For anyone in or interested in the tourism industry to explore issues associated with branding a country, region, destination, attraction, hotel, tour etc
A look at the top international hotel brands of 2026
It will come as no surprise to anyone thatin the world of hospitality, chain dominate as they have done for quite some time. And here I take a look at the world´s top brands and sub-brands, ranked in order of size and influence - and while most are familiar, there are a couple which might not be (thanks, China!). read post
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I read your post and LS Sya´s article on Brand Channel. And I would agree with his comments "A brand, whether it is a product or a nation is a collection of perceptions" and "A clarion call should go out to all Malaysians, from musicians, artists and corporations, to emulate the brand ambassadors and venture out. Every individual success will add value to Brand Malaysia and will, eventually, help make Malaysia a significant global economic force." In saying that I am assuming that he means sellingt the brand Malaysia, not the campaign strapline Malaysia, Truely Asia (Cringe again!).
The issue is will Malaysians hear the clarion call if it is a brand marketing campaign imposed on them? Or would they do better to adopt an Australia like approach so the engagement is real and no clarion calls are required.
He also makes reference to the decisions of policy makers and their impact on the brand. Getting this right would be a better focus than comming up with more campaign slogans I would argue.
The FI Grand Prix this weekend has put the world's spotlight on Malaysia.
You might wish to eavesdrop on a creative and controversial conversation with LS Sya - the originator of Project Brand Malaysia
Tripatinos - any comments and viewpoints would be most welcome.
On these ideas I cannot agree. "London isn't England and New York isn't America" you say, but in both cases they would probably be the first cities that anyone would name in relation to those countries, and the same is true of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil for example.
I see this as a place and country branding campaign. It enriches our understanding of both and the associations we make with both. And, the country brand is the sum of all the associations and perceptions we have of the place.
This campaign is all the more powerful in that if gives a voice to the people we might trust, the people that live there, that will be our hosts. The audience will definately find this more credible and authentic than a regular ad campaign, and I suspect the result may be less cliché riddled too.
Jose, thanks for the heads-up on Tourism Australia's latest international campaign: 'There's nothing like Australia'.
My take: This is not a country brand campaign, more a country sub-brand campaign - Oz's resorts, towns and cities - a focus on local not national.
But the last thing a sophisticated city like Sydney needs, is to be associated with Brand Australia's outback, rough, tough, macho image - in other words - its cultural source code: Crocodile Dundee.
Clearly, Sydney is positioned within Australia on the world map, but it is in the influential mind-map where they are in very different places. The same principle applies to other aspiring world-class cities: London isn't England and New York isn't America. Ambitious cities need to follow the strategies of independent city-states such as Singapore.
So, while Paul correctly points to the campaign's local benefits, it is at an international level where 'There's nothing like Australia' is destined to join its predecessors 'Australia in a different light' and 'So where the bloody hell are ya?' campaigns in the dustbin of destination branding history.
Here's what's interesting: "The campaign starts with a competition from next month calling on Australians to upload photos to a new website, and complete the line: 'there's nothing like ...'"
While the tagline itself may not be particularly evocative, using it to encourage locals to become involved in promoting their towns and regions in a social network context is certainly a creative twist.
What do you all think about this strategy?
The-Burn-is-Back: Great start for FI Down Under thanks to the City of Melbourne whose branding is off-code & off-track
A work-in-progress for a world-class city-state
The above blog posting at Brandopia: The Branding Destination for Place Pioneers, highlights two promising areas for Singapore to find its big brand idea but with a future focus.
Tipatinos - over to you to discuss and comment please...
Thanks Paul for your insightful comments. The situation gets even worse when you discover that Aruba already know what their big brand idea is: The clue is in their national symbol - The Divi Divi Tree - which always points in a south-westerly direction due to the prevailing trade winds. (I can't talk about it in more detail in a public forum like this).
But this is a classic example of the big brand idea getting 'lost-in-translation' when it moves from the brand strategy agency to the advertising tactic agency.
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