Imagine seeing an unknown person on the TV screen talking about how beautiful, smart, capable of doing a job, and how everyone should hang out with them in their own home. What would you think? Most people would probably think that person was miserable and change the TV program. Some would feel sorry for them and think that person had some kind of mental problem. In any case, the situation leaves an ugly or sad impression.
You’ve just read a story about the misguided but common concept of nation “branding.”
A lot of money is spent on promoting a nation in this way. Marketing teams are paid to come up with slogans and logos, directors are hired to make high-budget TV spots, the most expensive seconds are bought on the most watched television channels… The effect on those who see this message is: “I’ve never heard of this country, God, how funny they are”, or: “I thought this country was unhappy and sad”.
Is this a good way to spend (taxpayers’) money? Absolutely not!
What is brand image? It is not a logo, nor a slogan, nor a book of graphic standards. It is an inner feeling or opinion about a product, service, nation, destination or other person.
What is breeding? Branding is not sticking on a company car, nor a logo stamped on the packaging, nor an (expensive) advertising campaign. Branding is the Serbian translation of the English word “branding”, which can only mean the process of “creating” a brand.
What is the brand of Serbia? If you think that we have a bad brand image in the world, you are wrong. According to relevant research by Simon Enholt, the most eminent expert on national branding, we have no brand image at all – in general, no one knows us. Although we were an independent state under this name in the Middle Ages, almost no one has heard of us. Although we have contributed to world civilization through scientists, writers, athletes and military leaders – no one knows that. We have even enriched the world’s largest languages with some Serbian words, but most of us do not know that either. A small number of nations can boast of what I have listed, and the answer to the question at the beginning of the paragraph is: nothing.
It’s a completely different question what kind of brand image we should and can have, how to achieve it, and who is responsible for this situation today.
Although the media image, before and during the most recent wars, was catastrophic for the brand image of Serbia and Serbs, the last unfortunate event happened 13 years ago. Of course, the consequences exist, but they are not insoluble. Any justification of a “bad image” due to the old political regime does not hold up because a lot of time has passed since the extremes in the media that occurred, and the country at that time was called Yugoslavia, not Serbia.
Why did the state not react in a timely manner and why is it not reacting? Running the state is a very responsible and complex job. The life of each individual and his family depends on the decisions of the people at the top of the state. Due to this complex work, it becomes less important for politicians to deal with the brand image in the world, although they like to discuss it sometimes. Another reason is the mandate of politicians of four or five years. That period is short compared to the party and political benefits of this concept although the economic benefits are great (eg the same product with the signature “made in Sweden” is about 20% more expensive than the same product from the countries surrounding Sweden).
I will give an extreme example of how the picture can change. If Serbia were to pass a law that only organic food is produced in our country and draft regulations that regulate this area in the best possible way, that would be world news. If Serbia were to persist in this for the next 10 years and export only organic food, almost no one would mention Serbia in 2022 for its bombings, but for its healthy organic food. Do we need to mention the economic benefit of this action?
It is not only about food as a brand, but also about the ideas of our entrepreneurs, the creativity of artists, the talent of scientists, the abilities of athletes, and to top it all, the positive energy of all Serbs stands out (good times, socializing, music, “strong” food, etc.). That is, it is necessary to create a strategic branding plan that would have the support of the parliament, i.e. the entire government and the strongest opposition forces.
So we can create a great brand image and we have to do it. The sooner the political, economic and intellectual elites realize the possibilities of the nation brand, the sooner we will feel the improvements. Until the politicians decide to seriously deal with it, it remains for us to influence the environment with a good personal example and thus contribute to our own development as well as the development of our nation.
Author: Miljan PREMOVIĆ, Executive Director Intelligence doo