BRANDOPIA

England or Britain - Differentiate or Decline

A creative commentary by Alan 'Brand' Williamson, Destination Brand Developer, published and broadcast online and offline in April 2006

"During great sporting spectacles involving English teams - from FIFA's Football World Cup to the Webb Ellis Rugby Union Trophy to The Ashes Test Cricket series - one cannot help being overwhelmed by the breakout of patriotic English flag-waving throughout this green and pleasant land. But it's not just the big sporting events, we're also witnessing a smaller but growing annual rash of red and white around the 23rd of April – St George's Day – in pubs, clubs and shops up and down the country.

So as a Destination Brand Developer, based in England, I have to swallow hard when people I meet tend to confuse Britain with England and I'm not just talking about our American friends. I'm also pointing the finger at some of my own compatriots right here in this land of ours.

And with the continuing onslaught of globalism triggering the opposite effect – tribalism - it's time, fellow place pioneers, to build an England brand – a brand that's different from the Britain brand. A brand that's unique, with a built-in future focus – worldwide!

Differentiate or Decline
The big question is: How can England differentiate itself, not only at home but also abroad?

I believe the first key is to avoid doing what most nations and destinations tend to do: try to be all-things-to-all-people. Next, England must focus on its primary strength and not on its secondary strengths. And finally, it mustn't just promote its glorious past but invest its past in order to fashion a fabulous future.

So let me cut to the chase and tell you what I think England's big brand idea should be - and why? And it's not the obvious - England's picture postcard geography, or its long and illustrious history, but its people – specifically, the language of its people – English – its mother tongue and its greatest export. 'The Lish' – my nickname for the English language – is considered by many to be the 'software-for-the-universal-mind' and soon, the defacto standard on the Internet.

A good test for a big brand idea is to ask: Does it have an enemy or competitor? Well, one of the Lish's brand extensions, American-English, is threatening to dominate the globe, thanks to Brand America's mega media brands – Hollywood, CNN and Voice of America to name just three brands. That's the bad news. The good news, however, is that England can recover its leadership status by positioning itself as the source of 'The real thing', 'The authentic and original', the 'Home of the world's language'.

The Human Touch
The Lish touches all aspects of human endeavour in the English-speaking world: medicine, law, business, technology, culture, education, government - the list goes on and on. It has generated brand extensions the world over – from American-English to Australian-English (Strine) to Singaporean-English (Singlish) to Indian-English (Hinglish) to Caribbean-English to Urban Rap. Not forgetting its local varieties – Scouse, Geordie, Brummie, Estuary English, Cockney, Shakespearean English, Legalese, Shorthand and Texting to name just a few, with many more varieties and innovations already in development, and more to come in the future.

Meanwhile over at the icons.org.uk website, you'll witness first hand the confusion between the England and Britain icons – from a cup of tea to the Spitfire. And while you're there please read and vote for the Lish's iconic Oxford English Dictionary – Brand England's universal symbol for “English Spoken Here”.

Now let me think, for my next overseas trip, which flag shall I stick on my knapsack – the Union Jack or St George's Cross?"

Brand Crawley: New Town New Culture

Inspired by a BBC Radio interview with Alan 'Brand' Williamson on 10th April 2006, a creative conversation between Des and Tina, Brandopia's mythical brand developers

DES: Crawley, an English town located on the cusp of the counties of West Sussex and Surrey, was designated a post-war 'New Town' to accommodate residents from heavily-bombed areas such as London.
TINA: The New Towners were delighted to be relocated from the Smoke - the nickname for London - to start new lives in brand new suburban homes complete with well-paid jobs.

DES: And despite the culture clash with Crawley's 'old towners', the New Towners managed to build a good life based around a common cultural conclave of ex-Londoners in a new environment.
TINA: Even today, you can still witness a mass cultural exodus at weekend football (soccer) match days to many London clubs - Chelsea, Fulham, QPR, Crystal Palace, Charlton, Millwall and West Ham.

DES: But it's the children and grandchildren of the New Towners - the second and third generations - that are the fundamental issue in Crawley today. Born and bred in the town, but with no London culture to fall back on, the new generations badly need a new cultural foundation on which to build a local and sustainable future.
TINA: But sadly, the civic leaders are fixated primarily on infrastructure projects such as a shopping mall, leisure centre, and transport links - the supply side of the local economy - forgetting the all-important demand side - the return on investment - the payback from the multi-million £££ physical projects. There seems to be a civic culture of 'Build-it-and-they-will-come.'

DES: And it is this unbalanced one-dimensional approach which is now reflected in relatively poor performances both economically and socially.
TINA: It's difficult not to notice the large number of 'value' (thrift) stores in Queen's Square - the retail heart of the town centre - in effect telling the big-budget visitors to shop-till-they-drop in neighbouring competitive destinations instead.

DES: A sure sign that Crawley's citizens are caught up in a spiralling poverty-pay trap of an over-abundance of cleaning, catering and packing jobs.
TINA: Coupled with a social dependence culture of teenage single parents - well above the national average.

DES: And just outside the town centre, some of the prestigious businesses such as Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, and the Ramada Plaza hotel, opting to co-brand themselves not with Crawley but with its next-door neighbour - Gatwick - boasting a positive brand identity as an international airport.
TINA: Now if that wasn't bad enough, Crawley's flagship event - Prom-in-the-Park - has been experiencing falling audience numbers over the past few years. And blaming the weather or the ticket prices or even the performing acts while sounding very plausible are not the fundamental reasons for poor attendances.

DES: I think it's high time that Crawley's destination management reviewed their marketing programmes and focused their attention on the fundamental issue: Identifying and implementing a cultural brand vision of the future.
TINA: But first they have to kick their addictive habit of promoting meaningless slogos such as 'Get-into-Crawley' and 'Pride-of-Place.' They also have to ditch broad-brush all-encompassing visions such as 'A great place to live, work, play & visit.'

DES: Once free from the shackles of sloganitis, they can re-focus their efforts on developing a unique cultural brand identity, fit for the 21st Century.
TINA: Then and only then will the people of this deserving town eventually rid itself of mocking nicknames such as 'Chav City' and start delivering great returns on their infrastructure investments - both in the short and long term.

'Brand' the Marketect says:
"Without a cultural brand identity vision, a place and its people perish into social and economic mediocrity."

Note: A big thank you to BBC Radio Executive Producer Elizabeth Green for featuring Crawley's Brand Identity Crisis.