What Branding Country Really Means

By Kap Kirwok
Nairobi
The East African Standard (Nairobi)

OPINION
23 March 2008
Posted to the web 24 March 2008


In the avalanche of sweet tidings of the just-ended week, it was easy to miss the rather innocuous announcement that a new board to brand and market Kenya abroad had been formed.

We all hope that the Government's move is not just intended to add fillip to the Brand Kenya Initiative of the Marketing Society of Kenya. We pray that it is an integral part of a grand strategy to reposition the country.


We are all too familiar with the standard operating practice of such boards. Often the first order of business is the drawing up of a travel itinerary ostensibly to go and 'learn' how successfully branded countries have done it. This whirlwind tour of world capitals is then followed by the award of an expensive consultancy contract, often to a foreign firm, to develop a vision, strategy and action plans.

In order to cure the typical cynicism and indifference that attends such announcements, this new State Corporation needs to avoid the beaten path. It needs to view its task as going beyond the typical branding exercise - with its narrow focus on marketing. The image and reputation of a country is a product of a wide array of complex factors, chief among them is the nature of political governance. This new entity, therefore, needs to understand at the outset that its success is critically dependent on how well the political leadership plays its role.

I noted with amusement the fact that the new Brand Kenya Board is also tasked with "uniting Kenyans and providing them with positive information about the country in order to promote patriotism and national pride".

The board can provide Kenyans with all the positive information in the world, but if the political leadership continues to beat a different drum, the message to wananchi will be discordant and out of tune.

More significantly, if the reality that people experience in their lives is at variance with the "positive" message, the board will lose credibility - rapidly. Political leaders should, therefore, be among the primary targets for any information campaign.

The same applies to the task of repairing the country's image abroad. It will not be enough to say, 'come to Kenya, we have stopped killing each other'. The road to full image repair must begin with sincere contrition, directed first at ourselves and then to the outside world.

Global rankings

The degree to which the new corporation will be willing to imaginatively practise honesty and integrate efforts across all spheres of national endeavours - political, economic, and social - with a keen eye on Kenya's strategic interests, will determine how successfully it will be.

Talking of success, the Country Brand Index for 2007, a report published annually by the FutureBrand consultancy of the McCann-Erickson WorldGroup, has some interesting rankings.

FutureBrand's ranking of the top 10 countries that stand out as strong and successful brands across a variety of categories puts Australia at the top followed in descending order by USA, UK, France, Italy, Canada, Spain, New Zealand, Greece and Japan.

But what is most interesting is the ranking within the more than 20 categories of brand attributes - ranging from natural beauty to business environment to art and culture.

The fact that Kenya appears in the top 10 in only one category is, all the same, immensely gratifying. It is ranked sixth in the natural beauty category. New Zealand comes on top in that category. New Zealand is number one in two other categories: safety and authenticity.

The Unites States, not surprisingly, is ranked top in business environment, conferences, shopping, and in the probability of visitors extending their stay. And as if to proof that cold weather is no big deal, Canada ranks first among countries where most people are likely to choose to live, outside of their home country.

What was surprising was the rating of Australia as the friendliest country and Thailand as the country offering the most in return for the price you pay.

The reputation of Spain as the country with the best night scene was not surprising. Nightlife is generally a way of life in the Iberian Peninsula.

Similarly, Italy's rank as number one in art and culture is well deserved. Its architecture, sculpture, painting, fashion and music give Italy the distinct feel of a country alive in cultural expression.

United Arabs Emirate excels as a place with the widest variety of brand new and superior selection of accommodation options, including resorts and lodges.

Our country has a great chance to forge a powerful brand that should enable us punch above our weight in the competitive global arena.

But building a brand takes more than a state corporation. It takes astute political leadership. Ask Robert Mugabe about his Brand Zimbabwe project if you doubt.

-The writer is based in the USA