NCC: Phl failed in its branding effort

CEBU, Philippines - The Philippines has failed to communicate well its accomplishments and it failed in its branding effort, this according to National Competitiveness Council (NCC) private sector co-chairman Guillermo Luz.

The country branding Luz said is important for the Philippines to make stronger impressions among international investors, as well as travelers.

It’s tourism advantage should be announced intensively around the world, not just in target markets, and that Filipinos have crucial role on this part.

“We are the brand. The brand—The Philippines, is very attached to who we are. If we complain a lot about our country, we are not helping to build a good brand for the Philippines,” said Luz urging every Filipinos to be proud of their own country.

Luz said how Filipinos speak about their country, particularly if they are talking to foreigners, or they abroad, will reflect on the impression of the Philippines as a whole.

How Filipinos view about their country, whether they complain, or be proud of it, will have a tremendous effect on tourism, and trade and investments.

Country branding is not only an effort of the government, or the agencies commissioned to promote the Philippines, it is a concerted effort from both government and the private sector, most importantly the Filipinos.

Earlier, branding expert Jonathan Bernstein said that in tourism, the Philippines has a great chance to compete with other known destinations in the Asia, like Thailand, but it has to make a good and stronger branding efforts and communicate it well to the world.

What will work, he said is to create a “differentiation,” not just selling the same attraction as what others have. Beaches in the Philippines for instance, are the same of that the beach in Thailand, with the same infrastructure of five star hotels and accommodations.

Destination branding, Bernstein said  is more than just an advertising campaign put up by the tourism board, or the Philippines, the Department of Tourism (DOT), rather it is a positioning that is “living and breathing.”

He warned that Cebu for instance, it’s a good time to start implementing an effective “destination branding” saying “it is important for a place to brand, as the world is becoming a smaller place.”

He said promoting a place without serious shared vision is a great disadvantage for a destination. (FREEMAN)