“A COUNTRY Brand is built on two main pillars—business and tourism. Within those two clearly defined categories, you cover all the different elements that make up a Country Brand,” said international communications expert Didier Lagae. “Business covers living and working, investing and exporting. Meanwhile, the high volume of income that tourism contributes each year to the GDP [gross domestic product] of most countries, makes it a strategic sector that governments usually can’t afford to ignore,” said the multiawarded public relations professional in an interview with PR Week on February 18, 2021.
Lagae that year published his book A Country Brand, A Branded Country, on the importance of creating one and its impact and ensuing opportunities from which a nation can benefit. “A Country Brand matters to more than just the tourist board or a Chamber of Commerce,” he said. “A strong Country Brand helps companies export their goods to a global audience. It helps hoteliers book out all their rooms. The right Country Brand helps cities land contracts for businesses, for business headquarters; it helps to attract investment in national industries and it helps to attract people—convincing highly in-demand talent to relocate,” he added. (https://bit.ly/42HoJNz)
Which is why the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) has been insistent in creating a National Branding Council, which can help develop and implement a comprehensive branding strategy for the country. MAP sent President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. a position paper on May 3, underscoring this need. But no sooner had the business group sent in its position paper to Malacañang, a bus in London was spotted in the week of King Charles III’s coronation, wrapped with an ad featuring the new Philippines brand: “We give the world our best. The Philippines.” Included in the ad is a photo of Filipina-British nurse May Parsons, holding up a syringe, splashed with the text: “The nurse who gave the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine. A Filipina.”
It was later revealed to this writer that the country brand was created by popular filmmaker Paul Soriano, who happens to be the Presidential Adviser on Creative Communications. He told this paper: “The team who worked on the campaign’s thinking and creatives volunteered to be part of this campaign,” adding that the initiative was a priority of President Marcos Jr….“that our countrymen can be proud to call ourselves Filipinos anywhere in the world.” So I’m sure Soriano and his collaborators’ hearts are in the right place, when they created it. (See “‘The best’ for rollout in the US, Middle East,” in BusinessMirror, May 12, 2023.)
When I asked MAP president Benedicta Du-Baladad for her reaction on the country brand, she referred me to her organization’s position paper. “[We are] for a structural reform. As it is now, the branding is fragmented under a ‘bits and pieces’ framework. We want a unified, holistic, sustained country branding,” she emphasized.
I understand where Du-Baladad is coming from. For instance, the Board of Investments, an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry, uses the tagline “Invest Philippines” in many of its materials for foreign business executives. The Department of Tourism (DOT), on the other hand, uses (well it used to, anyway) “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” to underscore how much travelers will enjoy exploring the country. According to Soriano, he is discussing with the heads of select government agencies such as DOT for their own versions of “the best” branding.
But does the brand have equity? Is it clear and identifiable? Does it inspire and do we feel positive when we read, “We give the world our best”? Is it understandable? Judging from the barrage of criticism the country brand has received from an astute lawmaker, well-meaning communications experts, and experienced advertising professionals, the brand bewilders.
Senator Nancy Binay said “the best” branding was, at best, “so vague.” She was disturbed that the transit ad seems “we are offering the world our nurses—which is a bit off, because we are already losing our health workers here. We don’t want to commodify our people, and we don’t want to be tagged as a labor exporting country.” (See “Nancy on new country brand: Hanudaw?” in BusinessMirror, May 9, 2023.)
Echoing this, Alan German, president of Agents International, a firm founded by his father, the great Reli German (Tama na! Sobra na!), said on Teleradyo’s SRO recently, “If it is a national branding, the impact is lessened, because there are so many aspects that can come in—investments, exports, etc. but again…it’s like we’re in a market [selling our workers].”
Speaking to Soriano’s plans for other government agencies to develop their own versions of the country brand, he added: “It’s more difficult to remember a number of modified slogans instead of just one which is modular, that can be applied for all. When you say, ‘Just do it,’ that’s Nike, whether it’s Nike apparel, Nike shoes, Nike gyms, it applies. ‘Love ko ‘to’ is McDo, whether it’s a sundae, burger, their chicken, it’s just one. There has to be a total consistent alignment.”
Meanwhile, Lagae, who is founder and CEO of Marco, a leading international communications agency, and helped create global campaigns for Mexico and Morocco (Invest in Morocco), explains how to build a country brand. “The first step in building a powerful Country Brand starts with finding the answers to deceptively simple questions: What do you want to be as a country? Who are your targets? What is your brand promise as a country? How do you want to be perceived? A proper set of answers is based on a thorough benchmarked analysis of who you compete with and, remember, your competitors will be different for the tourism and business sectors.”
But he also stressed that for a country brand to work, it also has to have “buy-ins from the relevant industries, institutions, and governing bodies. You need to consult with and convince the right people—chambers of commerce, titans of industry, regional governments. They are best placed to tell you what’s missing.”
Which is probably what is missing most of all from the country brand. Soriano and his creative collaborators discussed it internally, and with select heads of government agencies, but may have overlooked speaking with the stakeholders who are supposed to benefit from it. (I understand from my sources that even the Private Sector Advisory Council, formed to strengthen the collaboration between government and private sectoral groups, didn’t see the country brand before it was rolled out.) It’s not creative communications we need, but plain communication.
I’m sure Soriano thinks he and his group have already given their best in developing this country brand. But maybe in talking to stakeholders concerned, truly listening to their recommendations (and yes! processing the criticisms too!), they could improve the tagline some more. Maybe then they can serve up a brand that truly represents our dreams and aspirations for ourselves, and our nation.
