Strategic positioning of nations as brands.

Harrison-Walker, L. Jean

INTRODUCTION

Positioning has long been acknowledged as a core branding activity (Ries & Trout, 1981; Aaker & Shansby, 1982; DiMingo, 1988). Positioning is the act of designing an organization's offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the target market's mind (Kotler, 2000). For example, Charmin is positioned as the soft bathroom tissue. Excedrin is positioned as the headache medicine. Nyquil is positioned as the nighttime cold medicine. MaltoMeal is positioned as the economy cereal brand. Grey Poupon is positioned as the expensive, top-of-theline mustard. Each of these brands holds a distinct position in its product category and the organization's product, promotion, distribution and pricing strategies are designed to communicate and support the brand's unique position.

The positioning decision is often the crucial strategic decision for a company or a brand because the position can be central to customers' perception and choice decisions. Further, since all the elements of the marketing program can potentially affect the position, it is usually necessary to use a positioning strategy as a focus for development of the marketing program. A clear positioning strategy can ensure that the elements of the marketing program are consistent and supportive. (Aaker & Shansby, 1982, p.56)

"A good understanding of what positioning entails is a key requisite for anyone involved in nation-brand development," such as advertising agencies and branding consultancies (Dinnie, 2008, p.51). As explained by Innis Maggiore, "What often goes wrong with marketing campaigns can be traced to a misappropriation of marketing focused on branding when the first thing required is positioning.. .Without positioning, brand value isn't sustainable because the position itself is where a brand's fundamental difference--and hence its value--lies" (http://www.innismaggiore.com/Difference/Positioning.aspx). By directing all of its marketing efforts towards a desired position, the nation maintains a coherence and unity in its activities and establishes a specific image.

POSITIONING VERSUS IMAGE AND REPUTATION

Positioning (or rather, its related construct, position) is often misused interchangeably with the psychological constructs of image and reputation. While there are similarities among the constructs, there are also very important differences. Both "images and reputations are each formed through a continuous and multifaceted process and are the products of a multiple-variable impression formation process located at the interaction among an institution's issued signals or texts, as well as contextual and personal factors (Cornelissen & Thorpe, 2002, p. 175; see also Fombrun & Shanley, 1990; Williams & Moffitt, 1997). However, despite the similar process through which both images and reputations are formed, the two constructs are not the same. Images concern immediate impressions while reputations are more enduring over time (Grunig, 1993; Williams & Moffitt, 1997).

"An image is the immediate set of meanings inferred by a subject in confrontation/response to one or more signals from or about an institution. Put simply, it is the net result of the interaction of a subject's beliefs, ideas, feelings, and impressions about an institution at a single point in time" (Cornelissen & Thorpe, 2002, p. 175). "Corporate image is the immediate mental picture that audiences have of an organization" (Gray & Balmer, 1998, p.687). Country image, more specifically, may be defined as "the total of all descriptive, inferential, and informational beliefs one has about a particular country" (Martin & Eroglu, 1993, p.193). While images may be personal (an image held by an individual) or collective (an image share by many individuals), it is the collective image that is of interest to marketers (www.bledcom.com/uploads/papers/Tunca.pdf).

While most institutions have distinguishable images (Wilbur, 1988), the image of most nations is vague because there is a general level of ignorance of countries other than one's own (O'Shaughnessy & O'Shaughnessy, 2000). This would seemingly offer an opportunity for most nations to build their brand for projection to the world (O'Shaughnessy & O'Shaughnessy, 2000).

"A reputation, on the other hand, is a subject's collective representation of past images of an institution (induced through either communication or past experience) established over time" (Cornelissen & Thorpe, 2002, p. 175). Reputations typically evolve over time as a result of consistent performance, reinforced by effective communication, whereas images can be fashioned more quickly through well-conceived communication programs (Gray & Balmer, 1998). The concept of reputation is closely related to position in that both are enduring over time and difficult to change.

A brand's position is how the brand is perceived in the minds of consumers, relative to competitive offerings. The characteristics of a good position for the brand are thought to be (1) perceived uniqueness (e.g. different from competitors), (2) prevalence (e.g. how many customers are aware of it), and (3) strength (Aaker, 1991). Establishing uniqueness is a key point in nation positioning (Dinnie, 2008). National tourism advertising campaigns can often be criticized for scoring very poorly in terms of uniqueness (Dinnie, 2008). "Many tourism campaigns make generic, undifferentiated claims for their sandy beaches, sunny climate, laidback lifestyle, and so on" (Dinnie, 2008, p.52). Many nations can make such claims; such claims are not unique to a particular nation. Nations need to find a position that is unique to them, such that stakeholders can readily identify the nation by its positioning statement. Differentiation is the key to building and maintaining a competitive advantage; people make decisions based on differences (http://www.innismaggiore.com/Difference/Positioning.aspx). Prevalence and strength can be achieved by the nation's communication strategies. The advertising, public relations, tourism materials, and other promotions of the nation should be coordinated to make and repeatedly reinforce a strong, unified positioning statement.

Unlike image, position evolves and, if managed effectively, becomes stronger over time. In contrast, an image is not static, but has elements that fade in and out while only the vaguest image is retained without sustained effort (O'Shaughnessy & O'Shaughnessy, 2000). Furthermore, position differs from image in that it implies a frame of reference, the reference point usually being the competition (Aaker & Shansby, 1982). This is an important distinction since it is not sufficient for a nation to have a positive image; in order to be successful over the long term, the nation's offering must be perceived more favorably than competitive offerings.

APPLICATION OF POSITIONING TO NATION BRANDS

Aaker & Shansby (1982) identify a number of ways in which a positioning statement can be conceived. The six approaches to positioning are: (1) by attribute, (2) by use, (3) by user, (4) by product category, (5) by price/quality, and (6) competitive positioning. In the following paragraphs, each of the six approaches is illustrated first by using popular brand examples and then by providing either real or potential examples of nation brand positioning.

Positioning by Attribute

The most frequently used positioning base is associating the brand with a particular attribute, product feature, or user benefit. For example, Charmin is the soft bathroom tissue and Viva is the durable paper towel.

Nation brands can similarly mobilize a dominant attribute. For example, although the United States is a hugely complex and contradictory society, observers may note a special connection to the attributes of freedom and independence (Moser, 2003; O'Shaughnessy & O'Shaughnessy, 2000). America was the first country "to make democracy and free trade the cornerstones of its national identity and national purpose" (Anholt, 2005, p.304). The attributes of freedom and independence is consistent across stakeholder groups. For example, when it comes to intellectual talent, UK students increasingly choose US Universities over Oxford and Cambridge because American Universities "have an environment that stimulates more entrepreneurship and creativity" (Gilmore, 2002, p.290). Similarly, business stakeholders rank the United States first in terms of selecting a location for business investment because the US is "still seen as the most attractive business environment--the Land of Opportunity'" (Anholt, 2005, 298).

O'Shaughnessy & O'Shaughnessy (2008) caution that the dominant attribute selected for positioning must represent something realizable rather than wishful thinking or some normative goal. In other words, the strategy must be rooted in the reality of the national rather than being an invention that may have little relation to the country's reality (Anholt, 2007; Dinnie. 2007; Gilmore, 2002). For example, the Foreign Office of the British government sought to reposition Britain as a bold modern state with its "Cool Britannia" campaign launched in the 1990's. The program failed. The problem was that half the British population was not into cutting edge fashion, design, music and the arts (Gilmore, 2002). As Chris Powell (1999) chairman of the BMP DDB advertising agency reports, Britain is still perceived as staid and old-fashioned. In fact, many British industries actually thrive on traditional characteristics such as honor and reliability (Gilmore, 2002). Interestingly, the BMP DDB study revealed that honesty was a perceived attribute associated with the British (Powell, 1999).

Nations are often tempted to position themselves along multiple attributes. However, positioning strategies that involve a number of attributes can lead to a diluted brand position and confusion in the minds of stakeholders.

Positioning by Use

The second positioning base is by use. Nyquil is the nighttime cold medicine and Excedrin is the headache pain reliever. In nation branding, Switzerland is the country of choice when one needs personal banking services (Gilmore, 2002). The fact that this position is cemented within Switzerland's banking client secrecy laws means that other countries trying to promote themselves as a personal financial center would have difficulty entering the market and competing on this front (Gilmore, 2002). Personal banking is perceived as a distinct use associated with Switzerland.

Another example of positioning by use is Singapore's traditional position as the best entry point to Asia for Western multinationals (Quelch & Jocz, 2005). This position was supported by the reality that its laws, institutions and educated English-speaking workforce made doing business from Singapore safe and easy (Quelch & Jocz, 2005).

Finally, when it comes to the best place to live and work, the nation brand of choice is Canada. Canada is ranked high in terms of job opportunities and overall attractiveness as a place to live (The Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands IndexSM 2008 Highlights Report).

Positioned by User

Positioning by user is the third positioning base. For a long time, Schaeffer beer was positioned for the heavy beer drinker. Pepsi distinguishes itself from Coke by positioning itself for the young at heart (the Pepsi generation).

Examples of nations that position on the basis of user are scarce, however existing empirical research regarding nation brand perceptions suggest some possibilities. While tourism represents one of the three major sectors in which nations compete, only one nation can claim to be the top destination for tourists. According to the Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands IndexSM 2008 Highlights Report, Italy takes first place overall in tourism, featuring a variety of widely popular destinations. Most respondents to the 2008 survey say they would be moist likely to visit Italy (assuming money was no obstacle). Italy is the country of choice for tourists.

Another example comes from the same survey (The Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands IndexSM 2008 Highlights Report). France is the nation for those in the arts, e.g. film, music, art, and literature. France was ranked first in terms of cultural heritage and people's appreciation for contemporary culture. This is the country where those who are serious about the arts congregate.

Positioning by Product Category

Some brands position themselves as belonging to a product category that they really do not belong to. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter positions itself as a butter. Seven-Up began associating itself with cola beverages in an effort to break free from consumer perceptions that Seven Up was a mixer rather than a soft drink.

Examples of nation positioning by product category are few. However, a city positioning statement can be used as a starting example. "Miami--Financial Capital of South America" (Kotler & Gertner, 2002) positions this city as part of South America rather than where it truly belongs, North America. On expatforum.com, one blogger explains to potential expatriates:

"Miami is not an American city. It is the financial capitol of South America and is really a foreign city."

The country slogan "Wales: Big Country," although seemingly generic, appears to be associating this nation with the larger nations of the U.K. "In the United Kingdom, Wales, equal to 20,779 km2, is used in phrases such as "an area the size of Wales" or "twice the area of Wales". England is 6.5 times the size of Wales, and Scotland is four times the size of Wales" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unusual_units_of_measurement). The reason for using Wales as a unit of measure is not known, but it probably relates to its relatively small size. Wales is positioning itself as a big country, a classification to which it does not belong in realistic terms.

Positioning by Price/Quality

In many product categories, some brands offer more in terms of service, features, or performance; a higher price and prestigious communication strategies serve to signal this higher quality to the customer (Aaker & Shansby, 1982). For example, Grey Poupon distinguishes itself as the top of the line mustard. Other brands distinguish themselves as the no-frills, low price alternative. Taking this approach, Malt-o-Meal is recognized as the economy brand among cereals.

According to the HSBC 2008 survey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is recognized as the most luxurious nation in the world (Bowman, 2008). More expatriates in the UAE are able to afford added extras such as owning a boat, having a swimming pool, taking regular holidays, and employing extra staff than anywhere else according to the survey (Bowman, 2008). The UAE appears to be pursuing this high-end position by "aggressively courting Western educators and experts" (The Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands IndexSM 2008 Highlights Report). Alternatively, Leffel (2009) identifies Thailand as the cheapest country in the world to visit. Farrell (2004), however, cautions against positioning a nation as the low cost alternative. Revenues attracted by price competition are prone to leave as quickly as they arrived, chasing the next low bidder (Farrell, 2004).

Competitive Positioning

In all positioning strategies, the position implies a frame of reference, the reference point usually being the competition (Aaker & Shansby, 1982). However, some brands choose to make a successful competitor the reference point as the positioning strategy. The classic example of competitive positioning is the one used by Avis rental cars. Avis positioned itself as "number 2." Consumers fully understood that the number 1 company in rental cars was Hertz. Avis wanted to make sure that when consumers thought about Hertz as a provider of rental cars, they would also consider Avis. Being number 2 meant that Avis would try harder to please the customer.

On occasion, nations may use this positioning base as a means of associating themselves with more well-known and/or highly-regarded nations/regions. For example, 'Scotland--Silicon Glen' (Kotler & Gertner, 2001) represents an attempt by Scotland to associate itself with Silicon Valley, the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area originally recognized for its large number of silicon chip innovators and manufacturers and later more generally for high tech businesses. Silicon Valley continues to be the leading high-tech hub because of its large number of engineers and venture capitalists (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Glen). In fact, the term 'Silicon Valley' has come to be used as a metonym for the high-tech sector (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Glen). The term 'Silicon Glen' conjures up an immediate association with Silicon Valley in the minds of consumers.

MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS

Nations are increasingly being conceptualized as brands. Given that the key task of branding is to differentiate an offering from that of competitors, developing a positioning strategy for the nation brand is prerequisite to strategic branding (http://www.innismaggiore.com/Difference/Positioning.aspx). To be effective, nation brand positions must be distinctive, singular, accepted, and translatable.

Distinctive Positioning

Establishing points of difference is a key task in brand positioning (Dinnie, 2008). Dinnie (2008) observes that positioning platforms used by countries in recent years are meaningless. The problem is that nations tend to select bland, inoffensive positioning platforms so as not to offend anyone (Dinnie, 2008). Examples include South Africa: Alive with possibility, Bolivia: The authentic still exists, Thailand: Amazing Thailand, and India: India shining (Dinnie, 2008). Slogans developed for national brands tend to be equally generic. For example: Austria: At last; Austria: You've arrived; Greece: Beyond words; and Andalucia: There's only one. If the nation names were removed from these statements, it would be impossible to match the statement with any particular country. In other words, there is no distinct positioning.

Singular Positions

Just as with the temptation by organizations to position themselves along multiple attributes, organizations are also tempted to use multiple positioning bases. In other words, there is a tendency to try to be all things to all people. Not only would such an approach be difficult to implement, but it leads to a confused perception in consumers' minds. Effective positioning

requires perceived uniqueness (the one and only brand associated with the particular position), strength (a strong and clear association with the position), and prevalence (whereby the majority of targeted consumers are aware of the brand's position).

Accepted Positioning

Successful positioning requires the support of its members. Unfortunately, it's far easier for corporations to enlist the support of their employees than for a nation to enlist the support of its citizens. Employees are paid to adopt the corporate strategy and may be released from employment for failure to do so. National leaders have little influence other than persuasion. "If the vast majority of citizens do not buy into or are cynical about the marketing proposition, it simply will not work. Visitors to the country will discover that the reality does not reflect the promise..." (Quelch & Jocz 2005, p.231). The "Cool Britannia" program launched by the British government failed in great part because half the British population did not accept the new position (Gilmore, 2002), and neither did people outside Britain (British Council, 1999). An effective positioning program depends on the nation's members rallying around the chosen positioning strategy (see Quelch & Jocz, 2005).

Translatable Positioning

In addition to being distinctive and accepted, the positioning statement needs to be translatable simply because a country has different stakeholders to address (Gilmore, 2002). The positioning statement must therefore be sufficiently rich and deep so that it can be translated into multi-faceted sub-positions that have relevance and meaning to each stakeholder group, while retaining its integrity by staying true to its spirit and core values (Gilmore, 2002). As noted by Quelch & Jocz (2005), messages reaching different stakeholder groups should be coordinated and consistent. This last aspect holds great importance because one of the great difficulties of country branding lies in the complexity of its various audiences (Gilmore, 2002). Interestingly, while audiences are indeed complex and distinct, they are not necessarily separate (Quelch & Jocz, 2005); "tourists at today's Olympic Games may be tomorrow's foreign direct investors" (Quelch & Jocz, 2005, p.236).

"The purpose of nation branding is not to come up with an attractive logo and catchy tag line, although those can help. Rather, the purpose is to develop a strategy to harness your national assets to an overarching identity that will help you achieve the optimal position for your country in the global system" (Cromwell, 2008). Only after the strategic positioning work has been done should the communications people be tapped to translate the brand into images and messages that can be used to reach stakeholder markets (Cromwell, 2008).

The Six Step Process

In order to develop a positioning strategy, nations must (1) determine what key attributes stakeholders use in comparing nations and which attributes are most important and (2) identify the relative positions of the nation against other similarly perceived nations on the important attributes (Kotler & Fox, 1994). In keeping with this general approach, Aaker & Shansby (1982) present a six-step process for developing a positioning strategy. The first step is to identify the competitors. A nation's competitors are other nations that might receive consideration as an alternative to the nation's offer. For example, if Hong Kong were positioning itself as the financial center of Asia, Viet Nam would not be considered a competitor because it lacks the infrastructure, the rule of law, and the transparency and corporate governance necessary to be competitive (Gilmore, 2002). Another way to think about 'competitors' when it comes to nation positioning is to identify nations that are similarly sized or trying to attract the same targets (Quelch & Jocz, 2005). In most cases, there will be a primary group of nations that directly compete and one or more secondary competitors (Aaker & Shansby, 1982). In the example above, Hong Kong would more likely be competing against Singapore and perhaps Shanghai (Gilmore, 2002). One way to identify competing nations is to conduct perceptual mapping research to identify which countries are perceived similarly along salient attributes, user groups, use contexts, etc.

The second step is to determine how each of the competitor nations is perceived and evaluated (Aaker & Shansby, 1982). In other words, what associations (expressed as nation attributes, user groups, and use contexts) do stakeholders use in evaluating different nations? For example, some nations may be considered formal and impersonal or friendly and personal, safe or vulnerable, used for team sports or used for high country sports, diverse or homogenous, rigid or accommodating, and so forth. Such perceptions are formed by the things that are done in the country and the way they are done, the things that are made in the country and the way they are made, the way other people talk about the country and the way the country talks about itself (Anholt, 2007, p.30). It is important to understand how the nation and its competitors are perceived.

The next step is to determine the positions currently held by all competing nations, including the nation conducting the research (Aaker & Shansby, 1982). For each nation, survey respondents may be asked to respond to questions such as: (1) With respect to other nations, I would consider ABC nation to be (list attributes identified in step 2); (2) I would expect the typical user of ABC nation to be (list user groups identified in step 2); and (3) ABC nation is most appropriate for (list uses identified in step 2). The nation would also want to determine which of the attributes, user groups, and uses are considered important and which serve to effectively distinguish one nation from another. However, planners should keep in mind that respondents from the ABC nation are likely to rate their nation higher than other nations, and

therefore internal and external responses should be analyzed separately to statistically determine if the two groups are in fact responding dissimilarly.

The fourth step is to analyze the target population (Aaker & Shansby, 1982). Subgroups within the target population (e.g. direct foreign investors, importers, tourists, etc.) may hold different perceptions of the nation. Cluster analysis could be used to identify the various segments of the target population. Subgroups may, for example, be classified into segments defined by the associations they consider most important.

Next, the nation must decide on its positioning strategy (Aaker & Shansby, 1982) .

Positioning usually means that an overt decision is being made to concentrate only on certain segments. Such an approach requires commitment and discipline because it is not easy to turn your back on potential buyers. Yet, the effect of generating a distinct, meaningful position is to focus on the target segments and not be constrained by the reaction of other segments. (Aaker & Shansby, 1982, p.61)

It may be that not all segments identified in the segmentation study are worth pursuing with a unique marketing program. For example, a segment may emerge that values a particular attribute of the country, but the segment size and significance does not warrant its explicit consideration in developing the positioning statement. In selecting the positioning strategy, the nation may initially consider alternatives using each of the positioning bases described above and then select the base and the specific positioning statement based on the research findings and on the criteria of its being distinctive, singular, accepted and translatable. A further critical consideration in selecting a position for a nation is to make sure it can deliver what it promises and commit to doing so over the long term. For example, a nation that positions itself on the attribute of innovation cannot then do something contrary, such as failing to enforce intellectual property protection. Such a move would destroy the nation's unique position (and often it's competitive advantage), and have a negative impact on the nation's reputation for integrity. The final step is to monitor the nation's position over time and make adjustments to the marketing strategy as may become necessary (Aaker & Shansby, 1982). Market research should benchmark perceptions among stakeholder groups both internally and externally, over time. In some instances, nations find it necessary to reposition their nation brands when either the nation fails to achieve the desired position or when the positioning base is no longer important to target groups. The British Council conducted a survey two years into the "Cool Britannia" program and decided to abandon the program shortly thereafter given its ineffectiveness (Gill, 2001; The Economist 2002).

The Money Issue

When it comes to the marketing of any nation, there is always the money issue. Positioning--and the marketing plan necessary to develop and support the positioning strategy -takes up a large amount of resources, in both administrative time and money (Domeisen, 2003; Romaniuk, 2001). While nations have the opportunity to build their national brands for projection into the world, it costs money and to date countries have not found it easy to do so (O'Shaughnessy & O'Shaughnessy, 2008).

Furthermore, spending money on marketing in nation branding can be highly controversial. One political issue for nations is the potential backlash of diverting scarce funds into a positioning 'exercise' rather than improving other resources (see Firstenberg. 1991). Stakeholders must be made to recognize the crucial aspect of effective positioning and its longterm implications in the increasingly competitive global market--and the catch-22 situation they will likely face by not developing, implementing and supporting an effective positioning strategy. As claimed by Anholt (2007), the alternative to managing a nation brand is not the failure to manage the brand, but rather letting someone else manage it for you. In the absence of any branding strategy, public opinion will brand countries according to the most familiar cliche, "which is almost always simplistic, usually out of date, frequently rather unflattering, and occasionally extremely unhelpful" (Anholt, 2007, p.41). On occasion, the 'someone else' managing your nation brand may be the government agency of another country (Anholt, 2007). When a nation fails to manage its brand, any outside party can manipulate and exploit the brand image to achieve its own ends (Fan, 2006). At stake is the country's success in attracting international investment and tourism and promoting exports (Cromwell. 2008; Quelch & Jocz, 2005). The development, management and protection of a nation brand require a disciplined, comprehensive approach and a sustained amount of concerted action on the part of the nation (see Anholt, 2005; Fan, 2006).

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L. Jean Harrison-Walker, The University of Houston-Clear Lake