When the Korea Tourism Organization unveiled ``Korea, Sparkling’’ as a new brand to create a fresh image of the country, foreign observers, this one included, started chattering.
Most comment is critical, with people claiming ``sparkling’’ just doesn’t fit Korea. But are they right?
Tourism branding represents an effort to influence that moment in the mind of the consumer when she is deciding where to go on holiday. We like to think that we make free, original choices, but in fact it’s a market out there and we are drawn to the stallholders who have the best position and who shout loudest. (You don’t believe me? How come you never thought of going to Greenland for your holidays? Eh?)
We feel something about most countries _ Greenland may be an exception _ and the trick for Korea is to do what it can to make sure the perceptions are positive. Branding helps do that by keeping the perceptions and messages about the country focused. (At least that’s the idea. If the government doesn’t have a good strategy, proper funding and employ consistent use of the brand, we’re wasting our time even talking it).
Not all countries need to brand themselves. It would be rather silly, for example, to suggest branding America. But lesser-known countries (and U.S. cities and states), or countries with negative images, can in the modern competitive environment re-brand for the purposes of catching up.
One of the best examples in favor of this argument is Spain, which changed in the 1980s from a poor, backward dictatorship to a modern, democratic state. The image for tourism changed, too, helped by a brand designed by Spanish artist Joan Miro with the slogan ``Everything Under the Sun.’’ It is arguable that the tourism industry would not have developed, and with it the country, without the unifying effect of this brand.
It is important to accept that a brand must be based on reality. It may be aspirational, but it must be honest. You can’t have, say, ``Israel: Roof of the Earth’’ or ``Iceland: Every Day is Summer.’’ Nor can you have a brand that misses the whole point, like, ``Beautiful Ulsan,’’ or says nothing (``Hi! Seoul’’), or is way too ahead of its time (``Pyongyang: Investor Paradise.’’)
It is also important to appreciate that, by identifying the word or phrase we wish to associate with Korea, we are not aiming at an academic analysis of what the country is. It’s a perception exercise, not a rational analysis. You would probably agree that ``sparkling’’ is less appropriate as a description of Korea than the old slogan “Dynamic Korea,” but that doesn’t mean it won’t work.
Our product _ Korea _ needs to be differentiated in the consumer’s mind from other countries. It’s no use if she walks into a travel agency and asks for a package tour to the Hub of Asia, to be asked, “Which one? Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Inchon, Pusan, Kunsan, Yosu, or Mokpo?
For this reason, the brand must sound original. That’s why ``I Love Tongbinggo-dong’’ wouldn’t work. New York grabbed that one. It’s also one reason ``Dynamic Korea’’ didn’t work. It sounded so like a copy of ``Incredible India’’ and ``Amazing Thailand’’ that it really said ``Copycat Korea.’’
But with adjective and noun reversed, ``Korea, Sparkling’’ sounds original. Maybe Korea can start a trend. Remember, when you see ``Canada, Wide’’ and ``North Korea, Abusive,’’ that it started here.
To work, the brand must be relevant to the people it’s aimed at. This is where many critics trip up. They assume it’s aimed at them. But, Euro-North Americans, most tourists here are Japanese and Chinese. The government aims to raise the current 6 million tourists a year to 10 million. The consultant James Rooney recently suggested that we should be more ambitious and set our sights on 10 percent of the 500 million Chinese who are starting to travel. That would be 50 million visitors a year, plus Japanese and others.
They’re not going to come to Korea because it’s a financial center. They’re not interested in logistics hubs or semiconductors or the Choson Kingdom. Well, not unless we highlight bits like the story of King Yonsan the Obscene (1476-1506). They’ll come for other things.
When I observe young Koreans and other young Asian visitors, they seem to be into lots of giggly stuff. They are probably so sick of school that they don’t seem that interested in learning about places.
They want fun. On dates, they photo each other with their cell phones. They flash V-signs whenever there’s a camera around. They set fireworks off on beaches. Their Web sites are all jolly. They’ve got nutty TV programs. They have tassels and things on their handsets. They crash into each other on ski slopes. They fall over in the snow. They karaoke. They like B-boys and boy bands.
Crotchety critics would say it’s frivolous, superficial. But, you’ve got to admit, there’s something sparkling about it.
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Michael Breen is the president of the public relations agency, Insight Communications Consultants, and author of “The Koreans.”