explains that it is a long, tedious process and must transcend politics, regimes and the country's tactical industry plans.

By Tom Sitati

On Tuesday 8th January after almost a full week of continuous bad news, our local media finally ran headlines that had the warmth of good news. I quickly flipped to CNN, BBC and Aljazeera to see what they thought of our nation’s “quick recovery” from the choppy sea of anarchy. What I found was a deafening silence! What does this say for our national brand? Are we the only ones who would be interested enough to protect it? Are we doing enough to develop, manage and protect it? The answer is simply, No! The international media and international community at large, unless persuaded otherwise will venture to dig out the worst of us. History will bear me witness should I be accused of bias. It is easy to accuse the rest of the world of not caring for us. The truth however is that the burden of managing our national brand is ours. It is up to us to put long term mechanisms in place so at to take control of our national brand.

What is Nation Branding?

To understand national or country branding we need to take a step back and examine what brand is all about. Brands are about the most basic of human connections – relationships. Brands endeavour to go beyond making us reach for our “wallets” to purchase a product and service. They instead reach for our “hearts and minds” with the aim of building long lasting relationships. Like human relationships, consumer relationships with brands can exist by default. This is a dangerous scenario as it borders on playing the dangerous game of Russian roulette. Most formidable brands, be they personal, national, product or service brands are created and managed intentionally so as to ensure success.

We all know that “Made in China”, “Made in Germany”, “Made in Nigeria”, “Made in Taiwan”, “Made in U.S.A.”, “Made in U.K.”, are labels that elicit different reactions from consumers. These reactions are the distillation of several messages and experiences linked to those nations over a long period of time. Depending on whether these impressions are positive, negative or associated with a particular attribute, will determine whether that product is considered for purchase and how much the consumer will be willing to pay for that product or service. “Made in Germany ”, for example, despite being the home of one Adolph Hitler and being the aggressor in two world wars, has nurtured its brand such that its products command an aura that goes beyond the tangible.

Country branding is not all about tourism; it is not all about attracting foreigners be it for tourism, trade or investment. The most important aspect, and one that is often forgotten, is the unity of purpose and national pride felt by the nationals themselves. That power is what makes nation branding such a formidable force and inevitably flows beyond national borders. Nation branding isn't about pretending everything's fine when it isn't. If things are wrong, and they are in Kenya currently, they should be addressed, not swept under the carpet.

The Process

National branding is more than just placing some pretty adverts on CNN and waiting for tourists and investors to flock in. That would be superficial and if the fundamentals aren’t in place, the country branding program would be exposed as a hoax sooner than later.

Successful country branding must involve marketing professionals, government, private sector and very importantly, the media. It is a long tedious process and must transcend politics, regimes and the country’s tactical industry plans such as the ICT and outsourcing craze we are currently experiencing in Kenya .

The following are the main steps, all of which should involve professionals but overseen by a multi-sectoral body whose role is to formulate and continuously manage the national brand.

1. Research: An in depth research on how the country is perceived both internally and externally will begin to reveal the direction which the national branding program should take. Opinion leaders should also be consulted to reveal the national strengths and weaknesses.

2. Brand Strategy: The strategic phase distils information from the research phase so as to create a single unifying idea for the nation brand. Countries must communicate with various audiences. The brand strategy must bear this factor in mind so as to maintain relevance across audiences.

3. Program Roll Out and Management: A program must be developed to make the brand “tangible” to the various audiences. This can be through interactive events, advertising, workshops, physical infrastructure, etc. As the roll out is done and managed, it is critical that consistency is maintained across various private sector organizations involved as well as government departments.

The national brand belongs to the citizens, and they must feel so. Any appearance of it being a government project will most likely lead to failure. If there is a time Kenyans badly needed a national branding program, it is now. Can nation branding save Kenya ? Yes!

The writer is an Executive Director with Interbrand Sampson East Africa and the Chairman of the Marketing Society of Kenya. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it