CREATING A TOURISM BRAND FOR
DESTINATION GROWTH
CREATED FOR: HONOURABLE MINISTER OF CULTURE,
SPORT AND TOURISM OF MONGOLIA
FEBRUARY 2014
CONTENTS
PART 1:
What is Destination Branding?
PART 2:
Brand Development
PART 3:
Identifying a Proposition for Destination MONGOLIA
PART 4:
Recommended Way Forward
TRAVEL & TOURISM - OVERVIEW
Each and every day,
more people are
travelling that ever
before.
In 2012, the milestone
of 1 BILLION
International Arrivals
was reached.
In 2013, the number
grew to 1.082 million.
TRAVEL & TOURISM – OVERVIEW (CNTD)
Travel & Tourism has
become the 3RD BIGGEST
economic sector,
responsible for:
• 1 in 11 jobs worldwide
• US$ 6.6 Trillion in GDP
• 9% of global investment
TRAVEL & TOURISM – OVERVIEW (CNTD)
Travel & Tourism is also vital
for the development of
nations in terms of:
• Identity
• Differentiation
• Competitiveness
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BRAND
• For any destination, central to tourism sector growth and development is
the establishment of a:
– creative,
– compelling,
– consistently applied, and
– competitive,
BRAND.
PRINCIPLES OF DESTINATION BRANDING
• A Destination BRAND is a clear, concise, carefully crafted expression of
the:
– Name
– Characteristics
– Quality
– Unique promise
of a travel destination.
WHO DESTINATION BRANDS SPEAK TO
The destination BRAND speaks to 2 key AUDIENCES:
1. TRAVELLERS to the destination
2. RESIDENTS of the destination.
&
SPEAKING TO THE TRAVELLER
• For Tourists the Destination BRAND acts as a source of identification of
not only the destination name, it is a reflection of the destination’s character
and PROMISE of the traveler experience:
– the beauty and intrigue of places to be seen,
– the cultural pageantry of people to be met,
– the range of local activity to become a part of,
– the spirit of the destination to be felt.
• … an encapsulation of the unique experiences which the tourism can come
‘touch’ for themselves.
SPEAKING TO THE RESIDENTS
• For the People of the Destination the BRAND represents a symbol of the
destination’s DNA - a unifying force, aligning all of the people of the
destination behind all that it has to celebrate in its:
• Culture
• Spirit
• Personality
• Future aspirations
…inspiring the people of the destination to become hosts of visitors to their
destination, be they formally a part of the tourism industry or simply
because they call the destination ‘home’.
BRANDS SPEAKING CLEARLY
Ultimately the BRAND acts as the
VOICE
of the nation
- a vital source of IDENTITY and MESSAGING for the destination.
V
- VISION
V O I C E – VISION
Expressing the destination’s:
• IDENTITY - as a place and people of possibility
• INFORMATION - key to visitor attraction and decision making
• INSIGHTS - around the destination’s spirit and offering
• INVITATION - welcoming travellers to come, see, feel and enjoy the
destination
O
- ORIGINALITY
V O I C E – ORIGINALITY
Showcasing the destination’s uniqueness in:
• OFFERINGS:
Places, Attractions, Experiences
• SPIRIT:
Culture, Pride
• IDENTIFIERS:
Images, Sounds, Look & Feel
I
- ICONIC
V O I C E – ICONIC
Features of the destination - ie. natural environments, structures, people,
wildlife, , events, sport, elements of arts and culture - which are:
• SYMBOLIC
• MEMORABLE
• OWNABLE
• MEANINGFUL
• INSPIRATIONAL
C
- COMPETITIVE
V O I C E – COMPETITIVE
Ability to stand out and capture traveller interest through:
• MESSAGES
• MEDIA
• MOMENTUM
E
- EXPERIENTIAL
V O I C E – EXPERIENTIAL
Opportunities for travellers to engage with, and truly feel, the destination’s:
• PEOPLE
• CULTURE
• WAY OF LIFE
• DEVELOPMENT
BRANDS SPEAKING TO BE HEARD
• The development of a destination BRAND is the 1st step towards building
tourism arrivals, and the desired impact on the economy, society and
long-term stability of the nation.
• The 2nd step is developing a well thought through communications
strategy, one that invests in:
• Brand awareness building
• Expression of invitation from the destination to travellers
• Establishing and sustaining destination interest
• Inspiring traveller booking
• The 3rd step is making the long-term investment in consistent Brand
presence through marketing and promotion..
BRANDS SPEAKING TO BE HEARD (CNTD)
STEP 1:
Develop the
BRAND
STEP 2:
Define the
COMMUNICATIONS
Strategy
STEP 3:
Establish Ongoing
MARKETING
Presence
• The Logo
• The Audiences
• The Right Partners
• The Imagery
• The Goals
• The Budgets
• The Key Words
• The Platforms
• The Leverage
• The Music
• The Budget
• The Metrics
• The Invitation
• The Long-Term
CONTENTS
PART 1:
What is Destination Branding?
PART 2:
Brand Development
PART 3:
Identifying a Proposition for Destination MONGOLIA
PART 4:
Recommended Way Forward
BRAND DEVELOPMENT
Destination branding has become very competitive, all across the globe,
as nations realise that the brand is the hook to attracting tourists, and
therefore stimulating economic impact.
BREAK-THROUGH requires:
• More than postcard images
• Unique message (brand) and messenger (media)
• Emotional connection
• Believability
• Creativity, not cleverness
• Strong marketing and advertising strategy support
IMPORTANT TO ASK BEFORE BRAND
DEVELOPMENT
• WHAT understanding is there of the destination?
• As a nation
• As a tourism destination
• Is it Correct? Is it Incorrect? What needs to be shifted?
• WHO are we trying to reach?
• Business or Leisure?
• Young or Old?
• Active or passive visitors?
• Regional or International?
IMPORTANT TO ASK BEFORE BRAND
DEVELOPMENT (CNTD)
And of course:
• WHERE is competition coming from?
• Regionally?
• Internationally?
• Perceptually?
• Emotionally?
• Seasonally?
BRAND DEVELOPMENT
STEP 1:
Develop the
BRAND
• The Logo
• The Imagery
• The Key Words
• The Music
• The Invitation
Development of a destination Brand
requires working through the selection
of, and commitment to, a number of
elements.
Each of these elements shapes the
overall awareness, identity, interest
and recall for the destination.
Importantly, they build a relationship
with audiences which must be
carefully nurtured to ensure trust,
loyalty and preference.
DESTINATION BRAND: CHECK LIST
1. BRAND DNA
2. ICONOGRAPHY
3. STORYTELLING
4. EMOTIONAL PULL
5. INVITATION
Building on the BRAND
BRAND DNA: COLOUR PALETTE
BRAND DNA: FONT
BRAND DNA: MUSIC
BRAND DNA: WORDS
INDIA: Incredible
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUFg-ujVqMI
KENYA: Magical
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z5Mv-R4Jl8
PLEASE BEWARE!
•
Postcard ads
•
Cultural Humour
•
Marketing and advertising the region vs the
destination
•
Generic Messages:
• ‘Culture’
• ‘Warm, friendly people’
•
Overused language:
• ‘Experience(s)’
FINAL CHECK
Is the Destination BRAND:
• Truly unique?
• Can you own it?
• Memorable?
• Strategic or Tactical?
• Messaging for the short-term or long-term?
• Going to be supported with consistent exposure?
CONTENTS
PART 1:
What is Destination Branding?
PART 2:
Brand Development
PART 3:
Identifying a Proposition for Destination MONGOLIA
PART 4:
Recommended Way Forward
MONGOLIA AS A COMPETITIVE OFFERING
The nation of Mongolia has emerged as a travel
destination offering a new, fresh, compelling
alternative to other locations across the world.
Being a young travel offering on the global tourism
map, Mongolia is relatively unknown, unexplored
and undeveloped. This has resulted in Mongolia
having within its offering an innate mystique.
For travellers seeking new horizons – destinations
that offer purity of natural environment, richness of
indigenous wildlife, an array of outdoor activities
from trekking and horseback and camel riding to bird
watching, rafting and fossil hunting - Mongolia is
blessed with numerous competitive options, over
and above its richness of culture, history, heritage
and hospitality..
MONGOLIA AS A COMPETITIVE OFFERING (CNTD)
In addition, Mongolia is committed to ensuring that the destination stays
tore to its roots in proactively responsible tourism development.
This approach is serving the destination well to protect it from
unstructured, over-growth to the detriment of the nation, and travel
experience.
DESTINATION ELEMENTS
For all that it has to offer, for effective, competitive brand development
Mongolia must look carefully at what it puts forward as its reasons to visit.
Within the numerous attributes of Mongolia for tourists, a separation is
required between what is generic – what any destination can offer, and
what is truly unique to Mongolia.
GENERIC
• Nature
• Space
• Freedom
• Unique culture
• Experience
• Adventure
• Friendly people
UNIQUELY MONGOLIA
• Living nomadic lifestyle
• Rich history and heritage
• Ancient discoveries to this day
• Land & man in harmony
• Equestrian culture
• Vast openness
• Innate, proud connection to nature
CURRENT BRAND EVALUATION
The destination brand approved for Mongolia in 2013 has provided the
destination with an important vehicle for invitation to travellers.
The slogan selected: “Go Nomadic, Experience Mongolia”, provided a
valuable first step for competitive differentiation.
Looking forward, the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism seeks to
establish a new brand for Mongolia to be its ‘voice’ on the international
tourism stage, starting with the destination’s prestigious partner sponsor
starts at ITB 2015 in Berlin.
With this in mind, CNN and CNN TASK, as a partner committed to the
growth and success of Mongolia, has conducted a rigorous brand review
of the current destination brand as a basis for proposing a new brand
offering for Mongolia for the long term.
CURRENT POSITIONING: OUTCOME OF REVIEW
The current destination brand has seeds of strength within its statement of
offering and call to action. However, the generic elements of the slogan
eclipse the brand’s appeal.
Call to Action, overt but not personal.
Direction outwards is not inviting.
“Go Nomadic,
Experience Mongolia”
Invitation, but too generic
Important anchor of the brand
pay-off line
ADVANCING THE BRAND
To slogan strengthen the current brand, it is strongly recommended that the
theme of the innate unique properties of the brand not be lost.
To introduce a completely new brand language would not only cause
confusion to audiences, it would lose what value was in hand.
The challenge, and therefore opportunity, of the brand is to:
• Eliminate generic elements
• Strengthen unique elements
• Introduce elements that make a natural link to competitive attributes of
the destination
• Give the brand an energy of character and invitation
The next step is, therefore, to look at what is missing?
ADVANCING THE BRAND (CNTD)
Absent from the current brand expression are the following unique aspects
of Mongolia:
• Living nomadic lifestyle
• Rich history and heritage
• Ancient discoveries to this day
• Land & man in harmony
• Equestrian culture
• Vast openness
• Innate, proud connection to nature
From this
challenge of
‘what is missing’
we find the
opportunity for
the new brand
RECOMMENDED POSITIONING
Based on:
•The comprehensive briefing received from Mongolia’s Ministry of Culture,
Sport and Tourism
•Examination of source material supplied by the Ministry, and further mined
through research]
•TASK global review of destination brands
•Analysis of the current tourism brand for Mongolia
•Reflection on initial discussion with the Honourable Minister of Ministry of
Culture, Sport and Tourism in Zambia in 2013 regarding the innate value
system and development structure of Mongolia’s tourism industry,
the following new brand positioning is recommended for Mongolia…
RECOMMENDED POSITIONING (CNTD)
Maintaining link to existing
awareness of identity.
Link to enduring nomadic lifestyle and
mindsets…as well as natural magnificence of the
land itself
“Nomadic by Nature.
Discover Mongolia”
Links to People, History, Paleontology,
Culture, Art, Events, Natural
Environment, Wildlife, Adventure, etc.
Maintaining call-out of destination
name
CREATIVE CONSIDERATIONS – SLOGAN VARIATIONS
The proposed brand positioning can be applied in two versions,:
1)Full
“Nomadic by Nature. Discover Mongolia”
2)Shortened
“Mongolia. Nomadic by Nature.”
Both versions effectively convey the destination message and invitation, while
maintaining a link to the core proposition of the brand.
RECOMMENDED POSITIONING (CNTD)
This evolved brand positioning has the following, highly competitive strengths :
•Reflects the genuine strengths for Mongolia as:
• A nation
• A people
• A travel choice
•Speaks to a specific type of traveller that Mongolia seeks to attract:
• People who are adventurous, explorers, psychologically ‘nomadic by
nature’
• Appreciate living cultures
RECOMMENDED POSITIONING (CNTD)
And critically:
• Is very campaignable:
• Can be used to showcase (via specific executions/vignettes/ads) specific
offerings: events, adventure, culture, history, sport, nature
• Is true to Mongolia as:
• A nation
• A people
• Is highly competitive:
• Reflecting a travel choice seen nowhere else in the world
• Allowing for stand-out
CREATIVE CONSIDERATIONS – THE ‘DNA’
From a creative perspective, the look and feel of the new brand for Mongolia
would best be brought to life through:
COLOUR PALETTE
• Earth-tones
SOUND
• Outdoor, gentle breeze
• Distant sounds of local musical instrument
• Male voiceovers
SCRIPT
• Hand brushstroke, not computer generated text
ESSENTIAL TO BRAND SUCCESS
• As outlined earlier, having a strong brand is only part of the process of
destination branding.
• Creating brand awareness, and destination interest, is vital.
ESSENTIAL TO BRAND SUCCESS
• For destinations, marketing and advertising has become a vital part of
building not just awareness and bookings, but also reputation and status.
• Importantly, brand based advertising has evolved to be seen as an
essential investment in tourism growth, not simply an expenditure.
• When used effectively, marketing and advertising becomes the heartbeat
of current and future destination survival and growth.
• When understood fully, the role of marketing and advertising at strategic
and tactical levels is proven invaluable.
• When not understood, more damage can be done to the Brand, and the
traveller’s interest, than good.
LAYERS OF IMPACT
• Destinations investing in media experience layers of impact.
– Overtly, marketing and advertising provides the push, reaching out to
audiences to attract awareness, build interest, create desire and
stimulate action.
– Covertly, and very importantly, marketing and advertising also sends out
a message to audiences that the destination advertising is a serious
player, one that recognises the importance of getting their message out.
The result is the building of respect, confidence, trust and interest in the
advertiser.
• These layers which are vital to the stability and profitability of nations.
• Together, overt and covert messages coming through marketing and
advertising influence bookings, brand development, image
enhancement, future interest and traveller loyalty - all which work to
strengthen destination competitiveness.
INVESTING IN CONTINUOUS ADVERTISING
• Keeping the brand visible through advertising acts as a vital aspect of
strategic brand development as this is a leading ‘voice’ for the brand.
• Duration of advertising plays a powerful role in the ability of destinations
to create the desired impact.
• When advertising is short-term, the ability of the message to break
through, gain awareness and create the desired response of audiences
is reduced to a short/limited period of time.
• Reason being, like all communication, limited exposure to messaging
causes limited retention.
• Continuous advertising has the net effect of increasing impact for the
long-term. The more enduring the more penetrating.
• Repetition creates greater recall.
THE VITAL ROLE OF BRAND CONSISTENCY
• Understanding, awareness, believability, credibility and longevity of the
Brand and its media is more important in some sectors than other.
• Importance depends on the perceived sense of risk and/or reward of the
booking on the part of the consumer.
• Tourism is one of those sectors, as when a traveller decides to visit a
place, they are investing at several levels:
– Money
– Time
– Hopes & Dreams
• The investment is only seen as ‘safe’ if the message (Brand) and
messenger (media platform) can be trusted by the potential traveller.
LEADING BRANDS, LONG-TERM COMMITMENT
• Consistency in brand message attracts, and sustains, the interest of
travellers, growing their desire to take the step of making the booking.
• This has been seen in a number of leading destinations brands with brand
usage now over a decade old.
• While the brand has remained the same, executions have simply been
refreshed.
THE RISK OF INCONSISTENCY OF BRAND
• For this reason, to frequently change the destination brand and/or its
media approach is to dangerously chip away at traveller trust, interest
and investment. While the desire to change a brand and its media activity is
a natural temptation, the risks must be calculated.
• As has been seen in even strong tourism destinations such as GREECE with
over 4 campaigns in a period less than 10 years, continuous change of the
brand causes confusion around what exactly the offering is, and how stable
the destination is for experience delivery:
“Experience”
+
“Senses”
+
“Myth”
+
“Kalimera”
CONTENTS
PART 1:
What is Destination Branding?
PART 2:
Brand Development
PART 3:
Identifying a Proposition for Destination MONGOLIA
PART 4:
Recommended Way Forward
NEXT STEPS
Noting the priorities and timelines of Mongolia’s Ministry of Culture, Sport and
Tourism, the following next steps have been pre-agreed in discussion between
the Ministry, CNN and CNN TASK:
•By February 03rd, 2014: CNN TASK submission of recommended new brand
positioning
•By February 17th, 2014: feedback from Ministry on brand go-ahead
•For March 05th, 2014: CNN TASK development of briefing document for ITB
team for 2015 brand activation
•At ITB 2014: Ministry, CNN, CNN TASK and ITB team meeting in preparation
for 2015 partnerships
THANK YOU
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
CNNTASK@TURNER.COM