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Destination marketing is not just a smile
by Dr Seamus Phan I have traveled to Japan and Thailand frequently through the years, for work, and sometimes, for relaxation (or in the case of Japan, checking out the best of consumer electronics at Akihabara). There are many similarities between Japan and Thailand, both have a deep ingrained culture of courtesy. The Japanese and the Thais do not need to go through “smile training”, they would exude their charms and smiles all by themselves, with no coaxing of any kind. Why do I, as with many people, consistently get drawn back to Japanese and Thai locations? Locations and corporations with poor customer service or lapses in service would frequently push their frontline employees to motivational programs, with every hope to get their frontliners “smile” more frequently to customers. However, even if such “smile training” work for a few days, the effect is short-lived, and frontliners will go back to their ways quickly. And when we expand service lapses to a destination or national level, lapses in service can quickly cripple or slow down the industry. Other quick fixes may include expensive advertising campaigns running on mainstream print and broadcast media, where corporations or destinations would hope to mould consumer perceptions through sustained “hypnosis”. But would these work for the long haul, or is there something much deeper? Window dressing? If you are a subscriber to cable television, or if you travel frequently and like to surf through news channels such as CNN and CNBC, you will find advertisements which reach out to you seemingly with the sincerest hopes to entice and seduce you. No, we are not talking about the latest fast cars right out of the doors of Porsche, or the latest sleek computers from Apple. We are talking about countries advertising themselves, including the likes of Thailand and Malaysia. For example, Malaysia has run several variants of television advertisements hosted by popular actress Michelle Yeoh (of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" fame). The advertisements share a single theme, "Malaysia, Truly Asia". And the imagery points to reinforce the theme. Likewise, given South Korea’s “exports” of its wildly popular Korean TV dramas and film, many South Korean national destination marketing campaigns will promote both the film locations, as well as use its celebrities. Thailand's government has also been as aggressive as Malaysia, and through its television advertisements, has painted Thailand as "Amazing Thailand." Of course, the imagery brings out the feeling of transforming the mundane lives of everyday individuals into amazing resort-filled lives. Other countries aggressive in painting the right imagery to attract visitors include Hong Kong SAR and Japan. For example, Hong Kong SAR would rope in its most famous sons, such as Jackie Chan, to promote sights and sounds of Hong Kong. Likewise, Japan, being such a diverse country with many prefectures, would have very localized destination marketing for each of the locations, such as Kyunshu, Nagoya, etc, to target specific business people and tourists, with very vertical attractions and cuisines. So then, why would national branding work and why should countries in Asia care, in light of marketing their localized or national destinations? It is all about image Brand-building, or image creation, and all other vehicles of marketing, are all tools to garner attention that should culminate in a "purchase decision." Likewise, when a nation advertises itself through an extensive branding program, it is to get initial attention from prejudiced, ignorant, or somewhat knowledgeable folks to begin to form a better understanding about the nation, and hopefully visit many of the destinations within. For example, to an American who may not have ventured out of his or her own country, the image of Thailand may cook up all the wrong connotations, simply because the wrong image has been propagated in populist media. However, only if this American takes a trip and begin a reasonable length of time to study Thailand, it would be difficult to right this perception. Such preconceived and prejudiced views permeate throughout every culture, and every nation falls prey to some degree of prejudice. But just because there is prejudice, a nation should not turn a deaf ear and pretend that nothing is happening. A more assertive and pro-active approach toward educating ignorant people should result, and a consistent publicity campaign aimed at providing subtle and convincing "sell" to persuade these people to change their views. Brand building for a nation should be holistic, and should not simply be about a small vertical concept. In the case of Singapore, the use of Singapore as a high-tech hub is perhaps thrilling and exciting to young upstarts who are itching to travel from the West to land a personal challenge, but may not paint a holistic picture necessary for older and more experienced (and certainly more skilled) professionals with a larger family to move over here. The branding programs of Malaysia and Thailand provides a warm, personal, and holistic approach. The concept of human warmth and friendliness is not alien to any culture, Westerns or Asians. Therefore, Westerners with families are more likely to want to relocate to a place where a holistic approach to life is portrayed. Of course, once the family relocates to such a country, the family will expect the delivery of that approach, and countries should deliver on the advertised promise no doubt. In the case of Malaysia, infrastructure is being built at a feverish pace, similar to what the likes of China is preparing for the 2008 Olympics. However, infrastructure is merely a mechanical construction that can be emulated as long as you have the right financial resources, and people to build them. Malaysia also possesses some of the most friendly people around, and they do speak English for the most parts. Thailand has a slight disadvantage in the command of English, but if you have been to Thailand, you know that people will treat you well in various hospitality and shopping establishments. The human culture is the engine behind branding. The cornerstone to the human element has to be Japan. While some other nations try to grow into service-driven economies, Japan seem to have perfected the art and science of delivering and maintaining excellent service. When you go to Japan, frontliners are willing to go out of the way to serve you, even if they speak a few words of English only. The Japanese has a pervasive mindset, viewing service as an honorable culture and duty. For example, I was in Akihabara, the consumer electronics shopping district in Japan, and entered a store to look at MP3 players. I found one that was neat and small, and asked a frontliner, a middle-aged gentleman, if the device would work for my computer. He apologized for his poor command of English, and asked if I could stay for a short moment for him to call his colleague from another store SEVERAL STREETS AWAY! I said yes, since I had the afternoon free. A short while later, a younger frontliner appeared, and after a brief exchange, he said that he would need to test my selected product to make sure it would work for my computer. He asked if I could shop around and return to the store in one hour. I left and returned about an hour later. The young gentleman was still testing the MP3 player through various programs, and reported that the model I selected would not work for me. He asked if I would consider something else, but despite his superb service, I simply could not find something I like. I left the store with a great feeling about the trouble two salesmen went through, and were genuinely courteous and apologetic for not being able to serve me well. By the way, the device only costs around US$100, not exactly a big ticket item. Another personal example, and there are many more where that came from, was a taxi trip when I was invited to speak at an event in Tokyo. The taxi driver was an old gentleman and I gave him the address of the hotel where the event was held. He apologized in Japanese that he would need to call his office to find the hotel. Finally, he had an idea where the obscure hotel was, and drove to the location. At the location, and mind you, it was about 10 degrees Celsius (rather cold), the old gentleman apologized again, and stepped out of the taxi in his thin jacket, to ask around the neighborhood. After a minute, he dashed back and told me he found the exact location of the hotel. I arrived at the hotel, gratified that the old taxi driver was willing to go out of the way to get to a location. Therefore, when branding is created, the background work is even more important. You do not want to give the impression that everything is merely a facade and nothing else. Visitors, who may certainly be investors or potential immigrants to boost the economy, may make occasional trips of leisure to a country. If he or she, and the family, are well served, the branding would stick in their minds, and it would be that much easier as a subtle and all important persuader. In difficult times, the concept of branding, coupled with the all too important delivery, are the keys to maintaining or even growing the destination business. No high-tech machinery, fancy highway, electronic gadgetry, or bright lights, will move people to visit for leisure, relocate their businesses and families here, or to boost the investment climate. Only people with a genuine and forthcoming mission and heart, will create the brightest and smartest branding campaign that delivers the promises and more. Dr Seamus Phan is a leading author, keynote speaker, trainer and naturopathic philosopher. Seamus is one of Asia’s early Internet pioneers and bloggers. Seamus consults and speaks for international companies, governments and emerging enterprises around the world. He is the bestselling co-author of Dot ZEN \, a business leadership book, and This Body This Life , a holistic health and fitness book. Copyright (c) 1990-2005 Seamus Phan. All rights reserved. END | |||||||||
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