18 July 2008
column
Port Louis — Mauritius has an excellent brand image for visitors derived from its capacity and experience in dealing with high-end tourists in a way that other sectors like textiles and financial services don't or can't. Its current marketing campaign is a good move to improve its prospects but the concept "Mauritius was made first, and then heaven" from Mark Twain could be the real booster.
Like for the Emerald Isle, the concept of paradise must stand side by side with global and fast-expanding financial and ICT sectors as In Caudan Waterfront.
I met a Bengali friend for lunch the other day at a café on one of the side streets off Brick Lane in the heart of London's Bangladeshi community. We were waiting for our food to arrive and so almost inevitably the conversation turned towards summer holiday destinations. My friend hadn't taken a holiday last year because of the pressures of work so he was very keen to get away with his family this August.
He told me he was thinking about two destinations, Ireland and Croatia. "My wife and I have wanted to visit Ireland for some time now," he said as he played with his paper napkin. "We've heard so much about the Emerald Isle and it's only an hour's flight from Heathrow." It was obvious from his account that he had learnt about the legendary friendliness of the Irish people and the open roads where - outside the major cities like Cork and Dublin - you can drive for miles without meeting another vehicle and take in the often spectacular scenery.
My friend didn't really know much about Croatia other than that the country had once been part of the former Yugoslavia and that it had been established after a bitter and bloody civil war. He told me that he was only thinking about Croatia because his wife's friend had a holiday home there, which the family could use for nothing. "But I'm not sure I want to go there if I am honest," he said.
"Hmm," I said weighing up the relative advantages and disadvantages of both destinations in my mind. "The problem with Ireland is that you never know when it will rain. It's not called the Emerald Isle for nothing - it's certainly very green but that's because of the amount of water that comes out of the sky.
When it rains, it really rains. It's not like the stuff we have in London where you get a bit of drizzle every now and again. In Ireland it comes straight off the Atlantic and it's so heavy the windscreen wipers of your car won't be able to clear it. Both my parents were born in Ireland and I've been there enough times to know what I'm talking about."
My friend looked thoughtful. "Of course, you might be lucky," I added keen not to denigrate the land of my ancestors. "It might not rain at all in which case you and the family will have a fantastic holiday. There are few places in the world which can match Ireland if the weather's good. On the other hand, if you go to Croatia you'll be guaranteed sunshine. Someone I know went there last year and said that the islands off the coast were more beautiful than those he had visited in Greece."
My friend who had been listening intently to what I had been saying suddenly declared: "I've made up my mind -- we're going to go to the Emerald Isle!"
I'm not sure exactly how long Ireland has been called the Emerald Isle but it's certainly for as long as I can remember. In fact, the two names are interchangeable as the conversation with my friend demonstrates. However, I do not know - and neither did my friend - what positive word is associated with Croatia which explains very clearly why he wasn't motivated to go there.
But my friend's decision to visit Ireland for the annual family holiday does demonstrate the importance of a suitably evocative word or phrase linked to a destination in motivating people to part with their hard-earned cash - even if they are faced with the prospect of rain when they arrive.
But a good brand can do a lot more than support a country's tourist industry. Indeed, one of the reasons why Ireland has enjoyed enormous success since the early 1990s - moving from an economy with an agricultural focus to a knowledge-based one - is that it has enjoyed excellent brand recognition for many years courtesy of the Emerald Isle tagline.
In fact, Ireland has become a magnet for inward investment from high-value multi-nationals including Apple, Dell, IBM, Intel, Oracle, Microsoft and Pfizer with the result that it now has the second highest per capita income of any country in the EU after Luxembourg (which is why economists now refer to it as the Celtic Tiger).
So I was very interested to learn that an assessment of the "brand positioning strategy" of Mauritius has been commissioned recently. It's very understandable: Mauritius like any country making its way in the new global economy is trying to do the best for its citizens and is attempting to leverage growth by telling the world that it is not just a tourist destination but can offer a lot more besides - sugar and textiles, of course, but also the fast expanding financial services and ICT sectors.
And this makes it very tempting to change the way Mauritius is marketed by coming up with a new campaign slogan which takes into account new elements in the economic mix. Many people in the world of marketing will argue, for example, that it is always desirable to have a forward-looking identity for a country that conveys something of its potential and aspirations both to its citizens and to its visitors.
Now while this is certainly true of countries which are trying to establish a coherent and effective brand for the first time or change a negative image - my friend's perception of Croatia created out of a bloody civil war would seem to indicate the need for a new and positive brand identity, for instance - is this true for a country which already has a lot going for it?
Mauritius has an excellent brand image for visitors derived particularly from its capacity and experience in dealing with high-end tourists. As I pointed out in an article earlier this year (l'express, January 4) tourism promotes Mauritius in a way that other sectors like textiles and financial services don't or can't.
Visitors (including business people) to the island's plush hotels come away thinking that they have just paid a visit to "paradise" even if some of the locals don't believe them ("It's paradise lost," a Mauritian friend told me recently).
I also pointed out that the current slogan used to promote Mauritius - "an unforgettable experience" - has little or no value because it was so unmemorable. Put simply, the phrase "an unforgettable experience" is just not in the same league as "the Emerald Isle" tagline, which has been instrumental in underpinning the Republic of Ireland's economic renaissance.
So I would certainly support changing Mauritius' current marketing campaign - without doubt a good phrase will improve Mauritius' prospects while a bad one will either be damaging or have a neutral effect. Translated into jobs and income this will have a profound effect on people's lives (as well as the government's ability to raise taxes to pay for essential services including free education and healthcare). So the stakes are high - it's important to get it right.
In my previous article I also wondered why Mark Twain's words - "You gather the idea that Mauritius was made first and then heaven, and that heaven was copied after Mauritius" - from his 1897 book, Following the Equator, was no longer being used to promote the island.
In January, Mark Twain's words seemed to me to be the basis for a good campaign theme and having thought about it a lot since they still seem good in July. But just to make sure I asked my good friend, Al Ries, who runs the Atlanta-based focus consultancy, Ries & Ries.
For those of you who don't know, Al is one of the most influential marketing men in the world. He is the author of 11 best-selling books and the man who gave the world the revolutionary concept of "positioning" (as in the "brand positioning strategy" commissioned by the Mauritian government) which is now routinely used by all the world's advertising and marketing agencies in the promotion of anything from peanuts and pensions to petrol and politics.
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