BRANDOPIA

Part 1 - Northumberland: United Clans of the Anglo-Scots

Part 1 of a Q&A session, facilitated by Alan 'Brand' Williamson, Destination Brand Developer, on co-branding products and places, at Morpeth, Northumberland, England on 22nd February 2006.

Questions from the delegates:

• How can a museum be re-positioned as a successful visitor attraction?
• How can a mussels (shellfish) business exploit its unique location - Holy Island (aka Lindisfarne its Celtic name) - located off the Northumberland coast?
• How does a country house offering self-catering accommodation target the corporate market?
• How do country sub-brands such as regions, counties and cities develop within the hierarchy of a destination brand portfolio?

Alan: The short answer - Co-branding with a new, emerging category will generate exciting big brand ideas. Better still, create a new category and let your brand lead that category into a sustainable and prosperous future.
The long answer - Continue to look for opportunities to co-brand with complimentors, competitors, celebrities as well as other products, partners, publics (via media), and most importantly, places and their peoples - in other words, a cultural co-branding strategy.

Q asked by Alan: In just one word or short phrase what is your perception of Northumberland County?
A: Unspoilt - Castles & coastline - Great outdoors - Tranquility - Friendly - Stunning views - History - Culture - Open spaces - Passionate people.

Alan: With such a variation of responses, and a perception as one of the least visited counties, Northumberland needs to find a focus - a new destination category - to build a unique position for itself rather than try and 'be-all-things-to-all-people' which most macro destinations - countries, regions, counties and cities - are guilty of doing primarily to satisfy their armies of stakeholders.
But after a virtual immersion into Northumberland, some interesting possibilities for a new destination category have emerged:

• Northumberland has more castles (13) than any other English county - built to fight wars over centuries between Scotland and England. The county's ownership, as part of the larger historical Kingdom of Northumbria, has changed hands several times over the years.
• Hadrian's famous Wall was built by the Romans to keep the invaders from the north out of England.
• Finally, after hundreds of wars and skirmishes, the English and Scottish crowns were united in 1603.
• 'After-war-make-love' which is why Northumberland boasts a vast number of Anglo-Scottish unions, relationships, ventures and partnerships - ancient and modern - from Northumberland's Berwick Rangers football (soccer) team playing in the Scottish league, to the giant Scottish & Newcastle brewery and its world-famous Newcastle Brown Ale.
• Northumberland is the only English county with an official tartan - Shepherd's Plaid - and the only English county with a Bagpipe Museum featuring the Northumbrian Smallpipes.

The historical tensions between the Scots and the English provide a platform for Northumberland as the only English county perfectly positioned to bring the two nations closer together to build a fabulous future - generating tourism, inward investments and exports. With a strategic brand vision: United Clans of the Anglo-Scots, here are just a few tactical ideas to help make that vision a reality:

• The Lowland Games (inspired by Scotland's Highland Games) featuring a mix of Scottish and English competitions - both ancient and modern.
• The Thistle & Rose - a cultural fest of some of the best Anglo-Scots traditions.
• The Andrew-George Awards - a celebration of Anglo-Scottish achievements - at home and abroad.

'Brand' the Marketect says:
"Building a unique cultural identity based on powerful cultural mythologies, is one of the best brand development strategies available for products as well as places and their peoples."

Please click here to read Part 2 - The British Riviera.

Part 2 - The British Riviera: Castles-on-the-Sands

Part 2 of a Q&A session, facilitated by Alan 'Brand' Williamson, Destination Brand Developer, on co-branding products and places, at Morpeth, Northumberland, England on 22nd February 2006.

Q: What about Northumberland's other strengths such as its fabulous coastline and its unspoilt landscapes?
Alan: This is where destination sub-brands should be brought into play. Instead of trying to make the county brand stand for everything and thus end up standing for nothing, let's see if we can concentrate on Northumberland's coastline and create a destination sub-brand but within a new exciting category.

BBC TV's Coast series described the Scottish Borders-Northumberland-North Yorkshire coastline as 'The Bleak, the Black, and the Beautiful', providing an opportunity to create a new category within the overall European Riviera category comprising the French Riviera, Italian Riviera, Spanish Costas, and the English Riviera located on England's south Devon coast.

By combining the Scottish Borders coastline representing the Celtic nations with the northeastern English coastline representing the Angles nation (from Angleland to Engaland to England), Northumberland can now create a new coastal category branded 'The British Riviera' - with its Castles-on-the-Sands as a potent symbol and image inspiring generations of sand sculptors, artists, poets, writers, photographers and film makers.

'Brand' the Marketect says:
"Take the perceived negative of the British coastal weather - wet'n'windy - and turn it into a powerful positive."

 

Footnote:
The image above is of Bamburgh Castle painted by local artist Alan Reed.

Please click here to read Part 3 - The English Regions - Compass Names or Culture Names

Part 3 - The English Regions: Compass Names or Culture Names?

Part 3 of a Q&A session, facilitated by Alan 'Brand' Williamson, Destination Brand Developer, on co-branding products and places, at Morpeth, Northumberland, England on 22nd February 2006.

Q asked by Alan: Compare and contrast some of the English Regions: Northeast England, Northwest England, Southeast England and Southwest England with some of the Spanish Regions: Catalonia, Galicia, Murcia and Andalucia?

A: The English Regions are all compass names while the Spanish Regions are exotic cultural names with relatively strong identities.

Alan: Compass names are like brand extensions (see Footnote: Mercedes-Benz) which may or may not flourish depending on the strength of the original brand. Whereas sub-brands which use their own original cultural names and identities can flourish independently of their main brand. (See Footnote: The Algarve).

So for example, the Northeast England regional brand relies heavily on how well the main brand - England - is developed. At present, the England brand is not being built with a future-focus; instead it promotes its sub-brands such as the English cities and resorts using advertising slogans: Enjoy, Explore, and Experience England.

This is relatively bad news for England's regions, despite valiant attempts by some of them to develop their own unique positions. Witness Northeast England's current attempt: Passionate People Passionate Places, or the East of England's: The Ideas Region. The good news, however, is the opportunity for the English regions to build their brands based on their powerful cultural identities, while the England brand re-doubles its efforts on finding a future, focused on a big brand idea. (See Footnote: England's icons).

Now consider Spain's northeast region: Catalonia, which has built a strong cultural identity, language and its own capital city - Barcelona - currently outperforming Spain's capital - Madrid - in terms of foreign tourist bed-nights and credit-card spend. The chances of English regional cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds or Newcastle outperforming London are pretty remote under the current strategy.

'Brand' the Marketect says:
"When developing a brand portfolio strategy, each brand in the hierarchy should build on its own primary strength, focused on a narrow market. This will ensure that the brand portfolio, as a collective whole, can and will deliver a broad and balanced economy - and most importantly, keep the majority of its stakeholders on-side".

Footnotes:
1. Mercedes-Benz's brand portfolio strategy uses letters such as C-Class and S-Class to name its sub-brand models. (BMW uses numbers: 3-Series, 5-Series etc). This is the equivalent of compass names used by destination brands. However, the main Mercedes brand was built with a narrow focus: well-engineered, expensive cars. Recently, Mercedes-Benz has made some basic branding errors which have begun to dilute the brand's reputation and valuation:

• Its parent company bought America's Chrysler Corporation, a co-branding strategy guaranteed to dilute the Mercedes brand perception and values.
• Mercedes introduced the A-Class, a small, inexpensive Mercedes, so that its dealers could sell to a wider audience, forgetting that it is gradually eroding its standing with its primary target market who buy the marque because of its prestigious reputation.
• The micro Smart car was given to Mercedes dealers to sell alongside its Mercedes models. Many dealers were aghast - quite rightly - and insisted on selling the Smart car through separate showrooms - a smart move.
• For years, Mercedes-Benz has co-branded with its country-of-origin - Germany - and piggy-backed on its formidable reputation for advanced engineering excellence. Sadly, Germany has given up its strong, iconic currency sub-brand - the Deutschmark - in favour of joining weaker currency brands within the Euro such as the Italian Lira. A move destined to have both a short and long term impact on both, the Germany brand as well as its co-branded partners.

2. The Algarve region of Portugal decided to focus not on its sun-drenched beaches, nor its stunning landscapes, or its delicious fish restaurants, but on golf. Today, the region is a bigger brand than its totally-unfocused country brand - Portugal. A feat that a brand-extended compass name such as South Portugal with a 'something-for-everyone' strategy could never have achieved.

3. England's icons are being identified and voted on at this website. Don't forget to read and vote for England's greatest export and 'software-for-the-universal-mind', the English Language and its iconic symbol, the Oxford English Dictionary.

A big thank you to Andrew Wilson and his team at Business to Business Exhibitions for organising this seminar and to John Raglan & Lorna Johnson of Dipsticks Research for sponsoring the seminar.

Detroit: Motor Capital or Murder Capital?

A creative conversation between Des and Tina, Brandopia's mythical brand developers

DES: Last Sunday, the US city of Detroit, located in the Great Lakes state of Michigan, hosted America's biggest single sporting event - SuperBowl XL.
TINA: An opportunity which this once great destination has grasped, with both hands, and re-launched itself onto the world arena.

DES: Suffering from continuous negative media coverage of serious crime and urban decay, caused by 'ghetto-gangs' and 'white-flight', Motor City USA has finally dragged itself into the 21st Century and now has a platform from which it can re-build its tarnished reputation.
TINA: The 'Murder Capital' nametag should now be consigned to the dustbin of destination branding history, particularly after the pre-match Detroit Salute segment, which was beamed across the world's TV screens. Regular media releases showing Detroit's improving crime stats should now form a crucial part of the city's marketing action plan.

DES: The magic of the Motown sound together with soul singer Aretha Franklyn's rendition of the national anthem, sent a powerful message to the world, that Detroit was genuinely proud of its black heritage.
TINA: With over 75% of the city's population classified as African-American, Detroit needs to develop co-branded programmes based on its rich cultural heritage - from Joe Louis, the legendary heavyweight boxer, to ex-Ford worker Berry Gordy Jr, the founder of the famous Tamla Motown record label.

DES: The tensions between the 'have's-and-the-have-not's' not just in America but across the world, are the perfect cultural contradictions for Detroit to build its global brand strategy: "Personal Wheels for All" - from pedal power to hydro-gen power.
TINA: Its Museum of African-American History - the world's largest - and  its Automotive Hall of Fame, both acting as a megaphone for the great contribution that this culture has made, particularly towards its automobile heritage.

DES: But first Detroit has to get back to basics and co-operate with its Big Three auto brands - GM, Ford & Chrysler - who are losing market share and profits - at home as well as abroad.
TINA: And as blog buddy Laura's father - Al Ries - powerfully points out on their website, GM's problem is in its marketing. Its brand portfolio needs re-focusing.

DES: As Motor City USA, Detroit shouldn't stand still but leverage its position to further develop a global reputation - World's Motor Capital - by expanding its twinning or sister cities programme - from Toyota City in Japan and Turin in Italy, to the emerging Indian, Chinese and Korean motor clusters, such as the south Indian city of Chennai, formerly known as Madras, hotting-up as that country's 'motor capital'.
TINA: And finally, it's high time the city's American football franchise - the Detroit Lions - reviewed its nickname and changed it - to the Detroit Wheelers - and then perhaps go on to emulate Iron City's Pittsburgh Steelers - by winning the SuperBowl, not just once, but a record-equalling 5-times!

'Brand' the Marketect says:
"Drill deep down into your primary weakness to find the gem of a brand new opportunity."