Comments

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  Alan 'Brand' Williamson March 7, 2010 at 11:25am

  Uniquely Yours
  Brand Singapore leaves ADjectiveLand with new tagline: Your Singapore
  
  Should Korea Sparkling replace Uniquely Singapore as one of the infamous seven BlandTrashtic Country Slogans?
  
  Tripatinos, it's YOUR SPARKLING decision!
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  Paul Barnett March 6, 2010 at 6:40pm

  David, How long to mediocre places remain popular as a result of blanket advertising, how much bigger is the investment required than other methods? Is the value of the brand, and the value of tourism to the destination being optomised this way? Is this a sustainable strategy?
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  David Paul Appell March 6, 2010 at 4:23pm

  I agree with your last point especially, Paul -- when destinations try to brand themselves "cool" or "romantic" by mere fiat, it always rings false to me. But on the other hand we shouldn't underestimate the power of blanket advertising -- I've seen too many a mediocre product and destination become popular more through clever and incessant marketing than for any actual reasons of quality.
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  Paul Barnett March 6, 2010 at 3:04pm

  Jose, Thanks for the post a great article!
  
  Romance is of course, but one possible experience that hotels or destinations could focus on to differentiate themselves. So, my key take-away from the article is the power of experience not of romance particularly, though for sure it is one of the most powerful motivating experiences. Other experiences could relate to adventure, discovery, culture, gastronomy etc, and actually they can be combined e.g. gastronomy and romance.
  
  Unlocking the power of the experience as a brand differentiator is, as the article suggests, not in the advertising message. It is in delivering the details that make it real and authentic. Then it will get talked about. It will be newsworthy. The reputation (i.e. the brand) then gets strengthened. And probably the best way to promote the brand is by word of mouth and more subtle methods than regular ads. Claiming a place is romantic is a bit like someone calling themselves "cool". If they say they are they are not. But if tourists go home saying it is then it is, like when your frineds say you are "cool" you are.
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  José Balido March 2, 2010 at 4:55pm

  An interesting read courtesy of eTurboNews/CNN: Insights Into Tourism Branding: The romance of the brand. At the heart of its message is the need to reconnect romantically while on holiday, and how it applies to tourism branding. Thoughts?
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  Paul Barnett February 28, 2010 at 1:54pm

  Alan, The Wall Street v Fleet Street comparrison is indeed interesting, but I don´t think either were actually managed as brands, yet brands have something to learn from them. Had Fleet street been managed as a brand I do beleives it could perhaps have become what a part of Brick Lane is today i.e. the locale of the new media age hub surrounded by the creative and the cool. But many parts of many cities are left to die and then revived. New York is a classic example: Soho, Tribeca, the Meat Packing District etc, but this is all property developer and speculation driven, rather than marketing driven.
  
  Still is shows what can be done if an area is highly differentiated, becomes unique (at least within a city), adds value and developes a reputation and fame.
  
  And, aguably, is they are managed and evolved properly then can be like on-going versions of the country events that Rafa refers to. So, London has its major design events each year, but parts of London are design hubs, and these are connected as routes. Note how many guides and blogs pick up on these routes, or create them, for thier readers. Clearly then they work, and add value to tourists and design hunters. Check out design sponge as an example: http://www.designspongeonline.com/category/city I think that design and fashion are leading the way, but there will be many more guides and routes that link up related, but ideally differentiated, hubs within cities, that are each well branded and also collectively branded.
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  Alan 'Brand' Williamson February 28, 2010 at 10:04am

  Paul
  
  Street Brands
  Thanks for highlighting some of your favourite street brands.
  
  I'm particularly interested in comparing and contrasting New York's Wall St with London's Fleet St.
  
  Wall St seems to have withstood the recent financial earthquake while Fleet St has died a slow and painful death of a thousand words.
  
  This leads to the strategic branding issue: Should destination brands such as Fleet St focus on a single big brand idea such as 'Newspapers' but then 'die' as the newspaper industry re-invents itself elsewhere (Canary Wharf etc), or should Fleet St have led the re-invention with new innovative ideas and processes and thus not only survived but prospered in the new technological online world?
  
  My preferred model is Wall St (and its London equivalent 'The City') who is financially focused but keeps re-inventing itself to deal with the opportunities as well as the financial disasters - from pension scandals to banking blunders.
  
  Tripatinos: What do you think?
  Also on Paul's point: Resources invested in slogans should be spent on developing and implementing differentiation strategies to strengthen the meaning of the brand itself?
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  Paul Barnett February 27, 2010 at 5:15pm

  The Chile event brand - nice logo - problematic wording?
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  Paul Barnett February 27, 2010 at 5:14pm

  Carnaby street excellent, But I think several streets and areas in London, and other sities inside and outside the uk are also brands - Wall Steet, Fleet Street, Rodeo Drive, Wilshire Boulevard, the Ramblas, Time Square, Bond Street, Oxford Street, Knightsbridge etc. Interestingly some areas are making soemthing fo this - Marylebone High Street and Elizabeth Streetin London being exmaples, where the businesses there are collaborating. Interestingly I can´t think of slogans associated with these streets and areas. All the meaning is in the name, and yes areas like Knightsbridge and Beverly Hills etc are also universal. My be the resourcesinvested in slogans should be spent on developing an implementing differentiation strategies to strengthen the meaning of the brand itself?
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  Rafa Luque February 27, 2010 at 12:26pm

  Just a brief note about branding a country for a specific event:
  Chile, Telescopio de la Humanidad (Chile, The Mankind's Telescope). See the logo http://www.visitingchile.com/blog/chile-telescopio-de-la-humanidad.htm