Countries are countries, not brands | Opinion | Marketing Week

The World Cup approaches and, once again, the English nation hopes against hope that it can win the tournament and finally end 44 years of hurt. Meanwhile, in South Africa the dreams are just as bold but aimed in a very different direction. FIFA's World Cup presents its hosts with, what they believe to be, their biggest ever opportunity to build a stronger country brand. That is a shame because, despite its growing popularity and firm establishment within marketing, the business of country branding or nation branding is nonsense. Countries are not brands. They are countries. Brand strategy should be reserved for brands. I may have a hammer, but it doesn't mean that every problem is shaped like a nail. Real expertise in a field is to know the limitations of that field and behave accordingly. I can appreciate the attractions of country branding. Selling a brand strategy to a public servant in Finland or Ghana must be a lot easier than pitching to a trained marketer from the likes of Unilever or Ford.

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Does marketing for SME's equivocate the needs of larger organisations in our current economy

Recently I caught up with an old aquaintance who had some information relevant to SME's and their marketing. It is interesting how these ideas can also be applied to larger organisations Here is a summary... The talk of the economy and its impact on SME’s surrounds us daily. The media reinforces the tough times that consumers are currently experiencing and the business world watches on as the ASX continues to fluctuate. This is weakening both consumer confidence and the consumer spending that has been buoying our economy for the last 12 years or more. Obviously this downturn in spending and confidence sees many companies ‘retreat’ (cut their marketing budgets) in order to weather the financial storm. This strategy of course is an easy one to justify (especially by those responsible for finances) and has the added advantage of seemingly bolstering (some would say, camouflaging) earnings by simply cutting marketing costs as an expense to the company.

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