A creative conversation between Des and Tina, Brandopia's mythical brand developers
DES: According to the Indonesia-based Bedrock Asia branding agency, when you ask non-Indonesians - Americans and Europeans - 'Where is Indonesia?' and 'Where is Bali?', the answers may somewhat be surprising: 'Bali is an island/country near Australia and Singapore'. Also, 'Bali is not in Indonesia'.
TINA: While Brand Bali is well-positioned and narrowly-focused as a leisure destination and is considered Indonesia's leading resort, Brand Indonesia, itself, sadly, remains unfocused - one of the primary reasons why its tourism numbers lag way behind its Asian neighbours such as Singapore and Thailand. (See Footnote: Algarve and Portugal).
DES: While the Jakarta and Bali bombings in 2002 and 2005, and the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, have all contributed to shrinking visitor numbers, Brand Indonesia needs a powerful future-focused big brand idea - a narrowly-focused cultural concept - to kick-start its journey towards the top five Asian destination brand table.
TINA: And using superlative adjectives such as 'Incredible India' and 'Surprising Romania' is a non-starter.
DES: Tina, let's drill down into some of Indonesia's key strengths which might unearth some big cultural ideas.
TINA: As the world's largest archipelago - some 17,000 islands - Indonesia is blessed with a plethora of cultural diversity, offering cultural conflicts, contradictions and tensions - a rich minefield of potential big brand ideas.
DES: In fact, Indonesia is also the world's largest Muslim state with cultural tensions not just between Christians and Hindus, but also between 'moderate' Muslims and 'extreme' Muslims.
TINA: Brand Indonesia would do well to re-visit our creative conversation on branding the Czech Republic if it is to make its slogan 'Unity in Diversity' an economic and social reality - throughout the world.
'Brand' the Marketect says:
"Trying to build a destination brand using superlative adjectives is like trying to put up an advertising poster without glue."
Footnote:
Algarve and Portugal
The Algarve region, by narrowly focusing on its golf resorts, has now become a bigger brand than unfocused Portugal - the country it's located in.
