Chapter 3

Branding Applications

Corporate Branding

Role of Corporate Strategy and Values

Peter Drucker wrote “results are gained by exploiting opportunities, not by solving problems.” Strategic planning is about the future, that is, the means by which an organization re-creates itself to achieve a common purpose. Planning is really a combination of process and discipline, which are vital dynamics for identifying new opportunities and building strong brands.

Any strategic plan must start with a statement of beliefs or an expression of the organization’s fundamental values—its “ethical code.” Such a belief should be the basis for the ultimate “why” behind every action. These beliefs must represent a composite of the personal values of those who make up the organization. It should reflect not what an organization is, but what it is at best. It is also the corporate character, indicative of a company’s leadership.

GE is a company well known for making its values the hallmark for all strategic planning and guiding its management commitment throughout the corporation. These are based on what GE calls three timeless traditions: (1) unyielding integrity, (2) commitment to performance, and (3) thirst for change.

GE Values—Example:

A value system is a declaration of the heart and soul of an organization. It also becomes the foundation for the development and subsequent evaluation of all strategic planning. Based on these values, plus a comprehensive assessment of the market opportunities and internal strengths of a company, a corporate vision and mission statement are created.

Vision

A vision is a concise “word picture” of what an organization aspires to be in the future, providing a clear sense of direction that everyone can understand. An effective vision statement should be simple, motivating, and realistic. It relates to the ideals and principles of a company, reflecting its basic values. Some good examples:

Mission

The mission statement is a combination of the corporate vision and management commitment, expressing the strategic “reason for being” for the organization. Like the vision, it should reflect the beliefs of the owners, but be stated more in business terms. A mission statement should not just describe the status quo; it should acknowledge reality yet aspire to the ideal. It must declare the unique purpose for which an organization exists, plus the specific functions it performs. Examples:

The personality of any organization is defined by this constellation of values, vision, and mission statement. It lays the groundwork for developing the corporate brand and the framework for individual product/service branding. The perception of a corporation and all its elements must be consistent and credible. Developing a vision and mission statement is similar to the process of building strong brands. These strategic issues must be thoroughly addressed in this process:

The vision and mission statement provide a dual purpose for strategic planning. First, they become the cornerstone for all elements of the plan: Objectives, strategies, action plans, budgets, and the actual performance should be judged against these standards. Second, it provides focus for the application of energies of all employees of the company to accomplish a common purpose. Just as the company values are the heart and soul of the strategic plan, the brand essence—its credibility and the ability to deliver on the promises—must be consistent with and fit this corporate identity in order to be successful.

Developing the Corporate Brand

As discussed earlier in this “Book,” a brand positioning is defined by how it wants all its target customers to perceive it, which forms the basis for a trusted relationship. The corporate brand is the same—the sum total of all the impressions, images, ideas, and experiences that people have regarding the company. The corporate brand, as identified by its name, symbol, color, slogan, and all other touch points, should also be a manifestation of these corporate values, vision, and mission statement.

Every corporation wants to develop positive attitudes by offering an implicit promise to its target audience that it can deliver on and therefore fulfill certain expectations. This is the essence of the corporate brand or reputation—a relationship that is based on high expectations for quality, value, dependability, innovation, community mindedness, good management, and environmental consciousness. The main objective is to create a special impression that differentiates a company from others and is meaningful to all its constituents.

The positioning process is very relevant for development of the corporate brand. It will force management to address the fundamental issues:

The biggest difference between product and corporate branding is the nature of the target audience. Whereas the heavy or prime customer for product branding can be profiled in great detail and with focus and enough uniformity to create a more concise, special brand personality, the target audience of a corporation is relatively multifaceted. Each diverse group of stakeholders will have different needs and interests, which will potentially affect the perception of a company. The challenge is how to create a specific impression that is relevant for all these segments:

A strong, distinguished corporate brand or reputation can have important benefits for enhancing shareholder value: increased sales, market share, increased earnings, and increased stock price. In his book Leveraging the Corporate Brand, James Gregory cites the results of his study on the reputations of Fortune 100 companies over time. Those with the best reputations experienced the highest earnings growth and best stock performance. Those with a consistently high advertising-to-sales ratio were considered “marketing oriented” and demonstrated a stronger financial performance. On average, Gregory reported that reputation accounted for 5% of the stock price.

The hysterical craze over rankings in the United States has extended into corporate reputation ratings as well. Every year, The Hay Group conducts research on the most admired companies for Fortune magazine. A recent history of these rankings confirms how certain companies are steady performers, while the track record for others is rather spotty, indicating the inconsistency and fragility of the perceptions of these companies:

What is more revealing are the criteria used to rank these “most admired” companies. These qualities range from financial performance to more product and social oriented perceptions like social responsibility and innovation, for example. The top five companies ranked in 2012 for each criterion are:

The other important advantage of a strong corporate brand or reputation is the use of it as a “parent” or master brand for its sub-brands. With a worldwide market that is growing in clutter and pressure to stretch marketing budgets to be more efficient, the use of such an umbrella branding approach can go a long way to help build awareness and solidify the brand relationship with its customers. Noteworthy examples include Kraft (Philadelphia Cream Cheese), J&J (Tylenol), and Nabisco (Oreo). If the parent brand has consistently high credibility, it can provide powerful leverage for new line extensions, entry into new categories (assuming a good fit), and gaining new distribution in the trade.

The process for developing corporate brands is very similar to that for product or service brands, but the diversity of the target audience for companies makes it important to focus on a very simple, yet far-reaching theme or core benefit for the corporate brand. For American Express, the brand is all about customer relationship. In 1993 when Harvey Golub became CEO, he established three objectives for American Express: (1) to be the best-in-class economics, (2) to provide world class value and service, and (3) to make sure that every product and service offered enhanced the American Express brand. These principles were summed up by Harvey Golub: “We believe that the brand is our most valuable asset, and that every action we take should enhance its value.”

John Hayes, Executive Vice President, Global Advertising and Brand Management, went further: “The brand is the customer relationship: The value of the relationship, the strength of the relationship.” It was this belief, that actual product experience would reinforce the customer relationship (i.e., the brand essence for American Express), that became the strategic foundation for launching its Blue Card.

For J&J, the corporate brand is synonymous with “trust.” This is the common thread that ties a diverse corporation into one harmonious culture. This core promise has been the heart of a consistent philosophy ever since the CEO Robert Johnson stated his beliefs in 1932 in its mission statement: the J&J Credo. Only 308 words long, “Our Credo” defines its priorities and responsibilities to the (1) “doctors, nurses and patients, to mothers and fathers who use our products and services,” (2) “employees, men and women who work with us throughout the world,” (3) “the communities in which we live and work,” and (4) “our stockholders.” This credo can be found in J&J offices around the world and even in every J&J annual report. Strict adherence to this doctrine has enhanced the J&J brand image of trust to the point where this recognizable emotional promise has become the main distinguishing feature for this corporate brand.

Criteria for Strong Corporate Brands

With such a diverse target audience, it becomes more difficult to develop an obvious point of difference for a corporate brand compared to product brands. When you can profile and thoroughly research the core users of a product or service, you will have a better chance of identifying that particular insight or opportunistic “hot spot” that will motivate the consumer and differentiate the product from competition. For corporations, that distinctive brand promise usually evolves from the corporate values, a universal benefit that is relevant to all the target constituents (e.g., “trust” for J&J) and a recognizable, credible strength of the organization. The emphasis is more on establishing a strategic “beachhead” that can be leveraged and enhanced over time in the minds of all its target customer segments. The key is to build a common attitude and feeling for how a company is indeed special and relevant—that is, to carve out a dominant share of mind and perception of esteem with customers. Here are some important factors that will shape a corporate brand image:

The execution of the corporate brand can be complicated and challenging due to the diversity of the target audience. Fortunately, marketing in general has changed dramatically in recent years, from a mass marketing orientation to a more opportunistic micro or digital marketing practice. The consumer market has become more fragmented, but the means to reach each market segment has become more effective and sophisticated. New digital media (e.g., social media) have enabled marketers to communicate more customized messages to each target segment. Also the emergence of “guerilla marketing” or unconventional media tactics to cut through clutter and reach a certain target audience has added another dimension to the arsenal of weapons for a corporate communications platform. Finally, companies are becoming more expert at “integrated marketing” techniques, where every brand association, communication touch point, and media channel is effectively coordinated to create a single-minded impression in the minds of the customer. The effectiveness of all communications for building a favorable and desired image should be tracked continually in market research too.

Employer Branding

Employer Branding … or Corporate Branding?

What makes corporate branding tricky is that there are so many diverse target segments to reach, each with its own interests and agenda. Defining and communicating the corporate brand message to the outside world (customers, investors, regulators, etc.) has of course received top priority attention for enhancing the perceived value of the company, plus its financial performance. The audience, which had until recently taken a back seat, for this corporate branding strategy is the internal employee.

Employer branding (or sometimes called “internal” branding) is really an extension of corporate branding, but directed primarily by human resource management at employees—past, present, and future. In other words, a corporate brand should reflect a company’s internal culture; the people at the company will help shape, build, and sustain the brand. The basic objective is the same as all branding efforts: to create a trust-based, emotional relationship and ultimately a loyal, motivated customer—your employee.

The current business climate throughout the world is in bad shape. Corporate scandals such as Enron, Tyco, Lehman Brothers, AIG, and so forth have exacerbated the negative attitudes of the public and employees. In general, many employees feel that they are:

Recent surveys support these common concerns. A survey conducted by Interpublic revealed that 62% of Americans say that CEOs are not doing enough to restore trust and confidence in American business, and 69% say “I just don’t know who to trust anymore.” The Wall Street Journal reported in 2003 that 40% of all employees in the United States say they have negative feelings about their job, and nearly one-third of this group are actively looking for other employment (this percentage surely became much higher during the recent recession).

Understanding the value of employer branding is essential for the success of any corporate branding endeavor. The integrity of a corporate brand is so closely tied to the corporate values, and even more important, the ability to credibly deliver on all corporate brand promises. The perception of the brand character and reputation, especially for a corporation, is shaped by the attitude and impression made by every corporate team member, from the CEO down to the production worker on the floor.

In a major research study in 2001, The Conference Board found that over 40% of 138 large corporations surveyed are using some form of employer branding, and this incidence is most likely much higher today. One of the key findings is that a major challenge for companies is to ensure that an employer brand is indeed relevant to the targeted workforce, yet is still consistent with the overall corporate vision, mission, values, and identity. What is more disconcerting is that many companies try to distinguish between the “corporate brand” and the “employer brand.” The Conference Board concluded with these explanations for each concept:

These distinctions are confusing. One of the reasons for this disparate perspective is that the implementers of each strategy have a different agenda. The purveyors of the corporate brand to the outside world, usually the corporate communications or marketing managers, must refine the specific positioning elements for the corporate brand to appeal to the external customer. Meanwhile, the main objectives of the HR manager for employer branding are to help employees internalize the company’s values and to achieve a top reputation as the employer of choice for recruiting and retaining employees.

Yet the essence or soul of the corporate brand must remain intact for either the implementer or the user. Elaine Williams from Pfizer, one of the participants of this survey, supported this view: “Our corporate and employer brands are the same. There is one Pfizer brand. I can’t think of anything that would fall into the category of ‘just an employer brand’.”

Developing the Employer Brand

The employer brand by definition is strategic, and requires a diligent, comprehensive effort to develop a meaningful and practical description, in the same way a consumer brand is developed. Most companies already have a stated vision and/or mission statement, which are more business focused—like a vision summarizing the ideals and principles of the company or a mission defining the strategic purpose of its business. For example, McDonald’s mission statement is to “provide outstanding quality, service, cleanliness and value, so that we make every customer in every restaurant smile.”

The brand essence should be consistent with the vision and mission, and the exact description for the corporate brand and employer brand should emanate from this core brand essence summary, written in a way that is meaningful to its primary customer. Usually, the corporate brand or identity is somewhat general since it must appeal to a multifaceted audience—that is, outside customers and/or consumers, employees, local community, shareholders, investors, media, vendors, employees, government agencies, and so forth.

In contrast, the employer brand must focus specifically on employees, and must be credible, compelling, and offer something to aspire to. A good example is Southwest Airlines, which was a pioneer in employer branding and is known for their excellent customer service. Its corporate mission is “dedication to the highest quality of customer service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride and company spirit.” Southwest captures its brand essence with the slogan used for its external customers, “A symbol of freedom.” Keeping the integrity of this image, Southwest extended this slogan to become more meaningful and actionable for its workers, with a new internal campaign called “the freedom begins with me.” This enabled Southwest to convincingly communicate that it’s more than “a great, fun place to work.” The idea was then embellished with a related set of values called “eight freedoms,” to show its employees that Southwest provides them with the opportunity to achieve their own goals:

The Importance of Senior Management Leadership

Changing a corporate culture or worker habits is not easy. It requires motivation, hard work, and focus, and no one will do this on their own. This kind of fundamental change will not work if the employer branding plan is viewed as just another HR program or marketing ploy, but will work only if the entire senior management team is solidly behind the concept. The CEO must own, live, and communicate this new employer brand. And there is no substitute for personal contact from the organization’s highest levels.

David Neeleman, the pioneering founder and former president of the successful JetBlue Airlines, made it a practice to take a flight once a week and talk directly with its customers. Once in the air, Neeleman announced to everyone who he was and how he was interested in hearing their suggestions. Then, starting from the front row and working his way to the back of the plane, he introduced himself to each person and asked what he/she would do to improve JetBlue if they were the CEO for a day. Not only did the passengers get an impression that JetBlue really cares, but it also demonstrated to other JetBlue employees the true value of genuine and personal customer service—the heart and soul of the JetBlue brand.

Employee Involvement

Great branding starts with a rigorous assessment of the current perceptions, needs, desires, and other issues of the target audience. While the employer brand must reflect overall corporate goals, employees will ultimately determine whether and how the brand definition will indeed stand for something special to them. At the end of the day, employees from every level and function must believe that they can consistently deliver on the brand promises. Most important, the workforce must share in this development process in order to re-establish that essential emotional relationship of trust and loyalty to the company.

Empowering employees to feel ownership of the employer brand is particularly critical for customer service oriented companies. Employees should be given an opportunity to interpret the company brand as it applies to their job function. If they have a chance to refine and improve the brand message, it will be reflected in the employees’ attitudes and performance. They will also feel empowered to uphold the brand values and promises, and hence will be able to offer customers more empathy and sincere solutions to their problems—that is, not just lip service.

What Employer Branding Can Do for Companies

Most companies have had an established company or product brand personality that has guided marketing efforts for external customers for years. Many of these companies are now adapting the employer brand to be consistent with the public face of their company brand and customer experience, and to address these critical employee issues:

To return to the JetBlue example, the company was fortunate to recognize early the value of employer branding. It started with the concept of courtesy as the heart of their employer brand and used this to shape and practice their external brand to customers. For example, those crewmembers not demonstrating an attitude of friendly, compassionate, caring service in the air and on the ground risk being let go. Gareth Edmondson-Jones, VP of Corporate Communications at JetBlue, said “we wanted to bring the humanity back to airline travel.”

The most promising use of employer branding is for recruitment. The personality of an organization should reflect its own people, and similarly the profile of prospective employees should fit this same personality. A good example of using the employer brand to recruit and evaluate new candidates is the on-the-job screening process at the U.K. sandwich chain, Pret-A-Manger. Once a prospective worker has passed the interview step, he/she is required to work for one day in a Pret store. The employees of that store then make the final decision on whether the candidate is hired. This process not only ensures that their new employees have the right “Pret” attitude, but it also empowers and motivates existing employees. The employer brand of Pret calls for employees who are indeed walking, talking brand ambassadors, who embody the “Pret experience,” and who can ultimately provide Pret with a competitive edge over other sandwich chains.

Another advantage of employer branding has evolved with the growth of the internet and social media. If the company’s brand purpose is understood by all, an enormous opportunity arises for empowering employees to use social media and become brand ambassadors. Coca-Cola recognized the power of online and social expressions, and encourages its employees to be active online using transparent, supportive guidelines. As a result, Coke today is widely respected for its open social media principles.

Prerequisites for Successful Employer Branding

Employer branding can significantly enhance the pride, trust, and loyalty of a workforce, which pays dividends in terms of enhanced employee performance, but only if this discipline is developed and implemented prudently:

Personal Branding

Another area in which “branding” seems to be the panacea for success is the task of a new job search or a career switch. Building your own brand has never been more important, especially as a result of the recent economic recession—business cards, résumés, and even LinkedIn profiles are simply not enough anymore. Moreover, with advances in content management systems, it is easier and more cost effective than ever to build and manage your own personal website. If used correctly, these tools can help you build your own personal brand awareness to showcase what you can do to help solve employer’s or client’s problems.

The challenge is to determine how to brand oneself to reflect your passions, capabilities, fit with the needs of business, and ultimately become a success in the future. This is commonly called “Personal Branding”—it is what you want to be known for, fortified by the accomplishments that make you stand out. While many celebrities have crafted their own personal brand (e.g., Martha Stewart, Donald Trump), this concept has become common within the context of finding new jobs and career development recently.

Career search has dramatically changed with the arrival of the internet, which has become the major driver behind the need to identify your own brand. While the internet can open new doors of opportunity, many challenges still exist—negative marketplace dynamics, candidate or social media commoditization, and search engine under optimization—all making it harder to stand out against the competition. This is especially important for those who haven’t searched for a position over the past few years. Factors behind this change include employers who really want specific industry experience. Most importantly, your competition is working harder than ever to get marketplace visibility (Source: Execunet).

Probably the most daunting question in an interview is “why should we hire you and not someone else”? While many would consider this the ultimate challenge, it is instead an opportunity to communicate your personal brand and sell yourself. How you position yourself and develop an appropriate, appealing brand persona will determine whether your response proves to be a winner. There are two key requirements most interviewers will scrutinize. First, what skills can you offer which will benefit a new company and make you a valuable asset. Second, what kind of relevant experience from previous roles will convince the interviewer that you are more than capable of doing the job applied for. Whatever you say, the tone and body language must be positive, credible, and full of enthusiasm, too.

Any worthy career search process will require exhaustive research and preparation. In particular, developing a personal brand positioning statement can help immensely. This process should start with defining one’s vision or goals for the future (e.g., what you want to achieve and be doing 5–15 years from now), even if it seems uncertain at the present time. Then an internal and external assessment will be needed. The self-assessment should identify and prioritize your real (and perceived) strengths and weaknesses, plus your primary interests and passions. The outside market analysis should include the ideal target industry and companies, especially the types of people working there, the corporate culture, and values. If possible, one should also learn more about his/her competition, or the profiles, skills, competencies, and personalities of comparable colleagues working at these target companies. All this preparation should lead to a set of criteria or qualifications for the ideal hire, and then determine if the fit is possible—whether one has the right credentials or can at least convincingly adapt to these personality features to make the perfect impression.

Using a Positioning Statement as Your Blueprint

The personal brand is your promise of value to a target company (the “customer”), so it is critical to shape how you want to be perceived. This is essential for making a lasting impression and developing a trusted relationship, the hallmarks of any successful brand. Assuming diligent preparation, the positioning statement can help develop your personal brand for a better career or job. An example of a possible positioning statement for this is:

Similarities to a Captivating “Elevator Speech”

In many ways, your personal brand should act a consistent compass for creating a meaningful dialogue about what you can offer a company, very much like the classic “elevator speech.” Peter Helm, a reputable business development consultant from Connecticut for professionals and small businesses, gave this advice for developing a comparable, effective elevator speech:

Ivan Misner, founder of BNI, says, “The ideal introduction is brief and memorable—one that provides enough impact to arouse the interest of those to whom you’re introducing yourself and get them to join your word-of-mouth team.”

Here are some “Dos and Don’ts” gleaned from several articles I read recently

DOs

DON’Ts

Also, focus on these questions.

Views from Other Personal Brand Experts

Other career professionals like William Arruda (founder of 360° Reach Personal Branding) talk about creating something called “Brand You”—messaging that highlights your key areas of distinction that can be conveyed in today’s world of digital and social media. In particular, Arruda describes five key measures of success for building an online reputation that will help you stand out:

Another use of personal branding is for companies to assist their employees to find a role that best fits their strengths and passions, hence maximizing their contributions in the future. Arruda’s 360° Reach offers a detailed personal brand assessment that allows people to not only identify their most prominent “brand attributes” and skills but also collect critical feedback and insightful perceptions from those around each employer.

This original concept of personal branding actually started in 1997, when the famed author of In Search of Excellence, Tom Peters, wrote a landmark article called “The Brand Called You” (see http://www.fastcompany.com/28905/brand-called-you). Peters defines a brand in this context as “a promise of value,” and he stresses the importance of “selling the sizzle.” He advises those in the job market to take an entirely new perspective and to re-position themselves, adapting a similar branding or marketing approach used by consumer product companies. These ten suggestions are still very relevant today:

Global Branding

Today’s Global Challenge—Key Requirements to Win Globally

The world we live in today is visibly different from a few years ago, and not even remotely comparable to marketing conditions a generation ago. The speed of change for communications, connectivity, lifestyles, perceptions, and consumer behavior is accelerating at a stunning pace. While these conditions may be troubling to many marketers, it presents a unique opportunity for the visionary and prepared.

Perhaps the most noteworthy change for business people is the rise of global brands and how this has impacted not only the behavior of the average consumer around the world, but also how marketers must adapt to emerging opportunities for greater scale and profit. One of the first to identify this new “global opportunity” was Theodore Levitt from Harvard, who claimed “Gone are accustomed differences in national and regional preferences.” In his famous book in 1983 he projected a vanilla flavored, standardized world—for example, minimal differences between markets, homogenization of consumer tastes and preferences, similar business practices, all resulting in attractive economies of scale and universal brand identities that ignore local nuances.

Fortunately, Levitt’s prediction never materialized. Quite the reverse—the global arena has become more localized from a business marketing standpoint. The ideal approach to global success was highlighted in an article featured in 1987 in the MIT Sloan Management Review by Christopher Bartlett from Harvard and Sumantra Ghoshal at the London School of Business, “Managing Across Borders—Strategic Requirements.” This was so well acclaimed that the authors expanded the article into a landmark book with the same title in 1998. They described the emergence of a new type of corporate structure, the “transnational,” to address the changing business world and global competition. In recognition of the diversity of regional markets, the authors emphasized three basic requirements for global success:

Since then, deregulation, privatization, and information technology have further accelerated changes in the competencies required for success—from a cohesive global marketing strategy to an effective organizational structure to a winning global marketing capability. The most dynamic impetus has come from the explosion of the internet and social media, which has created a sense of collaborative ownership and shared community all over the world. The consumer is in control today. Their demand for full transparency, unbounded access to information, and interactive reach and power though all kinds of new media represent the biggest challenge … and opportunity… for brand marketers across the world.

The Global Convergence of Consumer Needs and Behavior

The internet has created an apparent paradox for today’s brand marketers. On the one hand, the immediate and ubiquitous connectivity worldwide has resulted in consumers sharing the same or at least similar needs and desires, a strong indication that they are more willing than ever to accept standardized global products. At the same time, they want products and services that are more tailored to their individual preferences. In short, you want to be neither mindlessly global nor hopelessly local.

Extensive research by several firms confirms these personalized tastes, finding that online consumers now expect to be offered products that are more relevant and appropriate for their specific tastes. Another contributing trend is the dramatic emergence of available apps on smart phones, which enable consumers to quickly and conveniently find answers to their personal desires.

Consumers around the world have opened up to accepting new types of products, even food and beverages, which have always been categories driven by national preferences. The Japanese are today eating doughnuts, the British have turned to American- and European-style lagers, and people all over are starting their day with a healthy yogurt. A 2009 “Leading Brands Study” by the global branding consulting firm, Effective Marketing, revealed that 69% of global brand leaders agree that their consumers are more global today than they were a decade ago, and 72% also said that globalization will continue throughout the next decade.

There are other key drivers that are exposing consumers in every region to new types of products, resulting in a more uniform, open-minded behavior—easier travel, more handy communications with smart phones, proliferating TV channels on specialty topics. Related to this is the globalization of retail giants like Wal-Mart, Tesco, and Carrefour. Looking into the future, giant retail customers around the world will only get bigger and agglomerated. And this trend will continue.

In short, the world has changed dramatically. While cultural diversity will always be treasured, the trends indicate that the setting is perfect for strong global brands—the growing commoditization of products, the explosion of the internet, the globalization of the media, the increasing transparency of markets, consumers becoming better informed and more sophisticated, and the recognition by investors of the high potential for star brands.

What Is Needed Today for Global Branding Success

A fundamental vulnerability of many global companies is the lack of consistency across markets in brand execution and advertising, best practices, speaking the same marketing language, meaningful return on investment (ROI) measurements for marketing, and an efficient alignment of roles in marketing, sales, and other disciplines. The big challenge for building powerful global brands for these large companies is to align the marketing roles and initiatives across divisions or regions with a single global brand strategy. There are three critical strategic questions that must be addressed for success:

Country Branding

The notion of “branding” products, organizations, and even individuals has become very popular in the major globalizing economies of North America, Europe, and Asia. No longer a tool just for soaps or toothpaste, this concept now applies to services, corporations, universities, celebrities,…, and even countries. Branding is a way to shape a desired perception for a targeted audience so that over time they develop a positive, distinct attitude and feeling for that “brand.”

Unfortunately, too many people believe a new advertising campaign or slogan is synonymous with branding. A new ad is simply the “tip of the iceberg.” When it comes to building a new image for an entire country, nonmarketing specialists usually consider such a project to be frivolous—and don’t appreciate the potential strategic benefits. Good country branding requires much more than a memorable slogan or symbol.

The benefits of a good country brand or image for the client are significant. Given adequate research, solid strategic positioning, and relevant creativity, the citizens of a country stand to gain a great deal from a successful nation branding campaign… ranging from a new shared sense of purpose and national pride… to increased employment, rising personal and national wealth, social stability, and empowerment… to greater individual fulfillment.

For the targeted external audience of a branding campaign, any individual making a decision that involves a foreign country will, by nature, first have emotional issues to address (e.g., trust and comfort). Most often, countries have the three “Ts” in mind as a target: trader (i.e., including investors), tourists, and talent. In particular, the level of confidence and credibility for any business decision will be critically influenced by an individual’s perception of that country.

Examples: Successful… and Questionable… Country Branding Endeavors

For most countries in the world, the informed global public already has a specific, stereotyped perception. This could be a vulnerability or an asset, depending on the nature of the perception and how it can be leveraged. For example, individuals associate France with elegance, sophistication, stylishness, and sexiness, which are perfect building blocks for French tourism, clothes, wines, perfume, and food. Germany is well known for its engineering capabilities, which has translated well for its premium cars. Japan is today viewed as technically sophisticated, an ideal platform for its automobiles and electronics.

Belgium

Some countries have created a branding strategy and execution to overcome damaging issues and resulting negative public perceptions. Led by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, in 2001 Belgium developed a new brand-building campaign after years of scandals involving government corruption, child pornography, and dioxin-polluted chickens. This led to a new logo, stylish colors, and a focus on its internet suffix “.be” as its international symbol. The intent was to create an impression that Belgium “isn’t big, but you see it everywhere you look.” Experts consider the Belgian campaign to have been an overall success.

Estonia

After the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, Estonia was confronted with the problem of lack of awareness among many foreign people, especially non-Europeans. For those who did know about Estonia, they considered it “one of those Soviet republics,” with all the negative associations implicit in that. Estonia decided to re-position its identity by associating itself with Scandinavia. Its language is closely related to Finland’s and they share many values and cultural habits… so this benchmark ultimately helped to differentiate it from other ex-Soviet republics, and establish a new, more positive identity.

In October 2001, Peter van Ham wrote an influential article in Foreign Affairs on “The Rise of the Brand State” where he referred to Estonia as an excellent example of a country desperately needing a new brand identity. This was an influential factor for developing the “Brand Estonia” project in 2002 which produced the “Estonia Style” brand book. Its rationale for branding Estonia was summarized as follows: “simply announcing one’s existence will not attract tourism or investment; people need to be given motivating reasons for choosing to do business with a country.” Estonia wanted to become “The Netherlands of Eastern Europe.” It also described itself as “a Nordic country with a twist” and created a public relations campaign that characterized the Estonian people as “radical and reforming, resourceful and environmentally minded, calm and peaceful.” Importantly, this new identity enabled it to attract significantly greater foreign investment and tourist flow during the past decade.

Estonia is today cultivating a distinct image as an emerging technology center in Europe. Building on its success developing Skype, a concerted educational effort has commenced to encourage students in elementary schools to learn computer programming starting at the age of 7. It has even coined a new brand name for this endeavor—E-stonia. This effort was initiated by Toomas Hendrik Ilves in the 1990s, the former ambassador to the United States and current president of Estonia, and is supported by a government-backed organization, the Tiger Leap Foundation.

United Kingdom

An essential prerequisite for the success of any country branding effort is to recognize internal strengths that are real… and which enable a country to perform in a way that meets expectations based on the branding promises. The style and self-image of the people within a country are critical influencers for shaping a new identity for the outside world. Tony Blair’s “Cool Britannia” campaign was intended to emphasize the image of the United Kingdom as a global hub for the media, design, music, film, and fashion industries—that is, to make the country seem hip, enterprising, and cool. This new image has had mixed results, however, simply because most Brits don’t regard themselves as being all that “cool.”

Nigeria

Another example of underestimating the severity of a country’s image problem is Nigeria’s “Image Project” initiated in July 2004. Importantly, there must be tangible evidence behind any effort to uplift a country’s image—that is, to restore the confidence and faith of both its citizens and potential investors.

In the Nigerian case, the absence of an effective, credible execution has contributed to disappointing results to date. Nigeria is viewed globally as the third most corrupt nation in the world, as a result of mainly bribery in large-scale public projects and the disappearance of several hundred billion dollars in oil revenues. These negatives are reinforced by poor Nigerian work ethics; citizens’ dissatisfaction with the government and politicians; poor manufacturing quality; substandard services; continuing ethnic and religious strife; and general poverty, hunger, and homelessness. President Olusegun Obasanjo has made some progress in attracting foreign capital and re-integrating Nigeria into the global community. However, well-intended initiatives like the War Against Indiscipline (WAI) and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) have not been professionally managed and are often used as conduits to siphon away public funds… thus turning these very laudable efforts into further evidence of incompetence and corruption.

For countries with very serious image problems like Nigeria, it is best to establish realistic goals, assume sufficient time for changing people’s perceptions, provide professional management of reforms, and in the beginning focus only on the highest potential segments of the target market.

Country Branding Models

Successful branding requires a great deal of upfront research on both the target audience and the internal capabilities of a country. Understanding the market and gaining full cooperation and support of key government (and private) officials are essential, before the positioning development and brand marketing implementation can even begin. The objectives of the overall development effort have to be clear, whether they involve the entire country or certain industry sectors.

Here are the five basic steps that we use for our country brand building endeavors: