national and public sector branding: strategic

WWW.SBS.OXFORD.EDU EDUCATING LEADERS FOR 800 YEARS

National and Public Sector Branding:

Strategic Opportunities for Branding

Malaysia and the Public Service

Dr. Paul Temporal, February 2013

©Paul Temporal 2013

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Agenda

• What is branding?

• Types of nation/public sector branding

• Why does the public sector (or a nation) need branding?

• The power and rewards of branding for countries and the

public sector

• The ‘Nation Brand Effect’

• Challenges in Nation and public sector branding

• Brand architecture and intra-brand competition

• Building a strong public sector/nation brand

• Brand management


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What A Brand Is Not……..

• A Logo or trademark

• Advertising & Promotion


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So What Is Branding?

• Branding is much more ….service delivery,

relationships, consumer emotional

associations, good experiences, and positive

perceptions in every possible dimension

• Relationships between buyers and sellers

• Branding is concerned largely with intangible

associations that consumers think and feel

about those items

• Emotional associations are critical to power

branding, especially Trust


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An Investment not a Cost

•As in the corporate world, the branding of nations is now

an imperative

•Image power means economic power

•The cost of not building a brand, or managing brand

image, will be relatively detrimental in the long term


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Country-of-Origin and Brand

Preference

• Attributes of a Nation brand influence the “country of origin” (C-

O-O) effect

• Nations with strong association to certain attributes influence the

image of brands associated with the nations.

• Examples:

– French wines: Positive perception because France is

renowned for their competency in producing quality wine

– German cars: for their reliability and quality based on the

technical and precision engineering competency associated

with Germans.

Nation branding

C-O-O

Brand Image


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Nation Brand Strategy

Exporting Products

& Services

Attracting

Investments

Representing

Culture

Promoting

Tourism

Public Sector & Nation Branding

5 Main Aims

Retaining and

attracting Talent


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Why Does The Public Sector Need Branding?

• The need to differentiate in the face of increasing

competition

• A dawning recognition that a nation’s image is made up of

‘perceived value’, and that value can consist of intangible as

well as tangible elements

• Brands are strategic assets and can bring both power and

financial rewards

• The need to manage perceptions and control their image in

order to manage particular issues of national concern


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Why Does The Public Service Need Branding?

• The Public Service is often in

the ‘front line’ in dealing with

India’s ‘customers’.

• Investors, businesses and

visitors often judge a nation

by the efficiency of its Public

Service.

• A highly efficient Public

Service can be a Brand Vector

for national identity and

image.

• Policies and public diplomacy

influence a country’s image

more than trade promotions

and industry, although all are

important.

Nation Brand image

Private Sector

Brand images Public Service

Brand image


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Types of Public Sector

Branding

Multi-National

Branding

Nation Branding

Industry & Tourism

Branding Government-

Linked

Corporations

Branding

Government

Ministry, Stat

Boards &

Dept

Branding

Non-profit

Organizations

Types of Public Sector Branding


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Power & Rewards of Branding for Countries

•Currency stability

•Restoration of international credibility and investor confidence

•Reversing international ratings downgrades

•Attraction of global capital

•Greater international political influence

• Increase in the growth of branded exported products and services

• Increases in inbound tourism and foreign direct investment

•Development of stronger international partnerships….. Enhancement of

nation building (confidence, pride, harmony, ambition, national resolve)

•Attraction and retention of talent – the human resource and global

knowledge

•Greater access to global markets

•An improvement in the ability to win against regional and global business

competitors, and defend their own markets

•And more


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Some Challenges In Public Sector Branding

•Public Sector branding is complex in nature

•Within countries there exists a great deal of internal competition, as

different institutions, government-related organizations and

Ministries/ Departments compete for funding, public support, and

talent

•Competitive influences also exist via the private sector

•Difficulty in getting ‘inclusiveness’ – buy-in from all interest groups

and people


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THE NATION BRAND EFFECT


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The Strong Nation Brand Effect Cycle

Essence, & Core

Values generate

National Brand Identity

Nation Brand Effect

(NBE) on

Organisations

Brand Success

(esp. globally)

Reinforcement Of Ingredients

(People, Culture, Historic, Circumstantial)

that generate Brand Essence

and core values


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No defined Essence &

core value-based Nation

Brand Identity

Does not generate the

Nation Brand Effect

Which does not reinforce

Internal Nation Brand

Culture

(The Country or Its Companies)

Does not reinforce the

process of Brand

building

Weak National Brand

The Weak Nation Brand Effect Cycle


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The Need to Improve Image

•Canada – seen mainly as a holiday and education destination,

wants to be seen as a hi-technology & top food producer

•Korea – disappointed with its brand image and value

compared to Japan and other countries – concerned also

about corporate brands and the Korean image

•Singapore – has to support key industries to overcome size

and cost disadvantages

•Malaysia? Positive or negative NBE?


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Industry Brand Image Building

Faced with national brand image difficulties, countries are

branding key industries to bridge the gap and drive

forward their nation brand, e.g.

Canada - Food & Agriculture

Singapore – ICT

Korea – Technology


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Brand Architecture

Brand Vision & Values

Architecture

Brand Management

(Behaviour &

Communications)

Brand Positioning


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What is Brand Architecture?

•Its like a family tree or organisation chart for brands – defines how a

master brand and sub- or product brands link together

•Brings consistency and structure for brand management,

communications and extensions

•Avoids intra-brand competition; can strengthen Master brand


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Product Brands

(Departments, Stat. Boards,

Places, Destinations,

Attractions)

Sub-brands

(Public Service, Industries,

Ministries, etc)

Master Brand

(Nation)

Disciplined National Brand Architecture


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Addressing Intra-brand Competition

• At present, many countries do not have an integrated

brand strategy, that can produce consistent messages

and a win-win situation for all members

• Sub-brands often too busy sending out their own

messages

• A structure is needed to manage the national (and public

service) brands


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Brand Vision


Architecture

Brand Management

(Behaviour &

Communications)

Brand Positioning


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What Is A Brand Vision?

•A brand vision defines what your brand stands for

emotionally in the minds of your consumers

•It is high level, and broad enough to carry the brand

anywhere it wants to go


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What Do Nation Brands Stand For?

•National messages are often tourism led

e.g. Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia

•Some nations are now trying to articulate more widely

what they stand for

e.g. Hong Kong, New Zealand, Switzerland


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Establishing the Brand Platform:

Brand Personality (Core Values)


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Brand Values (and Personality)


Architecture

Brand Management

(Behaviour &

Communications)

Brand Positioning


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BRAND IDENTITY AND IMAGE

BRAND

PERSONALITY

BUILDING THE BRAND PLATFORM

STRATEGIC

POSITIONING

Creating the Brand Platform:


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Brand Identity vs Brand Image

•Brand Identity – who you think you are and how you

want to be seen

•Brand Image – what people think of you (can be fact or

fiction), and how they see you

•The difference = perception gap

•All perception gaps must be closed to get power brand

status


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Brand Positioning


Architecture

Brand Management

(Behaviour &

Communications)

Brand Positioning


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Brand Positioning

•Positioning is concerned with differentiating a brand

from others in the minds of consumers

•It depends on perceptions, which can be fact or fiction

•Positioning helps to answer two key questions:

Why are you different?

Why are you better?


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A Positioning Template

Brand X

is better than

Competitive Set

for

Target Market

because

Strategic competitive advantage

with the result that

Key proposition (emotional benefits for consumers)


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Elements Of Implementation

Brand

Strategy

Implementation

Brand

Communication Brand Engagement

Brand

Management


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Brand Management


Architecture

Brand Management

Brand Positioning


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What Is Brand Management?

• A process that tries to take control over everything a

brand does and says, and the way in which it is

perceived

• Manages every touch point the consumer has with the

brand


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Attractions,

Culture,

Heritage Infrastructure,

Facilities Public Service/ Private Sector Alignment

“Value” Added,

Efficiency & Quality

Perception

Policies & Public

Diplomacy

Political &

Economic

Stability

Speed, Flexibility &

Innovation

Capability

Government Pro-

business Attitude “National

Spirit” –

Friendliness,

etc.

Employee

Engagement,

Intra-brand

Alignment

Focused, targeted,

consistent

communications

Strategic

Alliances Brand Ambassadors

Managing

National Brand

Strategy &

image

Nation Brand Management Wheel


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Summary

•Public sector and nation branding programmes are on the increase

•The benefits are now very clear and seen as important by

governments

•Malaysia needs to consider how these concepts fit with its Vision,

and what needs to be done – at national, public service and industry

level

•There are some pitfalls to avoid………


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Pitfalls In Public Sector & National Branding

•Failure to have a sustainable differentiation strategy, based on a

clear vision and values

•Campaigns, campaigns, campaigns! Consistency v. change

•Too much intra-brand competition

•Failure to control the brand, manage it from top down, not bottom up

(lack of structure)

•Political Instability

•Inefficiencies in the public sector

•Poor public diplomacy and policies


national and public sector branding: strategic

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