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Brand Bangladesh
ONE thing common between nations and corporations is that their success depends on the brand. Mercedes Benz, Giorgio Armani, Elizabeth Ardent or Nike, these are corporate brands. But when we talk about U.S. educa-don, Italian opera, or French holidays, these are nation brands. Simon Anholt, who is one of the leading brand strategists in the world, is of the view that nation brand is an important concept in today'sworld.
Wilt till you hear the rest In an era of globalisation, he says, "countries have to compete with each other for the attention, respect and trust of investors, tourists, consumers, donors, immigrants, the governments of other nations and the media." The result of this competition is brand recognition. We trust the policies ofa certain government, respect the loyalty of a certain people, and appreciate the hard working nature of a certain race. It is brand recognition when people avoid investing in a certain country, admire the heritage of a particular culture, or flock to a certain destination tospendtheirholidays.
Needless to say, Simon argues, that "a powerful and positive nation brand provides a crucial competitive advantage." Brand is all about
perception and perception is consistent projection of a certain image. Whether a country Is rich or poor, its image is determined by how it Is seen by the rest of the world. Its achievements and failures, assets and liabilities, and people and products add up to the brand image.
Hence, Simon Anholt developed the concept of ’thp Nntiotis Brand Index (NBI) in 2005 and ranked nations according to their brand powers. The first Index was published in April 2005 and the second one came out last August based on the opinion of 10,000 consumers in 10 countries. Australia, a new entry
in the NBI, has replaced Sweden as the world's strongest nation brand. Canada Is ranked number two, Switzerland three and the UK is fourth, with Sweden as fifth. Overall, the U.S. is now 11th, rather than 4th: Russia and Hirkey remain at the bottom of the overall ranking at 24 th and 25 th, respectively.
Some of the key findings of the Index are interesting. Australia topped the list for quality of people, tourism and invest-ment/immlgration opportunities, although the country was surprisingly ranked low for products and culture despite the popularity of its music and movies. France ranked at the lower end of the richer Western
nations on almost every count apart from culture which came in second overall after Italy. The French people were ranked very low, 9 th overall and 19th on the index of perceived hospitality.
The United StatesEstlll scared high in global opinion, second on investment, and third, on quality of products. But US branded products were ranked after German branded products. On the question of how responsible the government was on decisions on peace and security, the US came 19th, just above South Korea, China, and Russia, but below all other Western nations. China
came in the bottom third on most rankings, except in cultural heritage, where it ranked number two after Egypt at number one. Despite its global manufacturing strength, Chinese-branded products came last, below those of India, Russia and TUrkey.
UK got the number four place, making it the only nation in the top five of the Index to be in the mainstream economically and politically, and the only nuclear power. The. quality of its people came in the 3td place overall and its culture ranked 4th overall. UK scored 6th on products and 5th on investment.
If the brand power of a corporation is the barometer of public
opinion, the brand power of a country is the barometer of global opinion. India has made tremendous gains in their brand power lately through cultural progress, political stability, commercial ventures, investment potential, undiminished tourist appeal, and mainly through the quality of its human assets, China is mentioned । in the same breath with India as a future superpower because of its products and people, although the record of political oppression still remains a setback.
"Oh Bangladesh!”! It was Simon Anholt’s emphatic exclamation
when I told him what was my country of origin. Other discussants and participants, who came to the First Middle East Brand Conference organised by The Economist of UK. more openly aired their views in their conversations with me. Bangladesh needs a major face lift as far ns its image is concerned. Corruption. child labour, underdeveloped human assets, internecine politics, bad investment climate, poor law and order, natural disasters, and, now, Islamic terrorism have killed its image.
Some of them cited the Gulf Council of Countries for example. These countries have put a stop on visit visa to Bangladeshis, and
banned sponsorship of domestic htlp' from Bangladesh. The airlines InltHe^e countries don’t issue tickets to] BAngladeshi passport holders u Alpss they see proof of residency in oii^of tlie GCC countries. On arrival visa is denied to Bangladeshis unless they are working as senior managers in one of the ,GCC.countries. Tliere. are instances jhat^US immigrants of Bangladeshi origin were denied visa in the UAE. Shame on you, and shame on me. He who travels need not be told that the image of the country also travels with him.
It hurts. It hurts with all the innocence of a child, who is ridiculed at
school because his father is not an honourable man. It hurts, yet the truth must be said, that Bangladesh is a very weak brand in culture, politics. Investment, tourism and most other categories. Right now our image in the world is comparable to that of a notorious family in any village. To say it in the words of U.S. comedian Rodney Dangerfield: We don't get no respect We are a nation of questionable honour, and that is our brand image in the world today.
How it has happened is anybody's guess. It's not the fault ofany particular government, because our image has bled for years, as power changed from hand to hand, as
politicians depleted the country and businessmen plundered the economy, while bureaucrats acted as go between them. We have become a homogenous nation in all respects, our heritage, language, ethnicity, character, needs and expectations, including our moral ’ fibres, have,uniformity, our identity indistinguishable'between crooks” and clerics. Our image today is that of one man as every man and few exemplify the many. As a nation, let us face it, we have singularly and collectively undergone a deplorable brand erosion.
What does that mean? In simple terms, we are a nation leading in the lagging indicators. We are known in the world for all the wrong reasons, poverty, crime, violence, conflict., illiteracy, natural disasters, corruption. and the list can go on and on. But lately The Economist Cities Guide online service gives news that shines like a silver Une in the cloud. Sue Fox, a sociolinguist at the University of London, has conducted a study of young people living in Tower Hamlets. According to her, Cockney, the east London accent famed for its rhyming slang, could be dying out because, Bangladeshi immigrants are influencing the way locals, both white and Asian, speak. The new dialect-a mixture of Bangladeshi and English-not only has different vowel pronunciations from traditional Cockney, but also includes entirely new words.
That makes the story even sadder. We can influence others in their country, but others keep influencing us in our own country. Brand Bangladesh. It is an image of contradictions. If you think of it. we are perhaps the only people on earth, who hate their country in their love of it. It is a psychosis. And we don't even know It!
Mohammad Badivl AtajnIs a banker.