We tend to think of certain services or businesses as being tied up with a nationality; typical examples would be French bakeries, Indian curry houses, German car manufacturers, Belgian or Swiss confectioners, and so on. Olins makes the point on our emotional decisions regarding visiting or doing business with a country:
"Have I heard of it?"; "Do I like it?" (if I have been there); "Do I admire it?"; "Is it well-behaved?"; "Does it sound fun?"; "What's the weather like?"
How each country informs the way we answer questions such as these impacts how well that country does economically. That is to say, if a nation has a strong brand, especially in a particular area of industry, it will "win out" over a country with less clout in the same area. Olins speaks about "legacy nations" such as the UK, Germany, France and so on, countries who have specific attributes associated with their culture that could arguably be the "brand"of that country. History, food, famous countrymen, industry and so on could define this - "Ideas associated with it,". An example used is Singapore, which transformed itself into the transport hub of the middle east, and London, which influences the country more than any other city in the United Kingdom.
Companies operating out of countries that are less well-known in one area of industry cannot charge the same amount for their product as another country that is closer affiliated with the "brand" of the product. An example Olins uses is a Polish skincare company who can only charge a third of what French skincare companies can. Why, if it is of the same standard? Because France is known for it's high calibre of skincare, especially native pharmacy brands which export here with a "cult" buzz (La Roche Posay, Vichie). Poland, on the other hand, "is not a legacy nation, because we have a blank in our heads about Poland, or what we think about Poland is a bit pessimistic and what we think about France is perfume and all that stuff".
However, up until fairly recently countries with the monopoly on the success of a "national brand" were the ones whose products imitated those of the USA or Europe, as they were the biggest influences over the global market. Olins uses the example of Lexus, a Japanese company who wanted to make "the next Mercedes." The resulting model was above the standard of a Mercedes (and cheaper), but the point was that Lexus were trying to BE the Mercedes of the East. "If you wanted to win, you had to be like the 'power'," says Olins. "It's not like that any more."
"Indigienous brands" i.e brands that originate from a country are now selling to their own country and thriving on that. Bollywood is a prime example - Indian-Pakistani films for those on the Indian subcontinent. The new movement of "from the people, for the people" includes cars designed by Indian engineers, in a style that would perhaps not go down so well in the West but is well suited and targeted at the middle-class Indian family. I found this shift interesting as it says something about the need for a brand to drive economy, even on a national scale. Until watching this video it had never even occurred to me that countries had their own kind of brand. A good place to go from here would perhaps be to look at certain tourist board ad campaigns, for example the recent Abu Dhabi ("Travellers Welcome") or the closer to home "Visit Scotland" campaign that ran in the early 2000s. While it is not quite the same as what Olins discusses in this talk, travel campaigns such as the ones mentioned appeal to the emotional and often impulsive traits in people. The emotional link between customer and brand is a key one to crack, so case studies or similar might prove useful.
Watch Wally Olins' talk below:
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