The brand of the free
I’ve often wondered how some countries become world famous while others remain completely anonymous (I should stress here that ‘famous’ means ‘famous’ in my limited, Western European perception).
For instance, both Ireland and Jamaica are known throughout the planet despite being relatively small and poor.
Every small town in Europe seems to have an Irish bar, and whenever you’re abroad you always seem to bump into someone from the Emerald Isle. While the music and culture of Jamaica is something you can find everywhere from Dutch tea towels to American movies.
So why is it that they punch above their economic weight while Turkmenistan and Equatorial Guinea just fade into the background?
My totally unscientific theory places the blame/thanks squarely at the door of branding.
Ireland owns green, which denotes its landscape and lets you know immediately whenever you see something Irish anywhere in the world. This suggests an admirable attitude of exploration, which is then backed up with little extras like Guinness (loved around the world) and the gift of the gab/great literature (also loved around the world).
Jamaica owns red, gold and green, but it also owns the spirit of being laid back through its music and its reputation for having natives who like to smoke da ganja. We’d all love to be swinging happily in a hammock listening to Bob Marley as the waves lap on the golden sands nearby, so we all love the idea of being Jamaican.
Both countries have accidentally created fantastic brands that sell themselves 24 hours a day, and that serves them well.
But then there’s the daddy of them all: the USA.
You could hardly suggest a country of endless wealth (or debt) and 300 million people was punching above its weight, but American culture rules the world to an extent that far surpasses every other country in the world combined.
Movies, music, TV and literature are four ways in which the Land of the Free bestrides the world like a colossus, but if you go to the States you’ll also see that its design and attitude often brings forth an admiration and/or affection that you just can’t put your finger on.
For example their broken down old diners evoke a million familiar emotions, even if you’ve never been in one; their used car lots have the kind of signage that makes them seem cool in a way that ‘Mick’s Second Hand Cars’ just can’t compete with, but beyond that they seem to have a brilliant knack of making things seem way bigger and better than they actually are by branding them in a way that grabs some part of your head or your heart.
Even things which mean nothing much to the rest of the world, like the Department of Homeland Security, The Supreme Court, the Iowa Caucus, Twentieth Century Fox, the Tri-State area, Hall Of Fame, Independence Day, Inland Empire, Triple Doubles etc…
They just know how to squeeze something out of nothing until you give a shit and want it despite yourself.
And it translates into trillions of dollars a year for them.
And much as you’d like to deny it, I’d bet that there’s something American that just plays your insides like a piano.
And this is its soundtrack:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0uplUvP_Qg&feature=related
Ireland has more people living throughout the world than live in ireland itself that might have something to do with it.
Btw America has it’s own green too, well greenback. That might have something to do with their ability to spread their influence throughout the world.
Migrants and money. The story of globalisation.
Off the subject.
What’s your opinion on Sir Martin Sorrell?
He always seems to have the ad industry by the balls, yet chooses to use his power to install fear into clients and agencies.
He never says ‘we can pull through this’ or ‘you know what, things are going to be alright’.
Other times he makes stupid obvious comments, which a stupid magazine deems newsworthy
http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/1118001/sorrell-believes-readers-advertisers-will-welcome-sun-sunday/
(I see the irony in me being stupid for reading such a stupid magazine)
And the industry applauds him.
His archaic approach to the industry annoys me.
Why do we turn to the past when that just tends to be stuck in the 80’s/90’s? Advertising will never return to those days, this doesn’t mean it’s heading in a bad direction; just different.
The industry should be looking towards more forward thinking and positive people.
He’s abusing his Knighthood.
Did you know that many years ago, Australia, an isolated island thousands of miles from anywhere made a conscious decision to pump millions of dollars into sport. They saw it as a way of putting their underpopulated country on the global map. If you’re good at sport, you are on the global map and have to be taken seriously. This is a nation that was only discovered/founded in 1788. It is an infant compared to the rest of the world. Clever Aussies.
For a large number of Americans, Ireland is relevant because if they traced their ancestry back far enough, they found a great great great great great grandfather who was one of the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower. How else would you explain U2’s success over there.
And Jamaica? I think a lot of that is down to reggae and Bob Marley as you said, but they also have a great heritage of sprinters. The fastest man in the world is always going to be splashed all over the front pages of any newspaper. Several key West Indian cricketers came from the island too. And it helps that it’s a beautiful holiday destination, while, dare I say it, Turkmenistan is perhaps less so.
I was with a US friend who was telling me how strange it was for him to go into a shop here in Denmark, and see things – from duvet covers to wallpaper – covered in the American flag. He said it was like going to a shop in the US and seeing things covered in the Danish flag, which I don’t think it is at all. The US is ‘cool’. Denmark…well it has its charms, but the US it sure ain’t. It does have LEGO though. That’s pretty cool. I forget my point now.
It’s quite easy to explain really. Well,
it is for Ireland not sure about those other two.
When you’ve got a population that is unquestionably the smartest and most creative on the planet, put them in a physical context that is bracing, a climate that is occasionally challenging, force them to learn a language that is foreign, which they proceed to perfect, throw adversity their way, and then watch them become the poster boy for recovery … er, what was your question again?
i completely agree. hadn’t really thought of ireland in that light but it’s true. the idea of Ireland travels really well.
i’ve often noticed Americans’ eyes light up when they hear my fading brogue in way that just doesn’t happen for the Belgian immigrant i imagine.
and even after 20 years here i still marvel at the unique textures you find only in the USA.
You are right Ben, but America is most hated too. 🙂
Countries have colors (flags), logos (coat of arms) and jingles (anthems). A lot of them demonstrated a lot of good marketing … like Nazi Germany.
I think the brad differentiation of a nation is connected with the people on the inside. If they engage with an idea of what the country is all about, then it will “be real” for all outside of this country too. Most countries don’t know what they are…
…this is the reason why even their tourism offers nothing more than: “Welcome to…”; “Good people, Great food”, “Sun and sea” … etc.
Of course you can have great marketing like Nazi Germany and still fail 🙂
Dickhead, that is very odd: last night I wrote a post all about Martin and that exact article, which filled me with as much revulsion as it did you. But I couldn’t quite get it to work to my satisfaction. Maybe I’ll have another go today.
And George: Australia is another very good example. It has a pretty small population but exports sport (and big Hollywood stars) like nobody’s business.
And Lubomir: the dark counterpoint to my post is the incredible branding of the Nazis. Has any other country or movement made a logo that provokes such strong emotions 70-80 years after its last use?
The US flag is also one of the greatest designs ever (for a flag). That’s not to be underestimated, in my opinion. Plus Hendrix playing the anthem… There’s something rebellious associated with the US. Which is worth gold.
Great nations have their own aesthetic. There’s a consistency to it that lives on through the ages.
If you look at a Messerchmitt it looks like a Mercedes or a BMW. A Spitfire looks like a Jaguar. A Mustang looks like a Mustang.
In my view, the country that punches above its weight, culturally, more than any other is this one. Cue nodding Harriers.
Incidentally, I’m not it’s the Nazi’s branding that provokes such strong reactions. The magical combination of evil and efficiency would have had the same effect even with a really shoddy logo.
What did you and your readers make of the Mad Bad Ad show?
If you missed it – you can watch it here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e6J4iT6SP4
Guinness tastes like liquid dirt in new zealand or is that dr. pepper’s.
Jim, I am keen to watch that but as I’m currently in America, I can’t.
The Mad Bad Ad Show – A masterclass in televisual entertainment.
Interesting that you mention this, for only the other day I was reading about something for the first time called ‘soft power’, which is what I believe you are describing. It’s the exertion of influence through ‘soft’ means such as music, television and/or language rather than, for example, an invasion.
A good example is that of ‘Friends’. Two foreigners I’ve met claims that the beaming of this classic show into their living rooms in Zagreb and Hamburg respectively helped teach them English as much as any schooling, and from a reasonably young age made them want to move to New York to ‘be like Joey’. It only makes me wonder if Equatorial Guinea’s version had made it past the pilot, would they now be the global superpower they could have been 🙂