In business, as in life, image matters. For a country, most especially, it could mean the difference between being a preferred destination or being a perpetual write-off.
In marketing, a brand image is very important. A brand image embodies and conveys the strengths and the promises of a product. Marketing executives go to great lengths to create a strong brand image, putting as much attention to brand execution as the brand promise.
The same is true with a country. As the world becomes more competitive and increasingly inter-connected, a country cannot leave its reputation to chance. It must create and define its own brand, knowing that it could mean a big difference for its people.
Unfortunately, the Philippines lacks a singular, powerful identity as a nation. Outsiders have no single image to connect to their positive experiences of thePhilippines. The Philippines also cannot shake off the perception that it does not have much to offer. At worst, the Philippines is seen as a backward country, where the basic necessities have yet to come by. At best, it is a ho-hum destination whose offerings pale compared with those of its neighbors.
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The author is President of the Management Association of the Philippines and Principal Architect – Urban Planner/Founder of Palafox Associates. Feedback [email protected].
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