Evaluating Spain's current national brand and the role of social media in creating a new one

Editor's Notes

1. The progress that Spain has made over the last 35 years is not properly well reflected. A perfect illustration of this situation was reflected when JoséMaría Aznar, (Spanish Prime Minister from1996 to2004), visited the ranch in Texas of President George W. Bush at a time when Spain was producingaround two million cars a year and was the world’s eighth-largest manufacturer. Before seeing Bush, Aznar chatted with one of his close advisors. The conversation went as follows: ‘And what is the chief product exported by Spain?’, the advisor asked. ‘Cars’, replied Aznar. ‘No, I am asking about the number one product that Spain exports’. ‘Cars’, repeated Aznar. ‘No, no, what I want to know is which Spanish product sells most successfully abroad’. ‘Yes, cars, cars’, repeated an exasperated Aznar. (Chislett, 2010). Spain is basically perceived as a tourist country. This is the consequence of its outstanding destination branding process, but is not enough. The challenge for Spain therefore is to change and open this perception. In addition, Spain has as proved “to be active and dynamic when it comes to adapting its marketing campaigns to cater for the new wishes of the market.” (Pot, 2005, p.2).In the branding process it is habitually assumed that the best way to communicate the experience of a place or a product comes only from professional editors and reporters. Nevertheless the emergence of social media phenomenon has completely diluted this thinking.Subsequently it can be assumed that Spain should be open to new, alternative promotion tools to facilitate the process of building a new brandand to position itself positively in the minds of consumers, thus to differentiate itself from the rest.
2. A Brand is not just a logo or trademark. It incorporates many components that work together to form the brand concept. These components are:BrandimageA unique set of associations within the minds of target customers which represent what the brand currently stands for and implies the currentpromise to customers. Aaker (1996, p. 71) argues, that the brand image is what is currently in the minds of consumers, or how Upshaw (1995) said,what is the reputation of the brand in the marketplace.BrandidentityA unique set of functional and mental associations the brand aspires to create or maintain. These associations represent what the brand shouldideally stand for in the minds of customers, and imply a potential promise to customers. “Brand identity should help establish a relationship between thebrand and the customer by generating a value proposition involving functional, emotional or self expressive benefits”. (Aaker 1996, p.68)Identity versus Image.There is frequently a gap between these two terms and it is fundamentally important to keep in mind that the brand identity refersto the strategic goal for a brand while the brand image is what currently resides in the minds of consumers.Brandculture“Is the system of values that surround a brand much like the cultural aspects of a people or a country.” (Upshaw,1995). Strong brands are managed byorganizations characterized by their strong internal brand cultures. A strong brand culture is determined by the internal attitudes towards branding,management behavior and practices of an organization.BrandessenceorbrandsoulThe brand essence is an articulation of the "heart and soul" of the brand. It represents the emotional elements and values of the brand A brandessence is typical three to five short word phrases that capture the core essence or spirit of the brand positioning and the values characterizing thebrand. The brand essence is the description which defines a brand and the guiding vision of the brand.BrandpersonalityFollowing Aaker (1996, p.141), the brand personality is the set of human characteristics that are associated with the brand. It includes suchcharacteristics as gender, age, socioeconomic class, as well as human personality traits such as warmth and sentimentality. The brand personalitymust ideally include distinguishing and identifiable characteristics which offer consistent, enduring and predictable messages and mental perceptions.BrandcharacterUpshaw(1995) said, brand character is related to its internal constitution, how it is perceived in terms of integrity, trustworthiness and honesty. Thus itis also related with the promise of the brand to deliver the experience associatedwithitsname.BrandPositioning“Brand positioning is the heart of marketing strategy, it is the act of designing the company’s offer and image so that occupies a distinct andvalued place in the target customer’s mind. Good brand positioning helps to guide marketing strategy by clarifying what a brand is all about, how it isunique and how it is similar to competitive brands, and why consumers should purchase and use it.” (Kotler and Keller, 2006 cited in Keller, 2008,p.98)BrandEquityBranding is also about measuring how successful a brand is, and “the main objective of the brand is gradually to establish brand goodwill throughconsumer brand awareness (Usunier, 2003. p.339).In order to do that a destination marketing organization should think what they want to achieve with their brand. (Kaplanidou and Vogt, 2003).The brand equity concept emphasizes in the importance of a brand in marketing strategies, and has become a leading indicator in measuring thestrength and value of a brand. This term relays to the fact that different outcomes result in the marketing of a product or service because of itsbrand name, as compared to if the same product or service did not have thatname.Following the AMA dictionary (2010), Brand Equity s the value of a brand from a consumer perspective, is based on consumer attitudes about positivebrand attributes and favorable consequences of brand use. Brand equity can be measured mainly through brand awareness and brandloyalty.Brandawareness:Is a common measure of marketing communications effectiveness. Brand awareness is measured as the proportion of target customers which has prior knowledge of the brand. It is measured by two distinct measures: brand recognition and brand recall. Brand recognition is the customers'ability to confirm prior exposure/knowledge of a brand when shown or asked explicitly about the brand (also referred to as aided or promptedawareness). Brand recall is the customers' ability to retrieve a brand from memory when given the product category but not mentioning of the brand(also referred to as spontaneous or unaided awareness).Brandloyalty:The AMA defines this concept through different points of view : 1. (sales promotion definition) The situation in which a consumer generally buys the same manufacturer-originated product or servicerepeatedly over time rather than buying from multiple suppliers within the category. 2. (consumer behavior definition) The degree to which aconsumer consistently purchases the same brand within a product class.
3. From long time ago marketing and branding co existed together in literature, but their essences rest in different positions. Branding and marketing areclosely related business tools, so closely related that “they are too often intermingled” (Chevron, 1999). Understanding the difference between thesetwo concepts it’s a key factor for the success of the branding process. Usually both strategies come together but that does not mean are the same.Chevron (1999), published an article where he identified some different aspects of these two terms, he said “Marketing communicates quickly andsingle-mindedly, while branding is slow and multi-faceted. Marketing communication is about conveying a "main idea" and doing it fast. Branding,on the contrary, is a slow process.” He affirmed that marketing is based on the "USP (Unique Selling Proposition) mantra,” while branding is “complexby design: a rich brand is a gestalt made of multiple messages, associations and character traits”, or what it s called the “HBP” (Holistic BuyingProposition) nowadays. (Readwin ,2007).Amin (2007), on his blog on Word Press argued that marketing is basically the 4Ps (McCarthy, 1960), products, places, price, promotion or the 7Ps(Booms and Bitner, 1981) in the marketing mix extended, people, process, and physical evidence. He says “brand are not available in the market place. Branding is a war of perception and it exists between our ears. Marketing wars are fought with prices. Brand wars are fought withpositioning. Marketing separates, but brand unifies. Marketing is about segmenting a big group of people, and targeting them with proper marketmix. But branding preaches the unifying element that combines.”
4. Destination branding or destination marketing are other terms for place marketing. All of these terms describe the promotion of an area, country orregion. Country branding activities include stimulating inwards investment, encouraging immigration of workers, promoting the country’s exportsinternationally, increasing the international business of the national airline, and facilitating the process of integration into political and commercialorganizations (Anholt, 2004 p. 37). Nation branding stands the association of a country as a product, which can be sold. Morgan and Pritchard (2004,p. 60) claim that a destination is not a product and therefore should not be promoted according to the rules of the classical marketing approaches.Destination branding goes further in this, and consists in combining all the attributes associated with the place (products, services, industries such asagriculture, tourism, sports, arts, investment, technology, education.) under one concept, which expresses a unique identity and personality of thedestination and differentiates it from its competition, it is also about how consumers perceive the destination in their minds. Most importantly,branding requires a vision and mission about the destination and its future success. Branding cannot be reduced just in creating a logo or a slogan. Itmust capture the distinct elements of the destination in the brand and communicating these elements through the brand’s components(Kaplanidou and Vogt, 2003 p.p.1-2).Travis (2000) declared that branding is a promise to the consumer, an expectation of performance and a mark of integrity and reputation. It buildsup continuously in the minds of the destination’s consumers and it is affected by experiences, memories (Deutsch and Real, 2002) and othervisitors’ comments.
5. *Vision and stakeholdermanagement.This is the starting point of any great strategy. It is composed by” having clarity in long-term objectives that can range from tourism quality, businessgeneration, societal welfare and to political self preservation agendas” (Balakrishnan, 2009).*Target customer and product portfolio matching.Here Balakrishan (2009), argues that products require strategic location investments in infrastructure, exploitation of natural resources andadaptation of ideas like open skies policies and other economic policies. She also affirms that destination with a portfolio diversified has lower riskthan others that have not, by increasing also their target marked and encouragingcustomerloyalty.*Positioning and differentiation strategies using branding components.Positioning is achieved through brand components, which can be tangible or intangible attribute. Studies show consumers decide which product tochoose based on their perceptions of the images of the brands. The emotional component of the destination image is responsible for the majorityof the variance of the personality of the destination. Images associated with history, heritage and culture are most important when differentiatingbetween destinations though they were the second most salient category after attributes associated with activities and facilities which are functional innature . Destinations should focus on a unique constellation of few (three to seven) tangible and functional destination attributes rather than a “having itall” strategy.” (Balakrishnan, 2009)*Communicationstrategies.Newspapers, televisions, magazines and radios are considered more trustworthy communication tools than on-line forms of advertising, saysBalakrishnan, but for the destination branding strategy Internet is growing in usefulness as it attracts new users and if used to satisfaction, increasesdestination enjoyment. She states “tourists prefer word-of-mouth (WOM) to choose destinations, but once chosen, web-based resources are used tonarrowitinerary”.*Feedback and response management strategies.In this last component, Balakrishnan relates some different strategies for managing the destination brand, because the gap between communicated,conceived ideal and desired identities must be reduced using market research.These are:· “Brand netnography” (online marketing research technique for providing consumer insight of the product and brand use): which helps understand a tourist’s interpretation of the place.Controlling the power of word of mouth: Good management tool because social travelers are impacted by Worth Of Mouth and peers have a greater perceived reliability.· Souvenirs: which are conversations starters, are another response managementstrategy.
6. The National Brand Index by Simon Anholt (NBI)The NBI was developed by Simon Anholt in collaboration with the consultancy Growth from Knowledge (GfK) in 2005. The NBI measures thenational image of 50 countries based on six components, which are said to “be key factors impacting a nation's reputation” (GfK, 200):· Exports : Determines the public's image of products and services from each country and the extent to which consumers proactivelyseek or avoid products from each country-of-origin.· Governance: Measures public opinion regarding the level of national government competency and fairness and describes individuals‘ beliefs about each country's government, as well as its perceived commitment to global issues such as democracy, justice, poverty and theenvironment.· Culture and Heritage: Reveals global perceptions of each nation's heritage and appreciation for its contemporary culture, including film, music, art, sport and literature.· People: Measures the population's reputation for competence, education, openness and friendliness and other qualities, as well as perceived levels of potential hostility and discrimination.· Tourism: Captures the level of interest in visiting a country and the draw of natural and man-made tourist attractions.· Investment and Immigration: – Determines the power to attract people to live, work or study in each country and reveals how people perceive a country's economic and social situation.The Country Brand Index by Future Brand (CBI).This study is conducted by the global brand consultancy FutureBrand. The Country Brand Index explores the complexity, dynamics and benefits of hownations manifest as brands. CBI ranks countries across key image attributes, looks at themes in nation building and issues in country brandmarketing, and identifies emerging trends in the worldwide travel and tourismindustry.FutureBrand’s Country Brand Framework includes eight essential country brand dimensions, wherethey define:· Attractions: Diversity and quality of unique places, range of things to see and do.· Authenticity: Unique character along with the rich texture of local life, rituals, programming, events.· Culture: Arts, crafts, intellectualpursuits, creativeenvironment. · Ethos: Customs, beliefs, mores and history that create a distinctive mystic.· Geography: Natural resources, topography, landforms.· Infrastructure: Technology, communications, transportation, healthcare.· Governance: Degree of effectiveness in the way a country is ruled, as evidenced by political freedom, safety and security.· Economy: Ability to produce and distribute wealth, standard of living.Future brand has also developed “The Hierarchical Decision Model (HDM)” methodology, and they use it to assess the development of a brand in termsof the place it occupies in the mindset of customers. Based on how people process information and form relationships with brands, FutureBrand arguesthat HDM facilitates more targeted brand management to promote preference, purchase and loyalty. It is composed by: Awareness, Familiarity,Associations, Preference, Consideration, Decision / Visitation and Advocacy .CBI's best-known features are detailed rankings across 29 image attributes: Authenticity, History, Art & Culture, Resort & Lodging Options, Ease ofTravel, Safety, Rest & Relaxation, Natural Beauty, Beach, Nightlife, Shopping, Fine Dining, Outdoor Activities & Sports, Friendly Locals,Families, Value for Money, Rising Star, Standard of Living, Ideal for Business, Easiest to Do Business In, New Country for Business,Conferences, Extend a Business Trip, Political Freedom, Most Like to Live In, Quality Products, Desire to Visit / Visit Again, Advanced Technology,Environmentalism.
7. The explosion of social media has caused a significant shift, changing the branding rules for many businesses. The control of a brand is no longer justin the hands of the company that owns it. Influence and understanding have become far more important than size and spend.“Your brand is no longer what you say it is, it’s what they say it is.” Social media is where “they” – customers, prospects, journalists and otherinfluencers – are talking about your brand. They’re forming and sharing opinions that will impact your brand, and a social media strategy is neededto cultivate interactions” (Vijaybaskar, 2009).
8. Social media channels provide an instant connection between you and your target audience, so immediately becomes exposed easily to a large numberof people, something where any other distribution channel does not. Social Media channels charge little or no fee to register, allowing you toutilize their services to locate and interact with your target audience without having to spend large amounts to do so.They make your information available to millions of people through the internet, but can be used to reach very specific niches, ensuring theattention of people who are the main target. Moreover, social media channel open up a conversations between brands and their audience, allowing themto provide feedback and express their ideas and suggestions.“Customers who have a personal connection with your business and feel as though you care about their feelings and opinions are more likely to return toyou when they need your services again.” (The Social Lites, 2010).
9. WEB 2.0.Web 2.0 is the term given to describe a second generation of the World Wide Web that is focused on the ability for people to collaborate and shareinformation online. Web 2.0 basically refers to the transition from static HTML Web pages to a more dynamic Web that is more organized and is based on serving Web applications to users. Other improved functionality of Web 2.0 includes open communication with an emphasis on Web-based communities of users, and more open sharing of information.Web 2.0 applications include blogs, wikis, RSS and social bookmarking. The two major components of Web 2.0 are the technological advances enabledby Ajax and other new applications such as RSS and Eclipse and the user empowermentthattheysupport.Over time Web 2.0 has been used more as a marketing term than a computer-science-based term. Blogs, wikis, and Web services are all seenas components of Web 2.0.Blogs, Micro Blogs and other types of BlogsBlog is the contraction of "web log"; it is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptionsof events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb,meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.Blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. Al blog usually combines text, images, andlinks to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an importantpart of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (Art blog), photographs (photo blog), videos (Video blogging), music(MP3 blog), and audio (podcasting). Micro blogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.Social Networks.Social networking is the grouping of individuals into specific groups, like small rural communities or a neighborhood subdivision, if you will. Althoughsocial networking is possible in person, especially in the workplace, universities, and high schools, it is most popular online. This is becauseunlike most high schools, colleges, or workplaces, the internet is filled with millions of individuals who are looking to meet other people, to gather andshare first-hand information and experiences about any number of topics.Top ten:1. Facebook with 133,623,529 unique visits.2. MySpace with 50,615,444 unique visits.3. Twitter with 23,573,178 unique visits.4. Linkedin with 15,475,890 unique visits.5. Classmates with 14,613,381 unique visits.6. MyLife with 8,736,352 unique visits.7. Ning with 6,120,667 unique visits.8. LiveJournalwith 3,834,155 uniquevisits.9. Tagged with 3,800,325 unique visits.10. Last.fm with 3,473,978 unique visits.Wikis.A wiki is a Web site that allows users to add and update content on the site using their own Web browser. This is made possible by Wiki software thatruns on the Web server. Wikis end up being created mainly by a collaborative effort of the site visitors. A great example of a large wiki is theWikipedia a free encyclopedia in many languages that anyone can edit.Social BookMarking.The general idea behind social bookmarks is that rather than saving a bookmark for a web page in a browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox,users instead save the bookmark to a publicly accessible web site. Other people can then see your bookmark and ideally be exposed to somethingthat you wouldn't otherwise encounter.Some social bookmarking sites also employ a voting system that allows users to indicate what bookmarks they found interesting. As a bookmarkreceives more and more votes, it's prominence on the web site increases which in turn attracts more and more votes. The ultimate is to have thebookmark appear on the homepage of the social bookmark site.
10. Evolution from Catholic Monarchs to the mid XX Century:Spanishbrandimage !!!!through its history comes from two different sides. From one side is “the Black Legend” where Spain is considered as a European country, arrogant, intolerant, inefficient, deep religious, and governed deficiently. In the other side, where Spain is considered an exotic country, more premodern than decadent with authentic people who love freedom. A passionate country where people is not able to rationalize and they are not civilized. Until the king Felipe II Spain was an example to follow for European countries, the Spanish empire was immense and it was called “the empire where the sun never set on”. Spain was on fashion and that caused envy on the rest of Europeans governments, who counteracted with promoting all thenegative aspects of the Spanish empire. From this point to the beginning of the decadency stage in the Spanish History, there were no other important facts or improvements to neutralizeits deterioration. Spain is not on fashion anymore.From mid XX Century to The Democracy:The image of Spain started to change in the early 1960’s. Although Spain continued to operate under a dictatorship, the most repressive periods had passed, and the programs of General Franco promised to eliminate the hunger and misery within the country. Schools and universities were created, and scholarships became available for students less economically stable. Spain joined the United Nations (UN), signed a treaty with the United States of America (USA), and lifted the block. Most importantly, Spain produced an important growing economy that was made possible by a growth in the outside investment in the country, an increase in tourism, and an advance in international competition and the incorporation of new technology.This also brought a significant social change - the birth of the new middle class and the presence of a society of consumption in Spain. The newconcept of leisure activity came into being along with the television and the reestablishment of free press. Paralleling this discovery of recreation wereaerial companies based on the business of tourism and future progress. The success of tourism in Spain was due to fact that the country was bothnearby and distant at the same time. Partially isolated from the rest of Europe, the pleasant climate, pleasing landscape, and affordable pricesattracted many outsiders eager to see the world. Later the interest in the culture and history added to the public enthusiasm. Dictator Francoconsidered tourism as the “business of the State”. Tourist activity experienced an uninterrupted development until 1971.Promotion of the country was helped by Spanish cinematography as well. Many directors created movies with plots based on the world of tourism.This posed as a strategy of advertising the available recreation, as if they were promotional videos for vacation agencies similar to those offered to thepublic at that time. It was a destination for many Europeans from the vacation point of view, a place of work and a center of investment.Because of the social conflicts led by workers, students, and priests against the government of Franco and the presence of ETA and their violentattacks, Spanish success began to decline in the primary years of the 1970’s. An image of immobilism and repression created an unfavorableattitude towards the regime and the country in general.
11. From Juan Carlos I to the XX Century:When General Franco died in 1975, Juan Carlos I was proclaimed king of Spain. The young monarch soon established himself as a resolute motor forchange to a western-style democracy by means of a cautious process of political reform which took as its starting point the Francoism legal structure.Adolfo Suarez, the prime minister of the second Monarchy Government (July 1976) carried out with determination and skill -though helped, certainly,by a broad social consensus- the so-called transition to democracy which, after going through several stages (recognition of basic liberties, politicalparties, including the communist party, the trade unions, an amnesty for political offences, etc.), culminated in the first democratic parliamentaryelections in 41 years, on June 15th, 1977. The Cortes formed as a result decided to start a constituent process which concluded with the adoption ofa new Constitution, ratified by universal suffrage, on December 6th, 1978. It was establish the current constitutional monarchy, and approved the presentConstitution. This period stands out for extreme modernization of the Spanish country. On the politic an economic side, Spain moved from a dictatorshipgovernment to celebrate its first democratic elections, divorce and abortion were authorized. It joined the NATO, and moreover became a member ofthe EU. This brought to the country many positive facts such, deficit zero, growth of employment, companies’ privatization and a sustainable growth alwaysahead over the European countries. In addition supported by the EU, Spain adopted the euro as an official currency. Spain invented mass tourism in the 1960s, it joined UNESCO in 1984, and during this last years of the XX century, it is consolidated as a key factor on the Spanish economic development. The governments were focus its tourist policies on a more sustainable and responsible development. Spain stands out as well in the sociocultural side organizing the Football world cup in 1982, the Universal Exposition and the Olympic Games in 1992. These facts illustrated and demonstrated the new reality of thecountry and its growing competitiveness. Motorcycling, cycling, Formula 1, basket, and golf are other sports that brought to Spain glorious moments.Spain is also successful in its movie industry, winning international recognized prices like Oscars (two for Almodovar, and one for Garci) andothers in festivals such Cannes film festival. Even though the most substantial change of this period, is the technology revolution, the appearance of internet, which will change almost everything in thenextyears.The first decade of XXI Century:In this short period, Spain has moved from being the Western European country with the most traditional values and attitudes to one of the mostliberal, tolerant and permissive societies, as well as being one of the healthiest. Life expectancy at birth has risen to 81 years. In 2005 Spain became the fourth country in the world, after Belgium, the Netherlands and Canada, to allow same sex couples to marry and adopt children. One of the most striking changes over the past 30 years has been the greatly improved position and rights of women, the current government has gender parity of its ministers members. (Chislett, 2010). In this new “globalized period”, Spain aims to play the role that fits which its reality. Spain has advanced on many fronts, but these achievements are not yet firmly stamped on the outside world.
12. Spanish Brand as a tourist destination:The organization in charge to run this branding process is The Institute of Tourism of Spain (TURESPAÑA or TOURSPAIN).Its main purpose is tostrengthen the positioning of Spain’s tourism brand image in the internationalmarkets.Turespaña declares the following main goals:· To maintain and reinforce the advertising campaigns to promote Spain's tourism image in order to increase its recognition and its already privileged position in the international tourism market.· To develop a communication strategy for the brand with the aim of underlining the essential and different aspects of what it means visiting Spain regarding other destinations, focusing on:- The way of living and the general lifestyle existing in Spain.- The European environment, quality and culture.- A personalizedoffer.- Its extensive and rich diversity offer.· To achieve the evolution of Spain's brand image as a tourist destination, changing the current perception of a destination based on a sun and beach offer into a more diversified offer.· To obtain the greatest competitive advantages derived from the existence of a tourism brand image, whose recognition and characteristics would support the marketing of the Spanish tourism products.Spanishcorporateidentityimage.This design was created by the painter Joan Miró more than 25 years ago. It has an abstract and modern design in concordance with its creatormovement, surrealism, and its main purpose was to reflect Spain’s past and future, the change, the modernization of a country. It has become one of themost recognized brand’s images of a country.The colors are based on the Spanish flag colors, which represents perfectly the character of the country, warm, charm, bright, happy, passionate,protagonist, and powerful. It is composed by some simple circle lines, but, depending on how it is looked can represent many things.The red circle represents the warmest part of the sun, and this refers to the warm character of Spaniards, in addition the sand of its main touristicproduct, beaches. This red circle, with the next black line surrounding it, can represent a bullring, what brings to the customer´s mind the strongcharacter of Spaniards, and also it refers to one of the most popular and traditional aspects of Spain. Adding the yellow line, it reinforces the mainidea of the sunny Spain, but it can bring as well to the customers mind, the brightness of the country and its people. Finally the star on top refers to thenice Spanish weather, because with a clear sky can be seen the stars, and furthermore, it was added by means of differentiation of the Spanishcharacteramongtheothers.The letters at the bottom, are hand writing style and reflects the familiar and friendly life style, and again to the Spanish character, not formal and funny.Moreover, the imperfect letters, being different every single one, compose a consistent “whole”, like is Spain, with its quite different regions. The diversityof colors also make reference to the diversity that Spain offers, including the green color, it declares it is also a green country where it can be foundgreen fields, thus it refers to rural tourism or eco-tourism.· Spanishlastadvertisementcampaign.This was developed in order to obtain two main objectives:To show the evolution of Spain’s tourism offer, changing from its almost exclusive perception with the offer of sun and beach tourism, into a morediversified offer, by adding new attributes and other motivations.And to obtain the greater competitive advantage by means of the existence of a tourist mark that supports the commercialization of Spanish touristproducts. (Turespaña,2010)With this campaign, Spain improved its position in the customers’ mind becoming the first country that customers remember on having anadvertisementcampaign.Spanish new brand advertisement campaign.In this new advertisement campaign, the slogan has been changed. It has been designed to fit perfectly with the logo lines, and it expresses thepowerful message of the need of something, in this case, Spain.This campaign has the objective of consolidating Spanish leadership as a tourist destination and positioning Spain ahead for cultural tourism and todiversify the demand from a geographical, seasonal and product point of view.It is directly related with the Spanish lifestyle, showing its rich personality and the quality of life. “Spain offers experiences, emotions, feelings to itstourist and that’s what they will bring back home.” (Turespaña, 2010) Furthermore, it has been also designed to fit with the promotion of specifictourist locations within Spain and its autonomies, their own brand and products, and privatecompanies.
13. Other Promotion.In this campaign Tourespaña counts with a large amount of ambassadors that will help with the promotion. Some are: Ferran Adria, (most influentialchef of the world) as principal, Gisela Pulido (six times world champion in kitesurf), the Spanish basket selection, the Spanish moto Gp pilots and theSpanish football players of the Liverpool football club among others. Spain has a large sum of tourism offices all over the world to supportTurespaña in promoting the Spanish Brand and the campaign.This campaign will be launched firstly on well known world TV channels like CNN, FOX, National Geographic and Eurosport. And at the same time it willbe launch the on line campaign as well through the main website: www.spain.infoThe web page is very effective at providing users with the possibility to get all the information related with the tourism in the country (hotels, transportas flight finder or rent a car, activities, monuments) making planning their trip much easier. In addition they use pictures of the current campaign, and it istranslated to several languages.Turespaña as well develops the famous Spanish Touristic Fair, FITUR, for the promotion of the Spanish tourism abroad, and participates in otherworldwide fairs related with tourism.
14. In 2003, public and private stakeholders have come together to articulate an overall branding strategy to improve and manage Spain’s image abroad andalign it with its reality. This project was developed by Elcano Royal Institute in cooperation with the Association of Communication Managers (Dircom),the Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX) and the Leading Brands of Spain Forum (FMRE).The report called “ProyectoMarcaEspaña” (Spain’s Brand Project) established three main consecutive phases to define and achieve goals:· Gathering of all existing information and data on the image of Spain published abroad by the Observatorio Permanente de la ImagenExterior de España en la Prensa Internacional (OPIEX).· Series of roundtables featuring public/private institutions and individuals most directly concerned with the brand Spain to reflect on the problems of Spain’s image abroad.· Based on the conclusions reached in the second phase, a team of communication experts and executives put forth a number of recommendations to better position and communicate brand Spain to the rest of the world.In 2003 the report was concluded some recommendations:· Set up a government agency or entity to lead this effort, or alternatively a ‘Brand Spain Committee” which would include not onlythe original task-force participants but also the Spanish Tourism Agency, Instituto Cervantes, all cultural agencies charged withpromoting Spanish culture abroad, Spanish National TV, Chambers of Commerce.· Create a permanent Auditing Office to monitor and track Spain’s imageabroad.· Provide public diplomacy training to the Spanish Foreign Service.It was also designed a system by Miguel Otero (managing director of the FMRE) for building Spain’s country brand comprising three pillars:· Companies (corporate and product brands).· Public institutions (Royal Household, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and embassies).· Other elements as civic society, Spanish VIPs, the media and businessschools. (Chislett, 2008)This project identified that the big gap between Spain image and identity is its products recognition, thus, the need to align the perception of Spanishproducts with their true quality. (Chislett, 2008)The Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX) has been on charge of the promotion of this new branding process for the Spanish brand focused on the businessaspect.CorporateIdentityImageThe ICEX has developed a logo to identify Spain business market. Is a simple “E” in capital letters composed of three lines with the Spanishflag colors. The shape tries to imitate a fluttering flag, which brings to the customers’ mind the seriousness of the country in this aspect, but itsbusinessdynamism as well.Promotion.The promotion carried out by the ICEX is based on internet, it has developed a main web page for doing business in Spain. The image of itdiverges into other images depending on the target country and its language. This logo acts as umbrella of other logos which are design to identify thedifferentbusinessmarkets.Moreover, last year it started running the campaign “Made In/By Spain” in order to promote the Spanish products and services in the United States ofAmerica.
15. As conclusion of reviewing both indexes results, Spain returns to the Top 10 overall ranking in Nation Brands and Country Brand Indexes in 2009 with astrong showing in every measure of country brand strength. The Spanish Brand stands out referring to tourism, culture and people, the brandingprocess as a tourist destination shows that is working, Spain is also the winner in the advocacy and familiarity ranking, all tourist aspects, moreoverSpain represents an elevate percentage in the world tourist ranking being always among the top five, and this year, and taking into account theeconomic crisis that has affect the country badly, its placed in the sixth position (Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report, 2009). FurthermoreSpain is the world’s second-largest in terms of the number of visitors and receipts. Spain has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment and abilityto adapt its touristic strategies in this difficult time when apart from the economic turndown, the competitiveness among countries is harder, and ithas risen new countries with powerful branding strategies.However Spain, with its second branding process, is also making an effort to promote a more ‘serious’ image in order to help exports and make thecountry known for other achievements and not just as a “fun playground ” (Chislett, 2010 ) but this is not reflected in both indexes.
16. These two branding process are based on important aspects in order to build a proper and strong country brand, but they do not share the samecorporate brand image. Therefore these two processes merely contribute to confuse customer perceptions of the country not providing a clear, unifiedand truly image of the Spanish country. Neither helps to perceive the country brand as a whole. Both have different target audience andpositioning, but it is a mistake to think they should be different since they try to reach different goals. They are not different.No one of these Spanish brands reach all important aspects when evaluating a country. Even if they were co-working wouldn’t reach allaspects as it seems in the picture above, neither On top of this, the amount of money need is twice as much.The branding process developed by Turespaña has been better set up and developed. It counts with a structured, calculated and well elaborated plan,reinforced with a good promotion.Turespaña bases promotion mainly on powerful and creative advertisement campaigns on different television channels across the world. This time it hasgone a step further and it has based its newest campaign in experiential branding. The main purpose of it, it is to sell the experience of coming toSpain, not selling just a place, nice views or a feature of the country.Furthermore Turespaña has realized the huge impact that produces on customers’ perceptions the use of celebrities. Following this idea they havedeveloped this newest campaign with some famous people, in a cobrandingeffort.ICEX found out that it was necessary to balance the Spanish country brand image. They started a new branding process but, this has not been wellstructured and developed as Tourespaña’s. And they have very small promotion on the internet and some specific publications.
17. Brand promotion on internet is increasing owed to the fact that has many advantages and great results. These two organizations are using internet inorder to promote their brands, but it does not have influence enough yet, and as a consequence, they are missing brand awareness, brand recall andbrand loyalty, hence they are both falling on Brand Equity.It has been analyzed and researched both brands websites looking for their presence in the most common social media channels. Turespaña mainwebsite info (www.spain.info) is a 1.0 web and it does not have any presence on any social media, it has been found some user’s commentsadded by anonymous people and a few links in the page to share.For the second brand analyzed, its main website (www.spainbusiness.com) is a 2.0. web. Also the rest of the websites under its umbrella, are 2.0 websas well. The presence on social media channels is very small and some of these websites have links to share them, but not all.Spain needs to define the appropriate brand image to reflect all its realities, and focus it in current trends of promotion, such social media, in order toaccomplish a more coherent brand image.
18. Spain needs to define the appropriate brand image to reflect all its realities, and focus it in current trends of promotion such social media in order toaccomplish a coherent brand image with the current Spanish reality and achieve better results. Both branding processes are based on important aspects in order to build a proper and strong country brand, but these two processes merely contribute to confuse customer perceptions about the country but not providing a clear, unified and truly image of the Spanish country. Spain should develop an entire and more complex branding process wherewill have place each of these processes and also will be into account other aspects of the country that increase good image and reality perception inthe customers mind.
19. The Molecular Brand Concept.This newest concept has been developed by Hensel in 2009 for “Nouvé Interplay Consultancy”. He claims “this is the age of conversation” becausethe social media factor “has given people a voice to be heard not only by other people but by marketers as well”.In his presentation shows the importance and the power of the concepts of “experiential branding” (experiences lived by costumers) and “social mediabranding” (these experiences shared on web 2.0 or any other social media channel) have on the success of a brand.He argues that brands in this new age need to be “open to its stakeholders”, “allow space for co-creation and personal interpretation”, integrate communication, media environment, trends and preferences of the “customers its addresses” and centered by “progression and transformation”. He realized that brands need consistency because they have to give orientation to their customers, but they should be in a “constant renewal and exchange for further grow”.The problem encountered with the concept of brand identity (which is an static model) its solved by the concept of the brand as a closet “a dress foreach occasion, but who wears it is always the same”, moreover he affirms that an static brand model cannot longer fulfill all the “continuouslyadvancing demands”, and the new brand model needs to be “flexible and able to adapt various contexts and levels that brands are facing”.Molecular Brand:“It oscillates around its core and between the self and the other” Hansel, (2009). The molecular brand use multiple connectors to attract people, theseconnectors are divided in: Shared values, roots, fights, interest and benefits, lifestyle, hobbies and preferences. Hensel based this concept on a “constant core” with a “variable coating” in order to connect with fans, critics, media, media 2.0., early adopters, laggards, customers and staff.
20. For the development of this new brand image, it has been chosen the “molecular brand” structure. The reasons for using it, are the amount ofbrand elements that include a country brand and the dynamic market in it is target.The brand elements selected specifically to build this new brand image core, have been chosen among the most important elements, following NationsBrand Index, Country Brand index, and taking into account current market requirements.These are essential in order to reduce de gap between the Spanish image and its identity, showing a proper country brand image.Explained in deep this structure, Tourism has been placed in the middle because is the essential feature of Spain, its importance to the country andits positive recognition abroad. Hence it has been kept its logo image. It has no sense to proceed in other direction, and to not take advantage of theextraordinaryjobthatBusiness and Governance have been placed in order to present Spain business, exports/ investment, economy, governance and diplomacy, which are factors not reflected yet in the Spanish country brand image. This helps to balance the current perception of “hot/soft” country into a more “cold/hard” country (Chislett, 2010), reducing the gap between perception and reality.People, Culture and Language are basic factors which differentiate countries among others, and these factors are Last but not least, Advocacy, which is the main goal of a brand, and from which the brand will play its main role in the social media channel.After establishing the brand core elements, and verifying the harmony between the structure and the Spanish logo and name, researching forwords that connect with these elements and with the name of the country has been next step, España, with the intention of stress the impact of eachelementoncustomers’ perceptions.
21. With these results, it is considered the whole logo shape of Turespaña, because it s the one recognized and well perceived, and reduces customer’s disorientation.