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Image Crisis: Is there hope?

Brand expert suggests strategies for exporters in Muslim countries

By Rafi-uddin Shikoh, Oct 1, 2004

As alarming as such an objection maybe, such barriers are becoming much too familiar to businesses in the Muslim world. National image after-all can be a company's biggest asset or its worst liability.

For example, for most western consumers, 'Made in Japan', 'Germany', or 'Italy', evoke images of quality, innovation, and class. Whereas, 'Made in Indonesia', 'Pakistan', or 'Saudi Arabia' only stir up images of terrorism, bombings, or overall instability.

Can Anything Be Done?

Keeping the politics of the image crisis aside, what can a business do to overcome such reluctance by its prospects? Or can anything even be done?

I posed these questions to Mr. Simon Anholt, one of the world's leading nation-branding expert. Mr. Anholt advises governments (including Britain, Croatia and Slovenia) and corporations (including DreamWorks, DuPont and Timberland) and is also the author of Brand New Justice: The Upside of Global Branding and has guest-edited a Special Issue of the Journal of Brand Management on the subject of Nation as Brand.

According to Mr. Anholt, "Its not absolutely hopeless!"

The Golden Rule!

The golden rule to managing such an image crisis is "not to mention the problem at all!"

Specifically, in the case of marketing campaigns involving advertising, trade show materials etc., it would be best not to bring up the image issue. This sounds like a no-brainer, but Mr. Anholt points out that some companies do fall into the trap of a common piece of marketing wisdom, which says; "I need to acknowledge my consumers' negative perception and counter it." But in this case, he says that acknowledging the problem in a marketing campaign is actually a very bad thing to do for the following three reasons.

"First of all, by raising the problem and mentioning it in your marketing or your business dealing you are making a large number of additional people worried that either weren't aware of it or weren't worrying about it in the first place!"

"Secondly, for people that were even a little bit worried about it, you are going to make them more worried about it, because the psychology of the consumers is, 'My God! If they're talking about it then it must be really bad'."

The third reason is that it's, in any case, impossible for companies to tackle such huge problems as the negative perception of a country or the negative perception of an entire world religion. People are very warmly attached to their prejudices about countries and religions and such larger issues. "Its pointless and futile to expect such changes through a few simple pieces of paid-for communication by a company."

"Talk about the Good Stuff."

So what can be done? Mr. Anholt suggests, "the truly sensible and the truly humble approach is just to be what you are, to be a seller of products, to say here's what we do and its good. At the same time there are plenty of tricks and techniques that can be applied for getting around bad press and negative association."

In essence, cotton merchants in Egypt, or electronics manufacturers in Indonesia, or surgical goods or technology outsourcing companies in Pakistan should over aggressively highlight the quality of their products and services and focus on applying the most competitive global business strategies. And in regards to the tips and tricks for getting around bad press, an example of a sensible thing to do would be to reach back in history to a "safe time" for the marketing messages. Mr. Anholt refers "safe time" as a period where, for example, an average American consumer does not have a problem with an average Indonesian company and highlight the tradition of that relationship. Another example includes a media relations campaign by the Egyptian Cotton Board last year that focused on the quality of its cotton, its history, and reputation. The key there was to avoid making glossy advertisements, which the consumers in such cases are easy to identify as cover-ups.

Companies as Agents of Change

Even though Mr. Anholt suggests that it is futile for businesses to affect broader perception changes, he also points out that, in the long-run, successful branded companies more than anything can do most to re-stabilize the image problems. "Generally speaking it is noticeable how unaffected peoples' buying decisions are by political and social circumstances. You can have, for example, American consumers criticizing, from mere point of ignorance the behavior of Muslim countries left, right, and center, but if they are happily buying, and happily using a product, then they will not care that it comes from a Muslim country. Consumers don't mind such little contradictions at all."

'Made in China' and 'Made in India' are two labels that are a great case in point. Until only a decade or so ago, to much of the West, China was associated with images of poverty, over population, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, its aggressive policies towards the Tibetans and Taiwanese, and ofcourse its overall Communist structure. Today however, the image of China is changing for the better, thanks to its economic hyper growth driven by private enterprise and focussed government support. India is another example. Only a decade ago, poverty, over-population, and the "Indiana Jones - Temple of Doom" depicted imagery of snake charmers, elephants and jungles, drove India's image. Today, India is associated with the picture of a modern, highly skilled and a progressive society whose turn-around can be credited to its enterprising technology business successes.

So the right thing for companies in Muslim countries to do is to focus on producing a great product and selling honestly and well, and to the right people. In doing so they will help revitalize the image of their country in the West, more than anything else will.

Key Learnings: Businesses should avoid addressing the image issues in their marketing campaigns such as advertising and promotional materials. Only during one-on-one communications should these issues be addressed The only practical thing a business can do is to focus on delivering the best products and services to the right markets and build a brand based on the strengths of their products. Succesful brands will in essense have the greatest affect in improving the image. Tactics for addressing bad press and negative association include reaching out to a "safe time" in communications, and applying low-key public relation campaign that emphasizes genuine qualities of the products/ services

Your Feedback

"To me is easier do like western companies do: triangle or simply de-localize mere packaging on a, say, made in italy brand, and bypass also wto rules and similar tricks to keep artificially your products not - competitive in western markets."
Mario, Italy