Brand France: Where smart money will hopefully go.

                                   

When I think of France the following images come up first: Men and women dressed to the nines with berets, riding on bicycles and acting haughty all the while surrounded by beautiful medieval architecture. While some of the generalisations of the French might be exaggerated, it is easy for one to accept them as true since the country is the fashion capital of the world. It is also home to world renowned luxurious brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, L’OREAL, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Cartier, LACOSTE, Givenchy, Garnier and LANCOME.

One of the country’s most well known landmarks is the Eiffel Tower located on the Champ de Mars in the city of Paris erected in 1889. The iron lattice structure has proven to be a favourite among foreign visitors looking to propose marriage to their partners at the top of the tower. There is even a case of an American woman with a fetish for inanimate objects who so loved the structure that she decided to marry it in a commitment ceremony in 2007. Now if you couple the country’s world famous brands with the love inducing Eiffel Tower you get a country known for opulence and romance. This would be a good formula for branding a country and making a stereotype work in your favour right? Well the French government doesn't think so, or at least not anymore.

As of the 28^th  June 2013 the French government has been in talks to rebrand the country. They are apparently doing so because they believe that the brand is suffering from the aforementioned stereotypes. They are also hoping it will improve the country’s global competitiveness globally while promoting the “Made in France” label. To kickoff the rebranding effort they launched a nationwide competition where professionals could submit new logos for the future French brand. The unveiling of the new brand identity is expected to be done sometime during 2014.

In my opinion France did not need to go on an effort to rebrand itself. These stereotypes its trying to run away from actually made it unique from other countries. I hope that the rebranding works in their favour and actually brings in more business and investment into the country, since this is the primary reason for the rebranding. What do you think, is rebranding to seem more business minded a wise route for France?

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower
http://www.countryreports.org/country/France.htm
http://cruciblebookii.com/2013/09/france-the-brand/
http://www.france.fr/en/news/french-invited-promote-french-excellence-france-brand
http://www.rankingthebrands.com/The-Brand-Rankings.aspx?rankingID=172&year=340
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2074301/Woman-with-objects-fetish-marries-Eiffel-Tower.html

Brand Brazil

Brand Brazil is one which has recently emerged as a top player in the nation brands. The Country is the world’s 5th biggest online market, a fact which comes as no surprise since the country has a lot of buying power when it comes to digital media. This can be attributed to the fact that in 2007 the Mayor of Sao Paulo Gilberto Kassab banned all forms of outdoor advertising in the city, which happens to be Brazil’s largest city and the world’s 7^th most populous. This all happened after the Clean City Law was passed to the disappointment of many brands.

Another major boost that the country’s brand is that it will be playing host to two of the world largest sporting events consecutively, the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. Successfully hosting these two events should do wonders the increasing the country's Soft Power and moving it up the ranks on the Nation Brand Index.

 Figure 1: Brand Brazil logo

Brazil’s brand logo speaks volumes about the country and its values. The logo is fun and vibrant with flowing secular lines which communicate happiness. It is also very colourful, looks friendly and inviting. The logo in essence also reflects the countries key attractions; the beaches of Bahia, the beautiful Amazon forest and the countries playful culture exemplified by the mammoth festivals held there annually e.g. Carvanal in Salvador, Reveillion party on Rio’s Copacabana beach, Belem festival on the River Amazon etc. Even the logos created for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games look like brand extensions of the nation’s logo, which for me is a feat on its own. I like how they look different to each other and relevant to their own cause, but they can still be traced back to the same family with their aesthetic and emotional appeal.

Figure 2: 2014 FIFA World Cup Logo.

 Figure 3: 2016 Olympic games.

In my opinion Brazil is one of the most well branded countries in the world as their brand identity speaks of who they are and communicates what we have come to know about them. They are a colourful, fun, loving and happy people. I’d like to know what you think of Brazil’s branding and extension thereof. Is it checking all the branding boxes for you?

Reference:
http://www.google.com/think/articles/branding-brazil.html
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/brazil/travel-tips-and-articles/68292
http://www.logodesignlove.com/images/sports/world-cup-logo-2014.jpg
http://www.forbes.com/pictures/eglg45gdjd/risky-but-less-than-you-think-2/

Propaganda Branding

Brands have the ability to influence a person’s perception about themselves and the people around them. They do this by using repeated imagery/symbolism to make a point, one which the consumer is meant to accept on a conscious or subconscious level. Some brands, especially nation brands, create a following by exaggerating facts to the point where the receiver accepts them as the whole truth. In this case, more often than not, we refer to their tactics as propaganda branding.

Propaganda is set communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community towards some cause or position by presenting one side of an argument favourable to the sender. It utilises various forms of media repeatedly to get its message across. Propaganda presents information to influence an audience. It is also used to further a religious, political or commercial agenda. For it to work there has to be a careful selection of facts, usually blown out of proportion to further an agenda. Propaganda works exceedingly well with visually engaging imagery and to prove this I have provided an example of one nation branding campaign which used propaganda to sway people into believing a certain ideology.


Figure 1 & 2: German Nazi propaganda posters

Hitler was a master of manipulation with his Nazi campaign. He was able to convince an educated German population that annihilating other cultures in and around Germany, which didn't fit his perfect blue eyes blonde hair mould, was the only way to go in building a bigger stronger Germany. How was he able to do this you may ask? By presenting the population with carefully tailored facts which furthered his cause in the form of books, pamphlets, posters, banners etc. He had the symbol (swastika), he had the phrase “final solution” and he had acquired different mediums in which to further his cause on a national scale.

You may be asking yourself, “Don't brands of today use the same vices to get their message across?” The answer is yes and no. Yes brands have a symbol, message and various media forms which they use to market themselves, but they don’t use guilt in their branding to elicit feelings compelling you to accept their argument, and that is where propaganda steps in. as you can see there is a silver lining between the two when defining them individually. So what do you think of propaganda branding, should nations utilize it in their branding strategies?

Reference: 
http://brandingmumbojumbo.com/is-propaganda-branding/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda
http://www.bytwerk.com/gpa/posters/dove.jpg

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/