Australia's Tourism Branding Campaign

Nation branding is when a country consciously works on its image in order to elevate its reputation globally and unify its citizens. It refers to a country’s whole image including political, economic, social, environmental, historical, and cultural issues. In today’s post modern society countries are in constant competition with each other and one of the most prominent ways in which they compete is in the tourism sector.

     

In 2006 Australia released an advertising campaign titled “So where the bloody hell are you”. The campaign was an initiative by Tourism Australia created by the Sydney office of the London advertising agency M&C Saatchi, and it cost them a whooping $180 million dollars to produce. The Television advertisement featured some well known Australian landmarks, citizens of the country speaking boastfully about its many attractions and model Lara Bingle ending it off in a shot where she is stepping out of the ocean and enthusiastically asking “So where the bloody hell are you?”. The use of profanity in the catch phrase, although memorable and amusing, would prove to be the campaigns ultimate downfall. The word ‘bloody’ was the reason behind the commercial being banned by the Broadcasting Advertising Centre in the United Kingdom in March 2007. It was also banned by regulators in Canada because of the implication of “unbranded alcohol consumption”, by the commercials opening line “We've poured you a beer”.

Despite all the controversy surrounding it, The Age newspaper credited the campaign with a $1.8 billion increase in tourism spending in the country, but tourism figures compiled in late 2006 lay counter to this argument. Apparently German tourists were down 4.7% and UK tourists by 2.6%. Copy write plays a vital role in branding so much so that the Australians catch phrase for their campaign caused a reaction counter to one which they had anticipated. So what do you think, should the Australians have paid closer attention to linguistics or are people too sensitive?

Video link to the commercial

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_where_the_bloody_hell_are_you%3F

http://www.thejournal.ie/tourism-campaigns-gone-wrong-629791-Oct2012/

I have recently come across a really cool blog which talks about branding and uses a cool concept of placing logos similar in form and concept next to each other to see whether or not they stand apart from one another, and how recognisable they are. Heres the link if you're interested.
http://ideasinspiringinnovation.wordpress.com/page/2/?blogsub=confirming

Rebranding a Company

Every now and then companies seek out the assistance of a graphic Designer with their brand image, to either elevate it or change it completely. When a company rebrands it is either because their brand is is failing to succeed or it is ready evolve in the business world and gain further recognition. Rebranding is a strategy undergone by a company to change its name, term, symbol or design thereof. The intention is to re-establish the brand in the minds of the consumer, Investors and competitors. These changes are aimed at dispelling any negative connotations which were previously associated with the brand. In rebranding a company is able to reposition itself and communicate effectively.

A company may also want to rebrand if it is entering into a new line of business that is not in line with its current brand identity e.g. Apple changing from being Apple Computers so simple being known as Apple. Relevancy is also a cause for change as the identity must reflect the company’s current positioning of itself. And sometimes competition can serve as a catalyst for change; a competitor’s image can render your company’s as old outdated. Rebranding may be the only way for a company to regain its foothold in the market. A shining example of this is Microsoft, a company which has undergone a gradual rebranding of its products between 2011 and 2012 following the release of the Windows Phone 7. It also changed its logo, services and website to adapt to the market and compete with frontrunners like Apple and Google in its sector. It is considered wise for a company to inform its customers of its rebranding so that they won’t be completely shocked when it does happen.

For a past school project I had the opportunity to pick a company I thought needed a new identity and rebrand it completely. The company I chose is Retrofontein, a street wear brand characterised by its use of bright bold patterns in its clothing designs. The company started in 2012 and is based in Johannesburg. The target market is 16 to 25 year old males and females living in urban areas attending high school and tertiary. The problem I found with the company is that its previous logo did not reflect its products and neither did the brand extension (of which there was very little). So I was tasked with the creation of a brand identity which would stand out amongst the competition and reflect their offering to the market. I came up with a logotype for them with a repetitive pattern in movement and then I abstracted an element from it to create a pattern for the brand extension. The new logo and brand extension I created for them reflects who they are what they do and it gives them a new competitive advantage.  So what do you think of the new brand identity?

Old logo.

New Logo.

Business card.

Letterhead

Flyer.

Poster/Magazine advert.

Billboard.

References:
http://aytm.com/blog/research-junction/rebranding-essentials-why-rebrand/
http://www.pencilscoop.com/2013/04/5-amazing-examples-of-successful-rebranding/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebranding

Personal Branding

The art of personal branding has seen a sharp rise within the last few years, partly because of the overwhelming popularity of social networks which have made branding more personal and within reach for a lot of people. Personal branding is defined as the act of people marketing themselves and their careers as brands. The theory of personal branding suggests that a person can market themselves as a package. The idea of personal branding was first introduced in the 1937 book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

For celebrities it involves applying one’s name or image to a product e.g. international footballer’s name Messi being applied to a branded pair of Adidas soccer boots sold worldwide and South African media personality Minenhle Dlamini  being the face of the new range of Motions’ line of hair products.

If you want to find clues as to what your personal brand might be just recall key words (humorous, well spoken, intelligent) that your fellow peers have used to describe you. How people perceive you can be the strongest indication of where your brand strength lies. Another point worth mention is for a brand to be distinguishable it has to possess a niche whereby it can stand alone, in other words it has to be authentic.

A commonly shared misconception amongst people, me included before I read up on the topic, is that personal branding is a self centred act when in fact it is about sharing yourself with an audience. You are basically attempting to fill a need your audience has. 

A personal brand is also faced with the task of having to prove it can deliver what it promised, which is why a personal brand should be aligned with your strengths. And last, but not least it is important for a personal brand to avoid negative behaviour, as seen with Oscar Pistorius after murder charges were brought against him sponsors and the public were quick to turn against him. His personal brand went from him being the man who proved anything is possible by competing in the Olympics even with his disability, to him being labelled a murderer and woman abuser. On the same day of the incident prominent sponsors such as Nike and Oakley, pulled out all campaigns featuring the athlete in fear of being associated with a murderer, guilty or not.  So the question I have to ask you is; Do you have a personal brand that you are pushing and what do you think of the idea of personal branding?

 Minenhle Dlamini for Motions

 Messi's Adidas soccer boot branding

 Oscar Pistorius Nike  brand campaign

Reference:

http://mashable.com/2009/02/05/personal-branding-101/

http://www.reliableplant.com/Read/13342/top-10-secrets-to-mastering-your-personal-br

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_branding