A creative conversation between Des and Tina, Brandopia's mythical brand developers
DES: Earlier this year, the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, in the East of England region, were locked in a battle as to what to name The Broads - their most famous tourist destination.
TINA: Popularly known as the Norfolk Broads for many a year, the destination management organisation - The Broads Authority - is pro-actively developing The Broads brand instead of just relying on charter boating companies to promote the destination.
DES: But the gentle folk of Suffolk were naturally upset with being left off the tourist map, arguing that some of the best bits of the Broads were actually located in their half of the county.
TINA: This regional rivalry has recently moved to the county capitals - Norfolk's Norwich & Suffolk's Ipswich.
DES: I think you must be talking about the redesign of the world-famous Monopoly board game?
TINA: That's right. When asked, the citizens of Ipswich suggested that the 'Go to Jail' corner should be changed to 'Go to Norwich' instead, which naturally hasn't gone down well with the Norwichians who consider themselves culturally superior - claiming that it's better to be 'Norfolkated than Suffolkated'.
DES: It's in the intersection of this local cultural rivalry where The Broads can find and build its big brand idea - bringing the two sides closer together.
TINA: But a local brand strategy, although vitally important, isn't enough in today's hyper-competitive marketplace. The Broads should build a national brand strategy to complement their local strategy.
DES: During the summer, The Broads Authority put out a press release stating its intention to be positioned as a National Park to give it the brand status it deserves.
TINA: But sadly, when it comes to a National Park league table, The Broads are way down the pecking order; and claiming the title of 'Britain's newest national park' wears a bit thin after a short honeymoon period. Also using the alternative 'Wetlands' brand category would only confirm the negative perception of perhaps visiting the country's rainbelt - with BMW in tow - Brolly, Mac and Wellies (See Footnote).
DES: And to make matters worse, the 'national water park' position is already 'owned' by the aptly named Lake District, located in the north of England's Cumbria sub-region.
TINA: So what can The Broads do?
DES: They could metaphorically get out of the water and climb on-board instead - with a future-focused cultural brand vision as 'Britain's Boating Capital' (See Footnote: The Hamble River).
TINA: And then dig deep into the cultural contradictions within the yachting fraternity, before exploiting the cultural clash between 'windjammers' and 'landlubbers'.
'Brand' the Marketect says:
"When reviewing your brand identity - visual, verbal & cultural - consider the brand category it is positioned within, to ensure any enhancements would maintain or improve the brand's leadership of the category."
Footnote:
Brolly means Umbrella. Mac means Mackintosh or Raincoat. Wellies mean Wellington Boots.
The Hamble River in England's Hampshire County, is currently perceived by the yachting media to be Britain's most popular boating centre, although the destination brands itself in a rather limp fashion as the 'Heart of British Yachting'.
The Broads, as part of its brand-building efforts, should study and learn from the brand battle manoeuvres for the title America's Boating Capital between the Great Lakes State of Michigan and Florida State's St Petersburg-Clearwater.
