Qatar is Magic Brand

Qatar National Vision 2030; Qatar Is Magic Brand

ÖMER ŞENGÜLER, 25 MARCH 2015

Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV 2030), launched in October 2008, builds a bridge from the present to the future. It aims to transform Qatar into an advanced country, sustaining its development and providing a high standard of living for all its people—for generations to come. It envisages all Qataris working together in pursuing these aspirations, with strong Islamic and family values guiding their collective energies.

Qatar uses magical tools of destination branding which are;

1. Culture
2. Education
3. Social Projects
4. Sport
5. Art
6. Media
7. Transport
8. Values

Qatar aims to get a leading position in his cultural region and geographical region, we can easily assume that this leading role will make Qatar important political and economic actor in the world. In this respect Qatar has started investing in marketing, branding, reputation and perception management very actively for transforming and restructuring its country image.
Significant efforts have been channeled into cultural and sports branding that have included: the annual Qatar Cultural Festival, the magnificent Museum of Islamic Art, as well as museums of history, photography, textiles and modern art, the Al Jazeera satellite television station, which ushered in a new era of critical and controversial broadcasting in worldwide, the establishment of Education City with local branches of a number of prominent U.S. universities, the creation of Qatar Airways and its development into one of the world’s major carriers.
Enterprise Qatar, Qatar Foundation, Qatar Development Bank are trying to equip Qataris with the skills, education and qualifications to be competitive in the global economy, challenging perceptions of a population spoiled by its natural gas wealth. Beside the non-profit organizations, Qatar brands like Qatar Airways and Al-Jazeera have important role to promote image of Qatar as knowledge-based sustainable developed country in the world.
Qatar Foundation focuses on education and community development. It has brought a number of international universities to Qatar to help develop an education sector in which young people can develop the attitudes and skills required for a knowledge economy that is not based on revenues from energy resources. One of Qatar’s aims is to become a commercially successful research and development (R&D) hub that attracts the best and brightest. The Foundation has played a key role in Qatar’s transformation into a political, economic and cultural powerhouse in the region, despite its small size.

For global perception of Qatar, the foundation sign important sponsorship deals in arts and sports such as sponsorship of Barcelona Football Club and emphasize Qatar’s role as a part of developed World. Also for Barcelona FC this was first time and accepting Qatar’s sponsorship deal was very meaningful.

Also Qatar Airways supports a range of exciting international and local initiatives dedicated to enriching their global community. An essential part of our marketing strategy, sponsorship assists them in expanding brand visibility and establishing lasting and loyal relationships with the customers. Qatar Airways seeks sponsorships that link Qatar Airways brand attributes and values with their customers, reinforce brand position efforts (including advertising and promotions), and provide a platform to deliver credibility for their country brand.

As a result of these efforts, the 22nd FIFA World Cup, an international football tournament is scheduled to take place in Qatar in 2022. It will be the first Arab country to host the World Cup and the first time it is held in the Middle East region. Qatar is the smallest nation by area ever to have been awarded a FIFA World Cup, this prove us that nothing is impossible, branding and investment have raised the small country’s visibility and ensured future returns.
Qatar also sought to engender goodwill through its provision of $100 million in aid to the U.S. after Hurricane Katrina in 2006 and its pledge to invest heavily in France’s poverty-stricken suburbs in 2012.

Branding a state is a difficult, long and expensive process requiring the creation or exploitation of a unique niche or set of niches. But successful branding for Qatar requires achieving distinctiveness. The exercise in branding has increased the prestige of the country and raised the recognition of Qatar around the world. It may further or deepen the legitimacy of the micro-state and thus enhance the prospects of its survival.

Country branding is a process used to develop a unique identity and personality that is different from all competitive destinations. So Qatar has chance to reach the goal because it has a distinctive branding strategy different from the others.

Walter Landor says; “Products are made in the factory, but brands are created in the mind.” I thing he tries to say city branding is not consisting only high buildings, long roads and bridges or new shopping malls. It needs a soul; it needs spirit of the citizens. This is the magic.

Qatar uses magical tools of destination branding very professionally for creating Qatar perception in every body’s mind.

BRANDING MAKES THE DIFFERENCE; 

Establishing Global Emotional Connections  

Thanks to a growing economy and increased political prestige in the last 10 years, Turkey ranks 19th among the 100 most valuable nation brands in the world. But Turkish brands having hardships becoming global brands so far, the target which the country has set for itself, is to be one of the world's 10 biggest economies by 2023, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic, looks like very challenging mission without global brands.

If we don't become focused on branding, it's very difficult for Turkey to attain the targets set for future. On the ranking prepared by Brand Finance -an international company specializing in brand valuation-, there are no Turkish brands among the world's most valuable 500 brands and only a handful of Turkish brands were counted in the Forbes Global 2000 list. In terms of the economic value of country, Turkey surpasses countries such as Denmark, Taiwan and Belgium, but with regards to building brands, it has been not a success for Turkey. Branding, by hugely increases the value of a product and enormously contributes to the total welfare of a country. Turkey aims to increase its export figure, which now stands at more than $150 billion, to $500 billion by 2023, while the value of a single brand, Apple Inc, is as big as $700 billion.

Noting that the mere brand value of Apple stands at $104 billion, Branding is everything! If you are not a brand, then you are nothing. The only instrument available to you then is selling at a low price. Among the top world economies, Turkey comes right before countries such as the Netherlands and Sweden, but doesn't have global brands as many as those countries already have. And it is the branding which makes all the difference. Although Turkey is the world's 16th and Europe's 6th largest economy, the brand value of the top 100 Turkish brands comes up to $33.2 billion, which is much less than half of Apple's figure.

In recent years, Turkey has taken very important steps in the direction of branding. While many Turkish companies are established within Turkey and the wider region, when it comes to being known on a global scale, they need to focus on something else to do better globally. This is a big obstacle to overcome if Turkey is to become one of the top 10 economies in the world. Turkish brands like VESTEL and BEKO which are two of the top 10 home electronics manufacturers in the world. Turkish Banks, GARANTI and AKBANK have potential to be next HSBCs in few years.  TURKCELL can easily compete with Vodafone with its operational and technological strength.  So what’s holding back Turkish textile giants like KOTON from becoming the next Zara or Turkish Beer EFES next Heineken?

Although Turkish brands are top strong in the global construction, energy, retail, and home electronics industries, they often lag behind in establishing an emotional connection with international consumers. There’s a tendency to rely on reputations of usefulness. The challenge is to take Turkish brands from functional, commoditized products to those that fulfill the emotional dimension of people’s hearts and minds. By doing so, brands will deliver the long-term resonance they need to evolve with consumers across the world. Also Turkish brands do not have long term marketing and communication strategies to establish solid relationships with customers.  If we think of prominent super brand Apple, we see that it has surpassed being seen as purely functional. Through highly considered branding, it has succeeded in reaching people emotionally, resulting in customer loyalty in the long term. In many ways, Apple transcends cultural or societal affiliations and brings home a powerfully simple message while sustaining its position as a signifier of innovation.

Making the leap to being truly global does not mean that Turkish brands must completely shed their cultural characteristics. Actual it means they should stand upon already worldly-known signifiers of Turkish Culture. Turkey because of its historical significance and geographical position already have brand products and brand cities. Turkish hospitality, Turkish Coffee Culture, Turkish Delights, Turkish Cuisine; Kebabs Baklava, Rakı, Mediterranean costs and Anatolian civilizations are great unique brands which create experiences and loyalties shared by billions of people around the world . One company that heavily draws from local culture is Turkish Airlines, which has become one of the fastest-growing airlines in the history of commercial aviation. Turkish Airlines positions its brand to both reflect Turkish culture and enhance the prestige of Istanbul as a business and tourist hub between East and West.

In fact, it’s Turkish Airline’s ability to be both global and local that is the secret to its branding success. We, Global Magic Brands, are the one of the brand consultancy firms in Turkey. It’s something we reinforced in our communication strategy we developed for Turkish Airlines.  We examined the sales, marketing data and financial statements from the past three years and conducted an analysis on transit passenger traffic across Europe, the Americas, Africa and the Middle East. After evaluating the findings of our qualitative and quantitative studies, we advised Turkish Airlines to take notice value of its national and cultural characteristics of brand. Turkish Airlines adopted the slogan of “Widen your World” thanks to the new global creative agency and went on to reshape its message in a manner more focused on communicating with international transit passengers, Turkish Airlines is able to advance into a Leading Global Brand.

Turkish brands are flourishing domestically, and some have experienced expansion internationally with minimal marketing, but what really marks a global super brand is the ability to make a long-term bond with consumers all over the world. National brands should look at good examples to learn how to enhance their inherent strengths and have to differentiate strategic marketing from advertising. Reputation management, brand architecture, sponsorships and being present every corner of the world even in duty shops and collaborative marketing are the tools and strategies should immediately be employed. After all, if Turkey is to fulfill as a growth expected economy, it needs to develop its global brands first.

“Be a global brand, I bet will worth it…”

Omer Senguler,

GMB

Branding specialist, 

Jan. 15', Istanbul