Brand Awareness A brand is, in essence, a promise. If a country sells a tourist, a business executive, or an investor on a promise, it has to deliver on that promise. For example, Dubai promises luxurious hotels. It started delivering on that promise with the opening of the Burj Al Arab, the only seven-star hotel in the world. The sail-shaped hotel became an instant symbol of excessive luxury, sending the implicit message that the standard for all hotels in Dubai is luxury. The emirate reinforced its positioning strategy with the Burj Khalifa, the tallest tower in the world that houses the only hotel designed by Giorgio Armani. Even the police force has embraced the luxury brand and recently acquired a Lamborghini Aventador worth $450,000 to complement its fleet. These actions speak louder than words. Dubai didn’t inherit an Eiffel Tower, but rather created a brand
identity based on luxury. It was rooted in the prevailing brand image of overindulgent Sheiks in the Middle East. It uses symbols, such as the Burj Al Arab, to signal its luxury positioning, instead of an advertisement in Newsweek or a commercial on CNN. The new brand identity was consistently managed even during the financial crisis, when the temptation to diversify was omnipresent. Dubai realized that brand strategy is as much about saying no as it is about saying yes. As a result, their nation brand is undiluted, and Dubai consistently attracts tourists with high disposable incomes. Liberia has the potential to achieve similar results. The value proposition is that anglers can pioneer fishing grounds. The promise acknowledges that Liberia is not a typical holiday destination, but brings the opportunity to be the first to explore the rivers, lakes, and coastline.
Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Museum, Arts of Africa Collection
2013-2014 â—† VOLUME IX
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