Development of the marketing concept of Estonia

Development of the marketing concept for Estonia

Why does Estonia need a unified marketing concept?

A unified marketing concept is necessary for three main reasons:  Distinction consideration – in order to make oneself attractive one has to stand out and be distinguishable from others Distinction develops through skills, reliability and communication  Visual considerations – distinguishable visual language helps to instantaneously recognize a specific country in any context and thus increase recognition and reliability. A picture is worth a thousand words.  Essential considerations – it is difficult to say something about oneself and one's country, especially for northerners. We need a system that:  speaks to us about ourselves  helps us to understand our essence  helps us to understand why we are special and what we are truly good at

 This knowledge helps us to communicate to the whole world a unified and clear narrative about Estonia  Furthermore, a unified marketing concept for Estonia provides the opportunity to curb marketing expenditures, both in the public and private sector

Beginning. Surveying the situation.

What have people thought about the marketing of Estonia during previous years?

2002  75% of Estonians support the position that Estonia should invest more into building its image abroad  60% of survey participants had heard or seen the “Welcome to Estonia” logo that was developed during the image building project for Estonia  When evaluating the "Welcome to Estonia" logo, 50% of respondents thought that this logo would be suitable for use in introductory materials for Estonia Emor, 2002. Omnibus survey in Estonia

2005  Almost 30% of the respondents have used the WTE logo  94% of the respondents consider state related marketing activities in foreign countries to improve Estonia's reputation very important or rather important  55% of the respondents thought that Estonia has invested very little to make Estonia a well-known country in external markets and to associate Estonia with a good image  44% of the respondents thought that the WTE logo is rather or completely suitable to introduce Estonia Faktum, 2005. Phone survey of companies

Development budget throughout the years During 2001-2002: MEEK 10.4 – research, strategy, philosophy, style book MEEK 3 – launch campaign Total: MEEK 13.4 During 2003-2007: 0

In 2008: MEEK 1.1: for supporting the process and developing a new concept

The situation concerning usage of the marketing concept for Estonia The marketing concept for Estonia is available free of charge to all institutions and companies who have signed the usage contract

 At the moment contracts for using materials related to marketing concept for Estonia have been signed with 110 companies including 33 organisations in the public and non-profit sector 77 companies in the private sector

Activities.

Team EE management group - Leitti Mändmets, Erki Peegel, Maria Alajõe Advisory work group consisting of local experts: Work group consists of experts in their own field, representing important areas in

Estonia's development – aspects related to tourism, export, foreign investments, education and living environment and whose everyday life is connected with marketing Estonia. The task of the work group is to provide feedback, professional advice, positive reflection and to generate ideas. The aim of the work group is to be the main influence group for the national process.

The emotional consent of the members of the work group is necessary for the development of the project All employees of EE – important creators of positive image and message disseminators

Advisory expert work group Ahti Kuningas (Enterprise Estonia supervisory board; Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications) Siim Raie (Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry) Indrek Treufeldt (Adviser to the management board of Estonian Public Broadcasting, The Tallinn University Baltic Film and Media School) Ilmar Raag (expert on media) Triinu Rajasalu (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, director general of the press and information department) Üllar Jaaksoo (former chairman of the supervisory board of Enterprise Estonia) Sven Lõokene (chairman of the management board of Estonian Association of Travel Agents) Daniel Vaarik (new media, expert on communications) Rain Pikand (creative agency Division) Mariann Lugus (manager of foreign marketing of Archimedes) Raul Rebane (expert on strategic communication and media) Aleksander Smirnov (advertising expert for the Russian target group) Tiit Riisalo (supervisory board of Enterprise Estonia, EXPO Vice Commissioner General) In addition, area based work groups in tourism, education, business, marketing and communication.

Key areas of the marketing concept for Estonia Tourism Business Export Foreign investments Living environment For learning For living For working Internal communication. Estonian

Gathering experiences and further development Personal consultations and interviews with experts from the 2001-2002 “Famous

Estonia” project Interviews with foreign consultants to the 2001-2002 “Famous Estonia” project Interviews with foreign consultants Interviews with various opinion leaders and experts in Estonia Conversations with Enterprise Estonia employees, including representatives abroad Best practice collection Regular meetings with the advisory group Work seminars with foreign consultants Development suggestions from Estonian advertising agency

Survey on the attitude of Estonia's population towards the marketing concept for Estonia The omnibus survey was carried out between 05-18.06.2008. The sample consisted of 1027 respondents between the ages of 15-74

 68% of the respondents who have a recent foreign country experience considered it to be important that Estonia continues its image building abroad.  A majority of the respondents thought that the most important aspects that must be emphasized in image building are culture, nature and Tallinn Old Town. Both

Estonians and non-Estonians agreed on this.  71% of people who communicate with foreign countries recognised the logo of Estonia Welcome to Estonia  The average opinion regarding the logo’s features was rather positive. A notable position was that the logo is memorable, friendly and warm. Very few thought that the logo was negative in nature (only 4% totally agreed with this claim)  53% of the respondents said the logo is suitable for introducing Estonia abroad, 32%

were against using it.

Survey on business environment attitude towards the marketing concept for Estonia Phone survey took place from 12-19.06.2008. The sample consisted of 289 respondents from Estonia's businesses, education institutions, county governments and ministries.  A majority of the respondents considered it to be important that the state would be engaged in creating a positive image of Estonia in foreign target markets.  According to the average opinion of the respondents, the most important aspect to be emphasized in image building is Estonia's culture, followed by Estonia’s modernity and innovation  Almost all of the respondents (98%) knew the logo Welcome to Estonia  When asked to evaluate the logo's predetermined features it was most frequently agreed that the logo is nondescript.  Still, there were a few that claimed that it carries a negative message and mainly it was thought that in essence it is friendly and positive  A majority of the respondents considered it to be very important that the state invests in making Estonia well-known, especially in the fields of tourism and export, and the public sector emphasized the importance of living environment related areas.

The recognition and reputation of the logo of Estonia among the residents of Finland, Sweden, Germany, Norway and Great Britain The phone survey took place from 09.06-31.07.2008. The sample in every country consisted of at least 1000 randomly selected respondents  Overwhelming majority of residents of Finland have visited Estonia (81%)  One quarter (25%) of the residents of Sweden and 15% of Norwegians have visited Estonia.  4% of the residents of Germany and 3% of the residents of Great Britain have visited Estonia  22% of the residents of Great Britain and 11% of the residents of Germany have not heard anything about Estonia.  Those who are more educated, the elderly and people with higher incomes have above average contact with Estonia.  Most of the respondents considered Estonia’s logo to be nondescript.  Respondents who have seen Estonia’s logo beforehand relate it significantly more frequently with positive predetermined claims.  Exceptions include the Norwegians of whom 47% considered Estonia’s logo to be memorable and Germans of whom 40% considered Estonia’s logo to be innovative.  A majority of the residents in none of these countries consider the logo, in essence, to be negative

Result.

Updated marketing concept for Estonia