The art of advertising a country

I’m writing about it because it’s good for business but it’s also good for the country. And after all, beyond being businesspeople, aren’t we also citizens of our country that want to ensure it continues to serve our children well for decades to come? I truly believe it’s up to all of us to take responsibility for our nation brand. It’s not just the job of the government; the private sector’s involvement in promoting the nation brand can be tremendous. And most importantly, the commercial brand increases sales and standing, and the byproduct is that so does the country. Let’s look at a few examples.

We’ll start with “Bucharest – Not Budapest.” What was the problem? People were consistently confusing the two cities, which as you’ll see in the video, at some point just got too hard to ignore, and Bucharest was losing tourism, sports fans and much more as a result. What was the solution? Well, no-one really knew what to do until ROM, a Romanian chocolate company, decided enough was enough! That’s right, it wasn’t the Romanian Foreign Office, or the Marketing Manager of the City of Bucharest that came to the rescue, it was a Romanian business. As you will see from the end of the video below, this proved not only massively important for Romanian national pride, but was also really good for business; ROM business: https://youtu.be/jMhft_58swc.

For some reason, beer companies seem to feel pretty strongly about connecting their country’s values with the values of their brand. Here’s a Canadian beer company, Molson, that comes out with an ad every year, celebrating Canadian values. The values of their country are literally fused into the values of their beer brand, and this makes them stand out from the rest, every time: https://youtu.be/wjgZ1dmuAk4.

Molson truly takes their commercial-nation brand connection to a higher level, with a tagline: “We Are Canadian. How amazing is that?”

And if we’re talking about beer, then of course there’s the Irish. Here’s my favorite all-time commercial by a company that highlights and celebrates the values and uniqueness of the country it is based in. Interestingly, it was a campaign imagined by a Georgian advertising company to encourage more sales of an Irish beer to a Georgian audience (now there’s a convoluted set-up for you!): https://youtu.be/49pASGqpb7M.

Now, if you noticed the nuance, you’d see that this went well beyond showcasing Ireland and its beauty. When they crashed the beer bottles on their heads, it was about the Irish spirit and zest for life; and then of course it was Sinead O’Connor, with “Nothing Compares to You” they all sang to, one of the world’s greatest Irish singers, that truly brought it home. Now the Georgians understand the true meaning of Old Irish’s slogan, “the real taste of Ireland.”

So, Ireland – the beauty, the spirit – benefits Old Irish, and Old Irish benefits Ireland by instilling Irish values in its much loved beverage. And Canada – its diversity, its multiculturalism and acceptance of others – benefits Molson Beer, and Molson Beer benefits Canada. When you drink Old Irish you are literally tasting Ireland, when you drink Molson Beer you are celebrating Canada, and more than anything, you are causing the consumer to love your product, and the country it comes from. What more, after all, can a brand – a commercial brand or a country brand – ask for, than love?

Here’s one last example, a rather unique one which includes an American brand (Coca-Cola), celebrating the Hebrew language, the brand of Tel Aviv and the spirit of the Israeli people (in case you’re wondering, it was created for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019, which was hosted by the City of Tel Aviv): https://youtu.be/l8v7SeyLTB4.

So if you’re a marketer working at a company that creates great products, and you want to add some punch to your promotional activities, as well as a bit of national pride, next time you consider an idea for a campaign, think about how you can connect your product to your national values. Trust me, it will benefit not just your company, but your entire country!