Posted by Tom Gable
The Los Angeles Times ran a story Sunday on how South Korea is spending millions of dollars to develop a national brand. The headline: “How about, ‘South Korea: Way better than you think it is’?”
The story noted:
• 40 percent of foreigners polled on country image cited its lack of “charm.”
• It is linked to North Korea, rogue nation headed by the bizarre Kim Jong Il.
• South Korea ranked 33 of 50 nations in a recent Nation Brands Index (Germany was No. 1, the United States No. 7).
• It has formed a Presidential Council on Nation Branding with a goal of moving to 15th place by 2013.
• The government also wants to “globalize” Korean cuisine, moving it to among the world’s top five by 2017.
Will a few slogans and expensive promotional and advertising programs move the image in the desired direction?
Euh Yoon-dae, head of the Presidential Council on Nation Branding, was quoted as saying: “We’re trying to advance the identity of Korea. It’s the substance rather than the brand itself. We want to walk the walk rather than just talk up some new advertising campaign.”
The branding czar nailed it. The question: can South Korea walk the talk?
Images and reputations build over time based on a consistent flow of positive evidence, or proof of principle as the engineers and scientists call it. It could be compared to creating a great tapestry or painting to hang in the Louvre. Thousands of strands of color need to be strategically woven together or dabbed creatively over time to create a work of art for your admiring publics. The work is authentic, original and compelling.
The process to move image in the right direction is fairly straightforward for a company, organization, individual, cities states and even nations:
1. How do you want to be known two, three, five, ten or twenty years from now?
2. Is it realistic and attainable?
3. What do you stand for (your position)?
4. What are the three or four core values and points of differentiation that support the position?
5. What evidence will be rolled out over time to validate each of those core values and add to the lore?
6. Who are your most important target audiences?
7. How do you integrate communications strategies to reach each consistently and creatively over time to move perception in the desired direction and motivate them to action?
8. What about the negatives? Worst case scenarios? Push back? Criticism and cynicism? Competitive counter-attacks? Lack of core values? Over-hyped attributes?
9. How to analyze and change tactics and strategies as needed?
10. Is the organization totally committed to the program?
11. Are there other factors that might influence the program (economic, political, sociological, etc.)?
12. How do we measure success?
Can South Korea achieve its goal of going from No. 33 to 15 in brand image in less than five years? Some might consider the task to be more like an assault on Everest than a casual walk to Reputationland.
